A Rock Star with Desert Roots
By Esther Sanchez
Twenty years ago, Indio High School alumni Mikey Doling and his buddy, the late, great, Lynn Strait were 20-somethings crashing in a squatter house in Santa Barbara when they formed a metal/punk/hardcore band that would almost immediately take the LA club scene by storm. Within a couple of years, Snot was signed by a major record label, shooting videos for MTV, touring the US with some of the biggest bands of the era and had earned a coveted slot on the Ozzfest tour. As youngsters who were really just starting to get their rock-star feet wet in the fame pool, they were fully aware that they were living the dream.
Doling: “I started Snot with a four-track, a guitar and a Dr. Rhythm drum-machine. I was writing songs and had already come up with the name before I had the band. I met Lynn before the other guys and eventually we were both living in the squatter house.” Doling chuckles: “We were totally broke and punk-rock. We would laugh at each other when one of us scraped together enough change for a Jumbo-Jack and the rest of us would ask if it had cheese on it. We were really poor.”
Doling continues: “Initially it was Lynn Strait and me. We had some other guys that didn’t work out so we had to let them go. We were looking for replacements and my buddy Shannon Larkin who is the drummer for Ugly Kid Joe knew these three guys on the east coast and introduced us. It was a done-deal pretty quickly. They moved out to California and together we became Snot. Those guys were my bassist John (Tumor) Fahnestock, drummer Jamie Miller and guitarist Sonny Mayo.”
The time-span between wondering where their next meal was going to come from to becoming friends with people they previously idolized was unusually brief. It seemed as though they were just starting to get comfortable with their new-found place on top of the world, when they were jolted by the harshest blow any of them had ever received. On December 11th, 1998 a tragic car accident took the life of Snot’s beloved lead-vocalist/frontman, Lynn Strait. Lost and overcome with grief, Doling and the guys felt that, without Strait, there was no Snot. At the time they could not conceive of continuing without him and so, they made the decision to bury the band along with their beloved friend.
All four remaining members continued on in careers as professional musicians separately, touring and recording with other major bands over the years as well as pursuing business ventures. It wasn’t until 2013 that Doling, who maintains residences in Tokyo and La Quinta, Ca. decided to hit up his Snot-mates to see if they were down to give it another go. Lucky for the fans, they obliged.
Doling: “It took us 15 years to recover from Lynn’s passing. It was sort of like, at some point we looked at each other as friends and thought, ‘Hey there’s still four of us left.’ I thought about how much I enjoy playing with these guys and how Lynn would have wanted us to continue on a long time ago so, I decided to call each one of them and ask, ‘Shouldn’t we get back together?’ And here we are…….back together with our new addition. We recently finished two tours in Europe, one in the US and we are going to Australia next month. The Australian shows are already completely sold out and they had to add dates. We will also be touring in South America and have some shows planned with Slipknot.”
Sporting a passionate, international fan-base that never disappeared along with a gifted and charismatic new front-man, Snot has thrown it into high-gear with a new album on the way and international tour dates that are selling out as quickly as they are scheduled. The best part of it all as far as I’m concerned is that they are warming up for their big upcoming concerts with a show right here in the valley. On October 22nd, Snot will be performing at Schmidy’s Tavern in Palm Desert and I foresee a huge clean-up job for the staff when it’s all over on account of all of the melted faces they will have to mop up.
As far as the new album is concerned, the band hopes it will not only reignite and satisfy established fans, but attract a brand new generation of Snot virgins. Recently, they have been writing and recording at Dead End Studio in Palm Desert, which is owned and operated by Doling’s “best friend since High School,” and well-respected sound-engineer, Brad Garrow. Several friends of mine who have followed Snot since the beginning were beyond jealous when they found out that I was given the opportunity to drop by the studio and hang out while they were doing their thing. When I told them that I got to watch and listen while Snot’s fantastic new vocalist, Carl Bensley, laid down vocals over the instrumental tracks they recorded the previous night, said friends’ heads almost exploded.
Doling: “About 10 years ago I was producing for a band called Instinct of Aggression and Carl was the then, 20 year-old singer for that band. He has also been in some other bands over the years including one called Consume the Fire. I always loved the guy. He is a really talented and charismatic performer and genuinely good guy so when I started thinking about bringing in a vocalist for Snot, he came to mind. When I called him and asked him if he was interested in going on tour with Snot he immediately said, ‘yes’ and the rest is history.”
When observing Bensley perform it is pretty clear that he was somewhat of a no-brainer choice for Snot. Most any band would be lucky to have him. Beyond his charisma and strong stage-presence, he is most importantly a very strong singer with great range. His vocal abilities are diverse and he keeps it interesting by continuously mixing up singing styles with ease. When Bensley is blowing on that mic you might hear familiar sounds that display grittiness in impressively high octaves that are classically, “metal’……you might also notice him pepper in some soulful, bluesy type notes to string it all together. The recipe works for him and for the band.
Considering the fact that his energy oozes with confidence dipped in a big vat of chill, I asked Bensley at what point in his life as a musician did he become comfortable in the role of “frontman”. He hesitated for less than a second before looking at me with an endearing expression that seemed to be somewhat bewildered as to the why anyone would even think to ask such a silly question.
Bensley: “I don’t really think there was ever a point…..I have been doing this stuff for most of my life now. I think I just sort of eased into it. I don’t ever really remember feeling nervous or worried about any of it until I joined up with Snot. That’s only because when you are coming in to a position that once belonged to someone else who was talented and loved by the fans, there will always be people who don’t approve. I can’t let myself worry about that.”
Snot has been touring with Bensley for about a year now performing their original songs…….songs that were made famous by his beloved predecessor, Lynn Strait. I think that if anyone were to speculate that Snot is somehow attempting to fill the shoes of one man with another, they are missing the point, completely. First of all, their vocal styles are very different from one another, which, in my opinion is a good thing. Most of us would rather see them bring on the best performer they can find for the gig. I think it shows a lot more integrity for the music than the idea behind running around trying desperately to find someone who can do the most spot-on impersonation of Lynn Strait.
Lynn loved Snot and would have wanted the music that he was so integral in creating to live on while the band continues to grow and evolve artistically. The new addition to the band helps serve the purpose of breathing life into this incredible thing that Lynn helped create. Clearly, you cannot replace someone who is irreplaceable……but you can try your damndest to honor him by bringing in someone who will do a hell of a job at what they once did while showing tremendous heart and soul for the project as a whole.
Combined with brand new music, and a seemingly endless list of upcoming tour dates, it seems obvious to me that the spirit of Snot is alive and kicking and I for one am looking forward to seeing where it takes us. No need to take my word for it. If you want to jump on this train I suggest you head over to Schmidy’s on October 22nd. Also on the bill for that night are local punk rock heroes, Se7en4, whose latest album Let’s Get High and Fight, was produced by Mikey Doling; Doling’s High School friend, Brad Garrow’s band, Brain Vat; and out of towners 1001, and Contortion. Show starts at 8pm and is only $10.
(Photos by Esther Sanchez)
