Super Snake Eat a Psychedelic Breakfast of White Castle and Billy Zane Quotes

There's something to be said about being able to sink into the phantasmic energies of psychedelic rock, letting the sounds overtake you. Setting some time aside to allow yourself to fall deep into the tunes is probably the best way to engage with New Jersey psych-rock act Super Snake. Earlier this year, the band released their new full-length, Leap of Love, a loud and charged record incorporating all kinds of psychedelics into one crazy head trip. It draws on your favorites — Black Sabbath, Sleep and the like — and conjures little fear of where the songs are going to lead. From one track to the next, you can encounter arena-sized riffing, weirdo sludgy noise breaks and breakneck speeds. With all this crazy variation, of course we asked vocalist Jerry Jones to participate in our Count Off series.

1: Describe your band in one sentence.
Super Snake is a psychedelic breakfast; a boozy lunch; a romantically smoky dinner, followed by a horrifying desert.

2: What do your parents think about your music?
My parents have never really listened to my music. It's not their thing, which makes sense. My dad is 75. My educated guess would be, they wouldn't dig it. Joe's [Laga, guitar] parents, however, are very supportive, and they love it! Mr. Laga comes to all of our local gigs. I've never met anybody else's parents in the band.

3: What are three things you can’t do without on tour?
Buds, beer, Arizona Green Tea.

4: Who do you play music 4?
Ourselves mostly. Sometimes other people in a live setting. We aren't really interested in music unless we all really love it. I have no idea what other people are going to enjoy and, frankly, I don't give a shit. However, if people are buying tickets to come see Super Snake live, then we are going to put on one hell of a show for them. They are paying to see a performance, so that's what they deserve. When it comes to writing, arranging and producing, we only have ourselves in mind.

7: Do you believe in luck?
I believe there is an order to time in this universe. I think there are inevitable, physical (quantum and beyond) consequences to all interactions and non-action. Luck is a state of mind, and has to do with your interpretation of quantum mechanics. Didn't Billy Zane say once, "Real men make their own luck," only to die in an (albeit slow-moving) isolated, sporadic tragedy? I'd say he was pretty unlucky. But luck also takes the piss out of understanding free will, and is also a lazy, subjective opinion of determinism. Boring. P.S. I had to Google that Billy Zane quote. I felt lucky that I can afford a computer and live in the 21st century.

9: If you could be any musician in a past life, who would it be?
I think Jim Morrison had a pretty good time ... He definitely did everything real big. I mean, for this to work, the other musician would have to be dead and have to have died before I was born, right? George Harrison died after I was born, so I don't think that would work. In a "no rules" world answer to this question, Tom Waits. Obviously.

10: What was your favorite album when you were 10?
Wowie, that's a tough one. [1994] was a huge year for music and especially for me, since I was just establishing my musical palate. Hmmm ... I listened to these until the tape wore out: Nirvana, Unplugged; R.E.M., Monster; Weezer, Blue Album; Green Day, Dookie; Soundgarden, Superunknown; Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream. I can't say which was my favorite, though. Maybe Nirvana because Kurt's death was the linchpin to my obsession and intrigue into what makes music so important.

20: If I gave you a $20 bill right now, what would you spend it on?
[A] #1 with cheese at White Castle, a Sixpoint Big Raspy, and the rest I would keep for parking meters.

80: What will you listen to when you’re 80?
I will probably be deaf when I'm 80. Or I will be listening to worms eating my brain. If neither of these things happen, probably whatever is really good in 2064. I'm not a crazy nostalgic listener.

96: What is your favorite album from 1996?
Damn. You guys are raw. I can't just pick one.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Murder Ballads
Type O Negative, October Rust
Neurosis, Through Silver in Blood
Nas, It Was Written
Modest Mouse, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About
Converge, Petitioning the Empty Sky

666: Who or what would you go to hell for?
I would go to hell to see Tom Waits live.