Meet Citizen Snips | Indie Pop band consisting of Trevor Ayers, David Hill, Erik Moody, Namik Fuentes-Barrientos

We had the good fortune of connecting with Citizen Snips and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Snips, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
We all saw fiery visions on a hill of Julian Casblancas, Donald Fagen, Brian Wilson, and Alex Turner and they told us to form a band. Dave was heartbroken, Erik was stifled, Trevor wasn’t a person yet, Namik had health issues. All of us needed some kind of release that we couldn’t seem to find individually. We all had music we wanted to play, we all had a desire to play that music for people, and we all had a different musical niche that we each fit into. It’s our therapy to vent about whatever we need to vent about. Loss, happiness, persistent stressors in life, the world ending, and occasionally even love. And we thrive together. None of us are as good at anything else as we are at making music. Nothing makes us feel as whole as playing live or finding a riff that starts a whole afternoon of making something out of nothing. Doing anything else would feel like a detour from what we’re supposed to be doing.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We’re four people with four rather different musical tastes. You may listen to a song of ours that has a bassline right out of early 2000’s New York, a Math Rock groove on the drums, a 60’s pop vocal melody, 70’s synth and keys. It helps to keep us sounding unpredictable. We want to project ourselves through as many different lenses as we can while still appearing on the other side as something that’s still recognizably us.
It’s almost never easy, but it’s always worth it. You gotta handle every situation at least somewhat diplomatically. Egos have to be left outside. It requires everyone being as open as they can be. Sometimes we grow as people, sometimes we drunkenly scream at each other, but all in all it helps. Like screaming at family during the holidays.
We’re just a bunch of weirdos who found each other and clicked really well. We aim to be proof to all the other passionate weirdos that your specific group of passionate weirdos are just a craigslist post away.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Band was conceived in Sacramento and we like to describe the city as “low key lit”. There are tons of events, local showcases, mini festivals, original restaurants and unique club/ bar experiences. So if we were to plan a full day of activities for visiting friends, first we’ll take them to our favorite local brunch spot, Mimosa House. Large menu with different styles of food from across the globe and over 40 different types of mimosa, what is not to love. Then take them on a nice group raft float down the American River, downstream from Lake Tahoe. Or if they are not feeling like being outside in the heat, visiting the newly SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity is always a good time.
As for music, there are several options on any given Saturday. THIS916 is a bi-weekly EDM Block Party with acts such as Diplo and Chromeo throwing down beats in the middle streets of midtown. As for bar experiences, there are 3 major Sacramento bars I would suggest, Lowbrau, Darling Aviary and Flamingo House. These bars are hip, have a modern ecstatic and each spot has amazing food. Citizen Snips has had the recent pleasure to perform at these spots. You can always trust these bars to have huge crowds and cool people hanging out. The best live music venues we have here in Sac are Ace Of Spades and Harlow’s NightClub. All year long they provide awesome shows creating a space for all genres of music to be held and appreciated. From hardcore metal to indie folk, you can catch a show. Sacramento is slowly becoming a destination for touring artists, it wasn’t like this 5 years ago so there is always something going on, just gotta look for it.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Being a small time band and trying to get any traction going can be difficult at times. So we heavily rely on our friends and the establishments that allow us to perform, to help with exposure and getting our name out there.
First we want to give a shout out to the hip hop artist, Fatimah Patrice. She was the one to recommend us to get this interview so a big thanks to her! We can’t forget about all of our friends, family and fans that go to our shows, buy our merch, and spread word about the band via online or by word of mouth. All the studios that mentored/ educated us through the recording process. Mark Bourassa Studios that helped us with our first EP, Survivor Sound in Oakland where we recorded our first album, and recently Mayhemeness Studios where we recorded our new single.
There are numerous venues and bars that have supported us since the band has been together. A lot of these establishments are located in midtown Sacramento such as The Starlite Lounge, Eco Fitness, Shine Coffee, Lowbrau, Darling Aviary, The Silver Orange Community Center, Old Ironsides, The Gilman & Bay Area Art Mixer (both in Berkeley. And we want to take time to thank and bring awareness of the recent loss of music venues since the pandemic and want to give thanks to our fallen hubs of artistry; One of Sacramento’s oldest rock venues The Boardwalk, a venue where we played the most Holy Diver and lastly a space that’s trying to keep their pulse going, Cafe Colonial (GoFundMe link at the end). Big thanks to everyone we mentioned and if we’re forgetting someone, you get a beer on us 😉
Website: https://linktr.ee/CitizenSnips
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citizensnips_band/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJnU-ZWoeXQmea4cA8QYdw
Other: https://citizensnips916.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Zach Obert & Eda Reutov