Speed of Light arrives 5 September in digital, CD, and streaming formats
Transmission 251: Interview with Silver Snails
Silver Snails is an independent pop rock project based in Romagna, Italy, with working links to the West Coast (USA). Formed by Lucas Ward and Elisa Fantini, the group released the debut album The 7 Melodies in 2012, recorded over two years and featuring lyrics in English, Italian, and French, with elements of Mandarin and Sanskrit.
Artist: Silver Snails
Release Date: 2025-09-05
Genres: Indie Rock, Pop, Synth Pop
Label: self-released
Description: Silver Snails issue pop‑rock album Speed of Light on 5 September via independent label; multilingual lyrics, co‑production in Italy and Oregon.
The project’s second album, Speed of Light, recorded in Italy and Portland, Oregon, was co-produced by Dylan Magierek and scheduled for release on 5 September (digital download, CD, and streaming). The record includes nine original compositions and a cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star”, with mixing and mastering by Peter Katis, Greg Calbi, and Adam Selzer.
When did you first feel music was something you wanted to do seriously?
I decided to focus on music full time after leaving an intense career in finance at age 32. I had been active in music from age 10 onwards, having studied piano and guitar and playing in various school-affiliated groups, as well as busking, performing and some recording in high school.
How did living between Italy and the West Coast influence your early music ideas?
As an American living abroad, I feel my personal identity and musical tastes were fully formed in my teens growing up in Portland OR, drenched in influences such as classic rock and pop, jazz, blues, tex-mex, classical, Indian classical, Irish, African, Salsa, and Samba, not to mention my high school and college friendship with Elliott Smith.
My experience in Italy allowed me to explore a number of topics and interests, including gardening, astronomy, ancient mysteries, Dante, tennis, wine-making, and of course recording. The later themes and references (post-Italy) are the most relevant to Speed of Light
Was there a record in your youth that changed the way you thought about music?
‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ delivered the full rush of euphoria that I can get from music, showing me music’s power to tune and elevate a person’s mood and even influence their value system. I would describe hearing this one as an early musical awakening.
‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and ‘The Wall’ are masterclasses on tone, mood, ambiance, storytelling, and even branding. I listened to them over and over again as a teenager.
Though I encountered it later, ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ by the Flaming Lips renewed my interest in becoming a recording artist and showed me there is always great music left to make.
What was the music scene like in Romagna and Portland when you were starting out? And what were the most striking differences?
When we launched in Italy in 2012, the scene was and still is not very inviting. Most live acts are either cover bands, or big label commercial acts. This is very different from Portland, which constantly foments new bands, and playing covers is frequently frowned upon, i.e. there is a premium on original music.
Though Italians love imported music, there is always a question of what language to write in. We see ourselves as creating music for a global audience mostly online, so we are focusing on English, but including bits in other languages, such as Italian, French, Mandarin. This multi-lingual approach stems from who we are as people, and a desire to be inclusive as well as play with language for its own sake.
The scene in Portland is very very crowded with millions of bands and art of all kinds. It is always challenging to secure venues and get attention, but we have found excellent support for our project there, in the way of studio musicians, a live band, marketing and publicity help, etc. Of course, the real field of battle, so to speak, is the internet. Our current focus is on Spotify and YouTube, though we also have IG, FB.
What were the biggest challenges when you began The Silver Snails?
Learning the art and craft of writing, arranging, recording, making videos, putting together live shows, etc., was challenging but fun and inspirational. The real hard part has been marketing and managing expectations.
Having a finance background, I naively assumed that I could do a better job than other independent musicians on the marketing front. I considered marketing to be as important as making top quality music. Afterall, what’s the point of making music for an audience if nobody hears it?
Through much trial and error, I found out that music marketing is a bit of a ‘dark art’, and you can’t simply throw money at the problem. You need knowledge, relationships, execution skills, money, and time. With our 2nd record, we are on a better footing, but I have learned to keep my expectations in check.
While a few Independents do go viral on the internet, these cases tend to be rare, random, and unpredictable. As an example, I know of a live performer from Japan who became a sensation in the Philippines for making Mukbang videos (videos of him pigging out on Filipino food) as an influencer. Now he draws huge crowds to his musical performances, despite not having a background in music. How do you market in such an environment?
How is Speed of Light different from your first album, The 7 Melodies?
Even better production and writing, more focused in the pop rock genre, brighter in tone, more layered arrangements, more accessible/commercial. The first LP was mixed and mastered in Italy by competent engineers, while Speed of Light features grammy award winning mixing (Peter Katis) and mastering (Greg Calbi). Speed of Light also benefited from co-production and engineering help from Dylan Magierek (Badman Records) and a cabal of amazing studio musicians.
Why did you decide to cover “Video Killed the Radio Star”?
We have an intergenerational family band so the song lent itself to our format (tenor lead vocals, female backup/response). In addition, the theme of technology driving media evolution was very interesting and salient: as the ways we consume media continue to evolve, we still appreciate a good song and a good story. We made our own video for the cover in which we riff on classic sci-fi, just as the Buggles did in 1980.
Was there a song on the album that was especially hard to finish?
The 10th song, Galen’s Song had a particularly long gestation. Typically, once we write and arrange a song, we do full demos in our home studio using drum algorithms. We then take the demos to the studio and re-record with live drums, bass, etc. For Galen’s Song, we tried 2 different drummers but couldn’t get a good feel from the rhythm tracks. We ended up going back to the algo drums (the only song on the record with algo drums). Also, I wasn’t satisfied with my lead vocals. I gave the vox to my daughter Jasmine, who normally sings backups and harmonies, with me coming in on the chorus. The result is a delightfully fresh change in lead vocals (like on a Fleetwood Mac record), with full family chorus. From when I first got the idea for the song (2013) to getting it mastered (2023), 10 years transpired.
How do mythology, astronomy, or other interests find their way into your songs?
Such an interesting question! Living in Italy in my 30s and 40s greatly expanded my awareness of history, art, philosophy, language, culture, etc. I welcomed Dante into my Pantheon and became interested in the seeds of Occidental Civilization from earlier antiquity, e.g. ancient Egypt.
Regarding astronomy, Italy gave me the privilege of viewing objects in the solar system with my wife’s father who built his own 30cm telescope. This piqued my interest in the intersection of astronomy and mythology through pagan symbolism. For instance, Jupiter is both a planet and a god, as are many of the others visible objects, suggesting celestial bodies are actually living super-beings (gods) who directly influence life on earth. I thus address heavenly bodies directly in such songs as Waltz 4 Two Moons, Would the Moon Know, Dancing with the Stars, Solar Senator, and The Sundance. The stars and planets are muses which I talk to, and sci fi remains a key reference for our videos and band mythology.
Was there a book, film, or piece of art that influenced the mood of the album
Books by Graham Hancock, such as Supernatural, and Fingerprints of the Gods have inspired me to ponder ancient mysteries and reconsider the timeline and narrative of human development, as well as the nature and the role of invisible beings in our lives.
I have been obsessed also with JRR Tolkien from childhood, and the mythology that he so artfully brings to life brings me the same feeling of elevation and magic that I get from good music.
Are there specific landscapes or places tied to certain tracks on Speed of Light?
Our home in Romagna is nestled in idyllic vineyards, with sunflower fields and rolling hills, 20 miles inland from the Adriatic Sea. Our home has special significance for us as the incubator for our 3 children and music project. We have filmed most of videos at our place, including the ‘Radio Star’ set which still serves as our living room.
Given Speed of Light was recording 70% in Portland, OR, the natural and cultural backdrop of the Northwest served as secondary inspirations for the record, and Speed of Light is more ‘US centric than it is ‘Italy centric.
Now that Speed of Light is done, what’s next for The Silver Snails?
We are in full marketing mode, releasing focus tracks, booking shows, promoting songs on Spotify and YouTube. We will have an album release party/concert in Portland on September 4, followed by a few more shows in the Northwest in September. Next would be to play some shows in Italy, followed by writing the next LP. We also have some tracks in reserve we can release as an EP while we work on the third LP.
Photos courtesy of Silver Snails
Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others
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