(Editor’s Note — 1120 Press was fortunate enough recently to speak with Fourth Media’s William Saunders and Nathaniel Shannon, the filmmakers behind the forthcoming documentary ‘Snapcase: Legacy,’ which examines the long and storied history of the seminal Buffalo hardcore band, Snapcase. Scheduled for completion in October, this authorized documentary chronicles the legendary band’s four-decade career “from early EPs, through their magnum opus ‘Progression Through Unlearning’ … to its continued scene relevance.’ As part of the project, a Kickstarter campaign which you can donate to HERE has been established to help bring the documentary home. We’re grateful for William and Nathaniel’s time and we’re happy to bring you our conversation below.)
1120 PRESS: Congratulations on the documentary, ‘Snapcase: Legacy,’ and thank you for speaking with us. There’s a good deal of anticipation surrounding this film, especially here in Buffalo’s scene. Can you tell us about the genesis of this project and what inspired it?
WILLIAM SAUNDERS: Hey Buffalo! Thanks for having us. We decided to do this doc when I read through the "Optic" book. I realized that the band's timeline, members and history were all laid out due to the immense amount of work they had done on it. That's like 40 percent of the work of a doc! Tom B, Daryl and Dustin (of Snapcase) were all in our previous film "Deadguy : Killing Music," so I got us all on an email and pitched a full-length documentary. They were excited to do it, so we met them in New Jersey to shoot their show and some interviews. They had a bunch of assets that they didn't use for the book, too. That is what the super-trailer on our Kickstarter is comprised of.
NATHANIEL SHANNON: I casually knew Snapcase from photographing them a few times and them playing my former place of work, Saint Vitus Bar. Daryl and Dustin participated in interviews for the Deadguy doc, and we all have stayed in touch, with them helping out and contributing to a few projects, including letting me interview them for my recent book ‘Saint Vitus Bar: The First Ten Years, an Oral and Visual History.’ William and I were discussing what our next project together would be, and we figured we would give Snapcase a shot. Our pal Tom Bejgrowicz had released his visual archive called ‘Optic’ about Snapcase and we felt this was a really great outline for what could be a film. The band was very receptive to our ideas and everyone collectively felt like this might be the perfect time to work on this project.
1120: The documentary has been promoted with the tagline: ‘Snapcase rewrote the rules for hardcore’… We’re wondering if you can expand on that. How do you believe the band did that?
WILLIAM: Ironically, someone else billed it as that! Haha! I do think they are extremely experimental and influential. They brought elements that hardcore hadn't quite brought to the forefront. And at that time on Victory Records, they were definitely on the edge. As far as our perspective with the narrative, we want to showcase Snapcase's full body of work, and how their work ethic mirrors that of Buffalo.
NATHANIEL: I personally feel like the hardcore genre has beat itself into the ground several times with several eras and several subgenres. When Snapcase came around they brought a traditional rock element, and that industrious mechanical sound to the rhythm section. There wasn't anything contrived about them and they really changed the sound of what was happening at the time, influencing decades to come. Refused and hundreds of other bands literally wouldn't have careers without Snapcase.
1120: Once you got into this project, was there anything that you learned about either the band itself, or Buffalo Hardcore, that perhaps you didn’t know before and that has since stood out to you?
NATHANIEL: I think the Buffalo story, especially in the late 80s, birthing bands such as Snapcase, The Goo Goo Dolls (back when they were on Metal Blade Records), Cannibal Corpse (before they moved) and the 10,000 Maniacs were all hanging out together and supporting each other. There didn't seem to be the separation of genres as much as support for Buffalo bands by Buffalo bands.
1120: There has been a Kickstarter established for this documentary. Can you elaborate on the need for that campaign, its aim and ultimate goal?
WILLIAM: The Kickstarter was started so that we can actually get it done in a timely manner. ‘Deadguy’ took us almost three years because it was basically just two of us doing everything. I pulled in favors from anywhere I could to get that damn thing over the finish line. But as I'm sure you know, when you don't pay someone, they tend to take a loooong time. So instead of killing ourselves by doing it all, we decided to try to finance it so we can pay people for their work. But most importantly, we wanted the fans to be able to play a part in telling this story. Anyone who pledges one of our tiers will get their name in the credits and we have some special things planned for their February show in Buffalo.
NATHANIEL: Making films costs money. With the ‘Deadguy’ doc we had to rely on different alternative mediums to interview people and it almost became a time capsule of the change of video communication based on 90 percent of the product taking place during the COVID situation. Travel, production, and post production all take time and that time costs money, which allows us to deliver the highest quality production we can.
1120: What’s your personal experience been like working with the band on this project?
WILLIAM: They've been great! They all have lives and jobs and kids and stuff like that, so it can be harder to get questions asked but it's to be expected. We want to make sure their vision is included. And now that we're officially launched, it’s game on.
NATHANIEL: The band are really wonderful down-to-earth folks, who have been supportive of where we want to go with this project and are eager to participate. There is nothing more difficult than trying to tell a story about someone that doesn't give a shit if their story is being told.
1120: Given the name ‘Snapcase: Legacy,’ what do you believe is the band’s legacy
on the hardcore genre?
WILLIAM: Snapcase embodies Buffalo in my opinion. You work your ass off in the freezing cold and good will come of it. There are a lot of bands that started 40 years ago and are no longer playing. And this band is still very special (to its members). It's not some sort of cash grab or vanity play; they love it. They love their fans and love their music. And they still get along!
NATHANIEL: There is a respect that peers and younger generations of music fans and bands have for Snapcase, be it their work ethic, their art produced or long-term influence.
1120: Thank you again for speaking with us. Is there anything you’d like to add that we haven’t covered?
WILLIAM: Thanks for having us and we look forward to getting this out! We are aiming for it to be done in October 2025 with screenings, festivals and physical/streaming releases immediately after. Stay tuned to snapcaselegacy.com and @snapcaselegacy on IG/FB/X. We think it's super important to be able to collect these stories and get them out into the world. We love Snapcase and are stoked to be doing this!
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