Rising Star crawdad sniper Stops By To Reflect On Performances At Rendezvous And Orion Amphitheater, Discuss The Future Of Curated Events In A Tipper-less World & More [HIHF Interview]

Back in 2021, Zac Kassay—better known in the underground bass music scene as crawdad sniper—was starting to get his feet wet in finding his sound and playing local shows in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore region. Over the next couple of years, local fans and other bass music enthusiasts throughout the country began to notice that these sounds were a fun combination of weird, bouncy, and incredibly well-constructed. There was a feeling in the air that something special was brewing.

Fast forward to 2023’s Tipper & Friends event at Suwannee, where things started to become very interesting for the D.C.-based producer. During the final night of the festival, a large crowd of attendees flocked to the Charity Sound System renegade, which hosted a bunch of insane producers throughout the weekend to throw down sets on their powerful HSD rig. Unbeknownst to many people in the crowd, crawdad sniper took the stage and threw down what several attendees called one of their top sets of the entire weekend.

After that T&F event, things began to really take off. People in various artist fan groups on Facebook were commenting everything from “Who is the crawfish guy at the renegade set everyone is talking about???” to “This guy hit us with the 360-no scope!” to getting tagged in a plethora of “Who Do You Want To See At [Insert Festival] This Year?” posts. This clearly caught the attention of many promoters around the country as crawdad sniper began a wild journey for the remainder of 2023, playing festivals such as: Sound Haven, Elements, Submersion, Infrasound Equinox, and Big Dub.

This year, the momentum has only continued to skyrocket. Earlier this year, crawdad embarked on his first official tour with Charles Nimbus and Chez: “The 3 Of A Kind Tour”. He also continued to stack big-time bookings, with performances at: the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama for Tipper & Friends over Labor Day Weekend; Rendezvous at Suwannee; Sound Haven and Infrasound Equinox for the second consecutive year; and Fam Fest in Maine.

There are truly no limits to crawdad sniper’s range. With a background in playing the drums, he allows the melodies and bass sound design to come to him after laying down these tight, well-polished rhythmic foundations. It’s evident that his production has gained a ton of applause and respect, with official releases on forward-thinking labels such as: The Rust, Colony Productions, Qualia Records, and Six Star Records.

We were fortunate enough to catch up with crawdad sniper throughout the year and learn a little bit more about the name that is bringing a seriously refreshing approach to bass music. In this interview with Heard It Here First, we dive into crawdad’s performances at Rendezvous and Orion, touring with his two best friends and fellow talented producers, the future of curated events in a world sans Tipper, and so much more.

At the end of the interview, be sure to give crawdad a follow on socials to stay up to date on all of his latest announcements. We hope you enjoy this conversation with one of our favorite rising stars!

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HIHF: Thanks so much for taking some time to speak with us! You have one of the more unique artist names out there right now. Tell us a little bit about where it originated from!

CS: The name “crawdad sniper” was actually my original gamertag on Xbox. That’s the short, clean answer. The longer answer is that I had a lot of different names before crawdad; when I decided that I was going to take music more seriously, I kept sifting through these different monikers and trying to determine what resonated with me. I kept coming back to my Xbox gamertag, crawdad sniper, as it was the one that consistently resonated with me the most. I would spend too much time cringing at anything else I came up with and had already spent years being crawdad sniper, so it felt like a natural fit at that point because I was so used to the absurdity.

HIHF: That’s a great origin story! What were you involved in musically that eventually led to what you’re making now as crawdad sniper?

CS: When I was growing up, I played the drums starting at nine years old. I took lessons for about three years and was playing strictly in bands. I never really listened to electronic music in high school to be honest. I remember getting Ableton in 2015 because I was really interested in songwriting. I remember when I found out Gorillaz was just one dude, and was like, “Damn, I can do this all in my bedroom?” One of my biggest drumming influences is the drummer of Toto, Jeff Porcaro. In fact, a lot of my songs have used the “Rosanna Shuffle” drum pattern from their hit song, “Rosanna”.

It wasn’t until 2016 that my college roommate (and fellow collaborator) Dhananjaya took me to my first electronic dance music show. We were going to everything—it was a lot of heavy dubstep, a lot of house, just really anything. 2020 was really the year that I started figuring out what music I liked to make. I tried making Partica-style trap music for such a long time, but the bounce that I was getting was more akin to a hip hop beat. And then I just kept making it and really enjoyed the result.

HIHF: Earlier this year, you made your mainstage debut at Suwannee as part of the Rendezvous event. Tell us a little bit about what it was like to share the stage with so many incredible artists, many of whom you are now friends with!

CS: That weekend overall was magical. Those events are what inspired me to pursue this dream in the first place, so to play a set on the same stage as some of my biggest inspirations was so special. I was pretty nervous going into this set because of all of the time and prep that went into it; plus, I just couldn’t stop thinking about where I was performing this set. That being said, I felt more calm on the day I was set to play. I think I became a lot more comfortable after seeing the homie Ooga crush his set right before mine and just seeing the energy that the crowd was giving him. I was playing a pretty high-energy set earlier in the day, so it was very comforting to see how receptive the crowd was already at that point.

This was also a very big full-circle moment for me because last year at the same festival (when it was Tipper & Friends at Suwannee), I played a renegade set on the Charity Sound System to my biggest crowd yet at that point. I feel like that was a huge milestone for me in terms of getting to play to a truly receptive audience. And then to think that, fast forward a year later, I’m playing the mainstage amphitheater with some of my biggest inspirations? It’s just a really cool feeling. And not only was that a full-circle moment for me, but it was also a full-circle moment for the people that got to witness both the renegade set in 2023 and this year’s mainstage set. It feels like all of us have been on this journey together, so that’s really special.

HIHF: Speaking of Tipper, you recently played the latest Tipper & Friends event in Alabama over Labor Day Weekend. How did it feel to have that trust and support from the Tipper team to open up Orion Amphitheater on Night One? Tell us a little bit about that experience.

CS: It’s truly an honor. To play an event where you’re playing into a Tipper set–especially one of this caliber–definitely hit differently. It’s really everything that I’ve been shooting and hoping for since I decided to start taking this music stuff seriously. I remember back in 2021, at the Detox Unit and Jade Cicada Kings Theatre event, I had this corny little moment during Keota where I just turned to my friend and said, “I want to be part of the next generation of people doing this”. So, it’s really cool to see that manifestation play out.

I played an almost all-original set that weekend (besides one Maxfield ID). I wanted to showcase all the new stuff I’ve been working on over the past year, then after I put the set together I realized I only included three released songs haha.

I honestly struggle to find the words to properly say “Thank You” to everyone for supporting me and making this, and other opportunities like Rendezvous, possible. I often come up short when trying to find the words, so instead I pour it into the music.

HIHF: It was a joy to witness that set at Orion. With this impending Tipper retirement on the horizon, have you gotten together with some of these other artists to discuss the future in terms of how curated events might look? What direction do you see these types of events heading in the next couple of years?

CS: I think, for starters, events like Rendezvous are going to continue to happen. The team behind Rendezvous has even said “we plan to do this again and again”, but I have no insight into how it will all be organized and run. To be honest with you, I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that these people, who I have the utmost respect for as artists and musicians, also respect me as a musician. I’m still getting used to seeing my name on the same flyers as a lot of these people. So while I don’t necessarily know what the scene is going to look like once Tipper retires, I still think people are going to be looking for events of that nature and scale. We need to lean into our local promoters and scenes that are doing cool shit and grow with them.

Obviously, this is not going to happen overnight. You can’t ask artists to up their production game in the span of a year to reach a level of skill and talent similar to Tipper, but you also can’t ask the fans to coalesce around one individual artist that fast either. That takes years, even decades to do. People will latch on to the artists that they care about. I think the artists need to put in the same amount of work and passion to show that they also care about keeping this thing going for as long as possible.

Just because there is this “gap” on the horizon doesn’t mean it can’t be filled. It just means we need to think elsewhere. People still want events that are big and, within our sub-genre, we simply don’t have the artist that is that big, so how are we going to be able to throw an event that big without having an artist that big involved? We can’t ask for it to happen overnight, but we can invest and grow into the things that we care about so that they can reach that level eventually.

We also need to think of other ways to get new names involved and into the rotation of events. If you have been involved in this Tipper scene for a while, it’s easy to get caught up in the “keep things sacred” gatekeep-y jargon that you see every now and then online; however, letting these new names in is how you’re able to keep growing as a scene. And new artists are always great, but just as important are the new fanbases that they bring with them. We need new people—both artists and fanbases—to care about this stuff in order for it to continue and grow.

HIHF: That’s super well-said and I definitely agree that tapping into local promoters and communities will play a big role in keeping this kind of stuff going. Switching gears a bit, you embarked on your first official tour earlier this year with two of your good friends—and very talented producers—Charles Nimbus and Chez. Tell us a little bit about your experience getting to play all of these new cities with those guys. Were there any stops in particular that blew you away?

CS: Yes, the “3 Of A Kind Tour” was incredible! I have so much love for Charlie and Drew. The tour was especially fulfilling because no matter where we were playing, I knew I was going to have a great time because I was doing it with those two. Just sharing the stage with those guys was so special. I feel like our music flows very well together, so transitioning from one artist to the next made it feel like it was a more cohesive show. I think we had around eight stops total, including an official b3b in Baltimore.

From left to right: Chez, Charles Nimbus, crawdad sniper

The entire experience was amazing and also very new because it was the first time that we got to hit all of these new markets. It was also the first time that we were able to throw our very own show, so doing it the way we wanted made a big difference. The fans bought tickets to actually come see us play, it wasn’t like we were supporting another artist. While that added a new level of pressure, it quickly turned into reassurance once we saw how many people were coming out to these shows. There was always a good feeling between all three of us after we left each city. It was also great to connect with so many new people around the country and see how they get down.

My favorite stop had to be the Black Box in Denver. It’s such a legendary venue and always an honor to play there. Some of the wildest crowd energy I’ve seen, too. We brought out Sqonk and Ginseng to open up the night and they absolutely smashed it. People were getting down from doors to close!

Another one of my favorite stops on the tour was Detroit. I think the combination of the venue and the hospitality of the Further Frequencies crew out there made that particular stop super special. That’s also where I first met Courtney (Unorthodox Aura), who did the merch run for Wobble Factory. It’s so funny, she was also doing artist hospitality that night and I had mentioned that I was looking for an artist to do a merch run. She then asked if she could take a shot at it and the rest is history. It’s so cool how that all came together. And when the official Wobble Factory announcement dropped, half of the comments were like “GO COURTNEY!!” so it was awesome to see the love that she was getting on that post.

HIHF: That’s so cool! There’s really nothing better than a “right place at the right time” moment like that, and the merch drop was very fresh. So, when you were traveling with Charles and Chez, did you ever have time to work on any music together? Do you guys have any music that you’re planning to release together?

CS: There were a couple times throughout the tour where we would start on some ideas, but nothing really got finished and ready to play out. We didn’t really have a lot of down time to sit down and write music together because once a show was over, we’d either hang out with the promoters for a little after the show or we would have to head to the airport to go to the next show. For three people, I think we would need to be in a studio to really write music together because it can be difficult between three people to get into a good flow and bounce a track around.

Chez and I actually have an EP that is like 90% finished. We’ve been playing out some of those tracks for the last couple of years or so. There are just some things that need to be fine-tuned and polished before that EP sees a release.

HIHF: It’s been one heck of a year for you and we can’t thank you enough for taking some time to speak with us! Anything else our readers should know about you?

CS: A lot of new music is in the works and I’m excited to share some very soon!

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We can’t wait to hear what’s next from crawdad sniper! Take a look at some of the shows that he has announced so far for this Fall below. Let us know if you plan on seeing crawdad sniper later this year in the comments below or on our social media!