Tasty bunch keeps ’em coming back for more

Snapper and the Fishsticks, a regular to clubs in the Houma, Thibodaux and Gonzales areas, have entertained audiences and performed on the local scene for the last five years, playing everything from alternative rock covers to ’80s Retro, alternative dance, funk, party and even original songs.

Chackbay’s Jacob Naquin, aka Snapper, serves as the lead vocalist and plays guitar. The Fishsticks, all south Louisiana natives, include drummer Matt Dunn of Gonzales, lead guitarist Pete Cassagne from the West Bank, bass guitar player Miles Cortez from Chackbay and keyboardist Nic Schaff from Gramercy.

The group started out as most bands do, a group of friends hanging out, having a good time.

While at Nicholls State University, Naquin, 25, a liberal arts major, and Cassagne, 26, a math major, would get together with friends a couple times a week and hold jam sessions in their dorm.

One night, Naquin’s cousin, who plays for the Generics (another south Louisiana cover band), asked the group to open for the Generics at an area club. The band accepted and prepared to take the stage for their first live performance.

Their first priority: coming up with a name.

“One night we were playing and we decided to go get something to eat,” Naquin said. “When we went to Wal-Mart, all they had to eat was fish sticks. It began as a joke, but before we went onstage they asked us what we call ourselves, and we said Snapper and the Fishsticks.”

“Obviously the name stuck,” he said, chuckling. That was around 2003 and, today, the group is still going strong.

Along the way, the band continued to play local gigs while learning new songs and practicing at least once a week. “We have guys from different places in the band so we try to practice at everyone’s house at least once,” Naquin said. “It all depends on which place is available.”

The only membership change came two years ago when one of the Fishsticks – the bass player – moved on to bigger things.

Naquin found his replacement, Cortez, 21, living next door in Chackbay. He and Schaff, 21, both joined the band nearly a year ago.

According to Naquin, both contribute their own style to the band.

“Miles (Cortez, who majors in government at L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College) fits in really well; he is really talented,” Naquin said. “Nic (Schaff) gives us something different. We never had a keyboard player, so when he joined we were able to add more songs that we couldn’t play before.”

Naquin added, “He (Schaff) is probably the best musician in the band because he has a degree in music. He is really good at what he does.”

As the frontman in Snapper and the Fishsticks, Naquin said he never imagined playing the guitar. In fact, he never touched a guitar until he reached college, where he was a baseball player for the Colonels.

“I used to be a drummer,” he said. “I was in band and played drums in school. When I was in college, I would hang out with teammates on the baseball team and we would pick up the guitar. That’s how I learned, because of Nicholls.”

As far as influences go, Snapper and the Fishsticks list a variety of bands from different music backgrounds. Performers like Better Than Ezra, 311, O.A.R., Jack Johnson, Marvin Gaye, Dispatch, Matchbox 20, John Mayer and G Love are just a few of the many artists that have left their mark on the five band mates.

But the group’s bond goes way beyond the types of music they enjoy playing.

“Our band has a very close relationship with one another,” Naquin said. ” We probably all speak to each other at least every other day – not just about music, but about everyday life. We are all very close friends outside of music and I think that’s what makes it so fun.”

Naquin added, “Just because my name is in the title of the band does not mean that I am the main part of the band. The other guys in the band are just as important, if not more, than myself. They just don’t have a catchy nickname.”

Despite so many cover songs to choose from, the band prefers to perform their originals, such as “Lost My Mind.”

“It’s awesome watching people who have followed us sing our songs that we have written,” Naquin said. “That’s the greatest part about performing in front of people, being able to play our own stuff in between the cover songs.”

With the full band in place, Snapper and the Fishsticks are looking to expand their horizon. There’s talk of recording a CD, which would include band originals.

“There is no timetable, but it would be nice to have one out in the future,” Naquin said. “Right now, this is just a hobby. It’s what we love to do. Maybe one day we can move on to better things.”

In the meantime, fans can catch Snapper and the Fishsticks on June 14 at Last Call in Thibodaux; June 28 at Parkplace in Houma; or July 12 at the Piazza Bar in Houma.