Silver Snakes’ Alex Estrada: “Vegans get real excited about food”

Interview by Jason Schreurs

Back in the day, the prospect of touring in a band while being vegan was daunting, to say the least. But, according to Silver Snakes vocalist/guitarist Alex Estrada, touring on a vegan diet isn’t nearly as difficult as it used to be. Let’s not say it’s exactly a dairy- and egg-free cakewalk just yet, but at least venues and promoters have a better understanding of different bands’ dietary needs. And with vegan restaurant options in nearly every major city in North America now, and the band’s dedication to cooking their own food on the road, Estrada and the rest of Silver Snakes (who are vegetarian) aren’t starving out there or anything.

We recently chatted with Estrada about being a touring vegan.

I know it’s way easier than it used to finding vegan options when on tour, but what do you do when you’re on the road? Do you just scope out places beforehand?
It’s been real easy for the last few years. I’ve been vegan for six years now, and vegetarian for 11. I’ve made a lot of friends around the country. Vegans are so… it sounds kind of bad, but I hate associating myself with them, for the most part, because they’re kind of the best and the worst at the same time, because they can be annoying as all hell. But the one perk to that is as soon as someone knows you’re vegan, they assume you’re best friends, so when we leave for tour vegans just come out of the woodwork. They’re like, “You guys should try this place, I’m going to take you to this place…” Vegans get real excited about food, so you never really have to worry about being lost when you’re on tour. Unless you’re in the middle of some shit-ass town, obviously you might be stuck without a lot of options. The other guys in the band are vegetarian and they will eat vegan a lot when we’re on tour, and that really helps out as well. None of the guys in the band are into fast food. One of the guys is super against GMOs, so he just won’t eat any processed stuff or gas station food, so that forces us to do a lot of our own shopping. Whenever we’re in a big city we just stock up on groceries at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or whatever.

So you’re actually able to stick with your diet on the road, the same way you would at home?
We really do. We cook a lot on the road as well. We have a small crock pot that we’ll take with us on the road, or a rice cooker, and I’ll make curry backstage while we’re doing the soundcheck. It’s pretty ridiculous at this point. We’ll do anything to save money and not have to abandon our diets. No one wants to get sick while they’re on tour, and the one thing that contributes the most to that is food poisoning. Like, if you eat at a Chinese buffet in North Carolina, of course you’re going to get sick. So we try to be in charge of our food as much as possible. Even when venues get us stuff, half the time they’ll be like, “Oh, here’s a cheese pizza and some French fries.” It’s a nice gesture but if it’s going to make us sick, we’re not going to be able to keep going.

Have you had trouble with promoters and venues, trying to get them to understand what you need?
Nothing that has taken some real pushing to get results. A lot of the dudes on our last tour were vegetarian, and I was the only vegan, and there was one venue we showed up to, maybe in Pittsburgh or Philly or something, and there was no hospitality there, so we’re just waiting on getting a buyout for a few bucks to go and get whatever at a place nearby. But then they brought out this giant tray of chicken tenders and mac and cheese, like straight out of a cafeteria kids’ meal from god knows when. It looked real bad. And everyone just kind of shrugged and went, “Damn, this sucks,” but dove straight in, because it is what it is. I was the only one who was like, “Yo, I can’t eat this.” I’m not the guy to go up and ask for anything to eat that was special for me. I usually do a lot of research beforehand, so I always feel awkward going up to these people and asking them to accommodate my lifestyle. But that was one time that I had to. And they were really cool about it. The promoter came up to me himself and asked if I was the vegan, then handed me a few bucks and told me to go get whatever I want.

So you’re not the pushy vegan, by any means?
No. I’m very outspoken about my own beliefs on it and what I think is right and wrong, and I will definitely wear that proud. But to go directly in the face of someone else and be preachy to them is not something that I’m into. It’s never really helped in the past and I don’t think it will help in the future.

Do you have a favourite vegan cookbook author?
When I first became vegan I was really into Isa Chandra Moskowitz, she did Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomincon and pretty much all of the bibles of vegan cooking. That was the original basis of when I got into cooking as a vegan, but I really like to cook so I just use the internet a lot. I like a lot of ethnic food. I cook a lot of Thai food. I recently got really in to making a lot of Ethiopian food, South American food… I’m Mexican, so, naturally I like to make a lot of Mexican food as well. I like figuring it out myself most of the time, but I always am interested in the basis of it all, and technical parts of cooking, and the way sauces work, and spices and all of that stuff, so sometimes I turn to books for that.

There might another career in here for you somewhere. I have a friend who works on movie sets and whenever a vegan actor comes onto set, he’s the guy they ask to take them out for dinner. Maybe you could be a guide for the big rock bands that have vegan members?
See, that’s what I’m saying; that’s how vegans are. As soon as they find out you’re a vegan, too, they feel like you’re this weird shaman that has a knowledge of this world. Anytime a friend or a family member is thinking of going vegan or doing a meatless Mondays, or for some reason some people think being vegan and gluten-free are the same thing, but they’ll hit me up, or ask me where to go. I have a friend from Australia right now who’s touring the US for a course and every city she stops in, she calls me up and asks, “Where do I go? Where do I go?” I’ve been on so many tours by now that I know exactly where to go and what’s worth eating in each city, which is really cool knowledge to have at this point.

Silver Snakes‘ Year of the Snake is out now on Bridge Nine Records.