Exclusive: Dana Snyder talks to us about Squidbillies, New Season of ‘Aqua’, Outlands, and more!

What’s a good way to kick off the season premiers of Aqua TV Show Show and Squidbillies on August 11^th? How about an interview with one of the main voices on both shows, Mr. Dana Snyder? Snyder, the voice of Master Shake on ATSS and Granny on Squidbillies – in addition to numerous other TV credits – gave us some interesting background on his life, some teasers for upcoming seasons and projects, and told us what he’d really like to do with his voice talents.

Like most success stories, Dana Snyder needed a combination of talent, persistence, connections, and luck to initially break into the television industry. A thespian by trade, Snyder was exclusively performing live theater before he got the call for Aqua Teen prior to the show’s debut in 2000. “I went to college with a girl who went to high school with (Aqua co-creator) Dave Willis. He called her one day and said, ‘Do you know anybody who has a crazy voice? We’re doing this cartoon and we can’t find what we’re looking for.’ She recommended me and I got the job. It was the first thing I ever did for voice overs.”

Snyder admits he wasn’t pursuing voice acting in any way before Aqua, but it now makes up 80% of his work. Although he still has time to appear in stage productions of The Producers and, most recently, Fiddler on the Roof, he has clearly found his true calling in television voice work. In addition to numerous bit parts, Snyder regularly lends his vocal talent to The Venture Brothers, Fish Hooks, Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell, and the YouTube series Outlands, created by Adam De La Peña (Code Monkeys, I’m with Busey, The Man Show.)

“We’re old buddies,” Snyder said of De La Peña, with whom he has previously collaborated on a number of projects. “Adam’s great. He’s crazy, and working with him is just like hanging out with your buddy.”

For the shows premiering this Sunday, Snyder praised the new opening theme to Aqua TV Show Show by Flying Lotus. “It’s AWESOME,” he said. “A mellowy, jazzy, hip-hoppy theme. I even did some vocals on it.”

Some musical elements will be returning to Squidbillies as well, with the show going back to the basics, according to Snyder. “Back to what you liked about them in the first place – unless you didn’t like them in the first place. If you liked the second or third or fourth season instead, it’s going back to that,” he joked.

“If you like action, excitement, family bonding, money, excitement, explosions, people screaming at each other, people NOT screaming at each other – then you’ll love the new seasons of both shows. Oh, and car chases. Throw that in there too.”

Any good guest stars coming up? “I never even get to meet anyone because they record us all separately,” Snyder complained, laughing. “Dave Willis will say, ‘Hey man, it’s pretty awesome that we got George Clooney here.’ I’ll tell him, ‘Oh, I didn’t even get to meet him,’ and he’ll say, ‘Yeah, well, that’s because we scheduled you a little bit later.” In fact, sometimes Snyder doesn’t find out about guest stars until he actually sees the shows. “I’ll watch the episodes and be like, ‘Holy shit, they were in it?!”

“By the way,” he added, “we didn’t actually get George Clooney… or did we? I guess you’ll have to watch all season to find out.”

If you’re curious about some of Snyder’s favorite episodes, for Aqua Teen it’s “Handbanana” (season 4, episode 5). “People actually made stuffed animals of Handbanana – which is disturbing, but still awesome.” Snyder also enjoys “any time it’s the four of them (the Aqua Teens and Carl). Those are the funniest ones.”

For Squidbillies, he likes the “Ballmart” episode (season 6, episode 7) and “everything I’m in – being that I’m a narcissistic asshole,” he says in a way that presents himself as anything but. “Everybody Comes to Hank’s” (season 4, episode 12) is his favorite for Venture Brothers.

“I actually just recorded some new Venture Brothers, and I’m in a few new episodes of Superjail! that will be coming out soon.” Snyder added that he’s a huge fan of that show. “I love every episode of Superjail!”

So does he watch any other cartoons? “I like Gravity Falls and just watched an episode of High School USA. I saw the pilot of that new Adult Swim show, Mr. Pickles, which looks totally fucking amazing.” Having just reviewed the show, I got off on a bit of a tangent with Dana, and he mentioned that he just met the creators of the show. “Those guys look like quiet, normal, hipster dudes with crazy beards. They look like they’re into woodworking, making key chains in Brooklyn, not cartoons about satanic dogs that kill prostitutes. ‘Do you work with compost or start community gardens around the country? No: satanic dogs.’ It’s so crazy. I love it.”

He also caught some of King Star King, another new Adult Swim pilot, this one from Metalocalypse creator Tommy Blacha. “He’s one of the funniest people I ever met,” Snyder said of Blacha.

So is there anything else on the horizon? “We wrote a show for Comedy Central – a shortie – that’s part of the anthology series Trip Tank (from Robot Chicken producers Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico). A bunch of comedians are doing them. Nick Swardson is doing one, Larry David is doing one. We’re doing one called Suck It, Gary about three idiots who have an unjustifiable burning hatred for this guy named Gary, who is played by Paul Reiser. They constantly try to prank him and make him piss his pants. It’s coming out in the fall.”

Covering so many bases, is there anything else he really wants to do? “Pixar movies,” he said. “I really want todo a Pixar movie, and I can die happy after that.” Promising I’d push it in my article, he added, “Not a tiny part, either, something big. Don’t settle for a mid-level.” He’d also love to work with old school comedians, like Don Rickles. Hey, a part in Toy Story 4 would achieve both these goals!

So how about it, Pixar? Give a shout to Dana Snyder, one of the most talented voice artists in the business.

Too bad I don’t have nearly as much influence as he thinks I do…(Ed. note we DID just put our foot down and list the Ten Best Episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force 😉 )

@Gonzo_Green

Aqua TV Show Show and Squidbillies return this Sunday Night @ Midnight EST only on Adult Swim, check your local listings!