Frédérik Durand (born 4 May 1988), professionally known as SNAILS, is a DJ and music producer from Montreal, Canada. Durand's musical style has been described as "vomitstep", featuring "guttural bass gurgles, crushing 808s and synthesizers oscillated well past the point of absurdity" according to ''Billboard''. In March 2024 Durand was awarded $1.5 million in an Alberta defamation lawsuit for false accusations of being a sexual predator by Michaela Higgins, a resident of California who had never met him.

Career

2012-2016: Early career

Durand's first tracks, including his debut release "Bubble Gun", appeared online in 2012 through Canadian label Kannibalen Records. He began collaborating with artists such as

Flux Pavilion Joshua Kiekegaard Grant Steele (born 15 January 1989), known professionally as Flux Pavilion, is an English EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and label owner. He started performing in 2008. Flux Pavilion has headlined three US tours, two UK ...

and

Jack Ü Jack Ü was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of electronic music producers Skrillex and Diplo, formed in 2013. They released their first official single, "Take Ü There", featuring vocals from Kiesza, on October 4, 2014. They re ...

and had frequent plays from

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

and other notable DJs. In 2014, Snails released two singles, "Wild" and "Pump This", and made his first US concert appearances. In 2015, Durand performed at

EDC Las Vegas EDC or EdC may refer to: Education * East Devon College, in Tiverton, Devon, England * EDC Paris Business School, a French business school * Education Development Center, an American educational organization * Department for Education (South A ...

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and

Electric Forest Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events, with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Originally named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at ...

, and released a single titled "King Is Back". He continued releasing music through multiple labels, including several releases on Skrillex's

Owsla Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...

imprint.

2016–2020: Tours

In early 2016, Durand embarked on the North American Enter Slugz City Tour as direct support for

Flosstradamus Flosstradamus is the stage name of American DJ and musician Curt Cameruci. From 2007 until 2016, Flosstradamus consisted of Cameruci and Josh Young from Chicago. The duo announced they would both be pursuing solo careers, with Cameruci to continu ...

, as well as playing festival sets at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

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and

. Durand also briefly toured Asia, performing at numerous venues and festivals in China, Japan, and Taiwan. To close out 2016, Durand toured through Australia with

Jauz Samuel Reed Vogel (born September 2, 1993) also known by his stage name Jauz ( ), is an American DJ and electronic music producer. He founded his own record label, Bite This, in 2017. Early life Vogel grew up in Mill Valley, California. He be ...

and

Slushii Julian Michael Scanlan (born May 1, 1997), known professionally as Slushii, is an American musician, DJ, songwriter, and music producer based in Los Angeles. He is best known for working with various artists managed by Moe Shalizi, such as Marsh ...

on the Touch Bass traveling festival. The final Snails show of 2016 took place in Denver, Colorado at Decadence Music Festival. He hosted his own festival, Sluggtopia, at Red Rocks in October 2017. In May 2017, Durand and Botnek collaborated on a single "Waffle House" released on

, with an accompanying music video. On 29 August 2017, Snails released the song "Into the Light", and on October 20, 2017, he released his album titled ''The Shell''. Through 2020 he was performing 125 to 150 club nights a year.

2020 - present

In 2020 an Instagram account began posting accusations of serious sexual impropriety His income dropped from close to $3 million in 2018 to a loss of $138,000 in 2022. In 2023 he performed 15 shows. In March 2024 he won a $1.5 million defamation judgement passed by Justice

Nicholas Devlin Nicholas Devlin (born September 30, 1971) is a Canadian jurist and former federal prosecutor. He is currently a Justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta. Devlin served as law clerk for Justice Jack Major of the Supreme Court of Canada ...

against his accuser in Alberta court.

Discography

Albums

* 2017: The Shell * 2018: Slimeageddon * 2022: Helix

Extended plays

* 2019 World of Slime

Singles

* 2018: "Snailephant" (with

Wooli Adam Puleo, better known by his alias Wooli, is an American briddim, riddim and dubstep DJ and producer. He is known for the songs "Island" and " Another Me", with the prior being a collaboration with American dubstep producers Seven Lions an ...

) * 2018: "Follow Me" (with

Adventure Club Adventure Club is a Canadian electronic dance music duo composed of Christian Srigley and Leighton James, based out of Montreal, Quebec. The duo began as a hardcore punk, hardcore pop punk, pop-punk band before venturing into electronic dance m ...

featuring Sara Diamond) * 2019: "Jackhammer" (with Krimer) * 2019: "RKO" (featuring Rico Act) * 2019: "Snailclops" (with Subtronics) * 2021: "Slime Zone"

Remixes

* 2021: Hi I'm Ghost — "Death Rail" (Snails Slime Rail Remix)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snails 1988 births Living people Canadian DJs Canadian electronic musicians Musicians from Quebec People from Lanaudière Monstercat artists Owsla artists Electronic dance music DJs