SNOT's MIKEY DOLING Explains Why He Won't Reveal Identity Of Band's New Singer Before First Comeback Concert

The reunited SNOT has announced three club shows in January and February 2025, leading up to the band's appearance at the Welcome To Rockville festival in May 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In addition to guitarists Mikey Doling and Sonny Mayo, bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock and drummer Jamie Miller, SNOT's 2025 lineup will include an as-yet-undisclosed new singer whose identity will not be officially revealed before SNOT plays its first reunion gigs early next year.

Asked in a new interview with The Kevin Powell Podcast how SNOT plans to announce its new vocalist, Doling said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Let him come on stage. That's it. And figure out who he is on your own. If he says his name, great. But the last thing I wanna do is go on the Internet and put his name out there, and then people go to his social media and whatnot and start scrutinizing him before he even gets on stage. Because that's what will happen. I mean, you're living in the shadow of the great Lynn Strait [SNOT's late vocalist]. So it's gonna be a rough road for him. He's gotta prove himself on stage first. And, we're giving him that comfort. 'Cause like I said, if I said his name right now, we'd have a lot of people just going right to his social media.

"But he's awesome," Doling continued. "Let me just say when he sent me his audition reels, tapes, recordings, I was blown away like I've never been blown away since [the demise of the original SNOT lineup]. And I sent it to Tumor first thing, my right arm, my bass player from SNOT. He usually doesn't like anything. He's very cynical. He's the greatest guy ever, he's my brother, but he's a cynical person at times. And he called me right away and just said, 'Holy shit balls.' That's a quote. 'Where'd you find this guy? We found our dude. We found him.' And that's how it went down. Then, of course, I sent it to Jamie and Sonny, and they both agreed he's the guy. And here he is. We got him."

SNOT disbanded in 1998 following Strait's death, putting an end to a career that generated considerable promise but only one studio album, "Get Some". The band had been writing material for its sophomore CD and had completed 10 songs at the time of Strait's tragic passing. As a memorial to Strait, SNOT eventually decided to release those tracks, with lyrics and guest vocals provided by a host of stars from the alt-metal community. The resulting album, "Strait Up", was a fitting tribute from Strait's peers and friends, featuring members of LIMP BIZKIT, KORN, SLIPKNOT, SEVENDUST, (HED) P.E., COAL CHAMBER, SUGAR RAY, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SOULFLY, and more.

SNOT in 2014 recruited Carl Bensley (VITIATE, CONSUME THE FIRE) to sing for the band following the departure of Tommy "Vext" Cummings (ex-DIVINE HERESY, BAD WOLVES).

Reflecting on SNOT's original split and 2014 comeback, Doling told The Kevin Powell Podcast: "Un-fucking-fortunately, our singer Lynn Strait, the great, mighty Lynn Strait, who I miss and love so much, he passed away in a car accident and it put a halt to SNOT. We just couldn't go on without him at that point. And so we stopped for many years. And then we kind of got back together with some friends, and it wasn't real serious — [we] just [played] some shows. I don't really wanna say their names right now, but they're cool people and they helped us out."

As for how SNOT's latest reunion is different from the band's 2014 comeback, Doling said: ""This one, it's serious. We're back-back. We got the booking agency. We got high-level shows and festivals. This is the real deal for us. We're back right now. And, yeah, that's where we are right now. And we're hungry to do it again. I'm very excited about it."

SNOT 2025 dates:

Jan. 17 - Anaheim, CA - The Parish at House Of Blues
Jan. 18 - San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick
Feb. 08 - Santa Barbara, CA - SohO
May 15-18 - Daytona Beach, FL - Daytona International Speedway (Welcome To Rockville)

Doling previously discussed SNOT's reunion during an appearance on an episode of the "Talk Toomey" podcast. Regarding how the band's comeback happened, Mikey said: "Well, let's see. About a year ago, I was seeing the festivals that were coming in 2024, and I was noticing there were so many bands out there from our genre. You have the COAL CHAMBERs, the MUDVAYNEs and just so many bands out there killing it. And I'm sitting there thinking, 'Man, SNOT, it's time that we get on board with this.' So I talked to the dudes. We didn't even have a singer at that point. So anyway, so I reached out to the band and said, 'Hey, man, I think we should find a singer and play some festivals and have some fun.' And they were, like, 'Yeah, well, we're in if you can find us the right singer.' So, I looked around for a while. I had no luck. But I kept looking. And then I reached out to Alex Gilbert over at TKO — it's our booking agency — and I asked him, I said, 'Hey, man, I'm currently looking for a vocalist. And if I put all this work into putting SNOT back together, would you be interested in booking some shows and festivals for us?' And he said, 'I'll put the feelers out there and let's see how it goes.' So, a year went by. I didn't hear anything back. I kind of thought, 'All right. No interest.' So about three months ago, Alex called me. So I'm looking at my phone, like, 'Whoa, it's Alex from TKO.' I answered and I asked him how he's doing. And he said, 'Hey, man, I'm getting a lot of interest for SNOT. It's a lot. Everybody I talk to wants the band.' So I told him, 'Look, man, we're into it.' I didn't even let him know we didn't have a singer yet at that point. And I said, 'Let me get back to you. I'll talk to the guys.' So I instantly jumped on social media for a little something about looking for a vocalist for SNOT. And I got a lot of response. I got, like, eight videos and audio of dudes who just didn't fit. What they did is they would sing with the album, 'Get Some', and it just didn't fit. So I almost kind of gave up. And so right there at the end, before I threw the towel in on the whole thing, a friend of mine from Santa Barbara hit me up, texted me and said, 'Hey, I found the guy for SNOT.' And, I was, like, 'Yeah, sure,' in my mind thinking, 'Yeah, yeah. Right. Right.' So I jumped on the phone with him — let's say it's a girl, with her — and she said, 'I saw a guy. He has a band. And he reminded me of Lynn. It was goosebumps,' she said. And I said, 'Cool.' And Lynn is one of his favorite all-time singers. So, she put me in contact with him. And, again, I asked him, I said, 'Look, we're looking for a singer. Do me a favor. Set up a camera, microphone and sing along to 'Get Some', our album. And so about three or four days go by and then I get some videos on my phone. So I'm watching the video, and immediately it just punched me in the face how good it was. I was, like, 'Wow, this is the guy.' What he did is he set up in front of his — he has a little rehearsal spot, drums and amps, and he put 'Get Some' through his P.A. system and he wrapped the cable from the microphone around his arm and laid into it as if he was doing a show. He did, like, five songs and he was absolutely incredible, nailing it. He looks right. He's got the whole punk vibe that we're looking for. And he just nailed it, man.

"Singing like Lynn Strait is not easy, man. And he absolutely fucking rocked it, to the point where I had to sit down; I was so blown away. And so I immediately contacted Tumor, John Fahnestock, bass player for SNOT. And Tumor, [he is the] best guy in the world, but [he] hates everything. I sent it to him, and he called me right away. He was, like, 'Dude, holy shit. You found our guy.' That was the first thing he said. 'Who is it? Is this real?' I was, like, 'It's real.' So then I sent it out to the rest of the guys, Jamie and Sonny, and, and yeah, boom, it's there."

Doling added: "So, I talked to the [singer] guy, which I'm not gonna give up his name yet. I'm gonna keep that on the DL [down low] right now for a while until we start doing some shows. People can figure it out on their own. I don't want them knowing too much yet. I wanna keep it tight for now. But anyway. So then I contacted Alex at TKO and he started talking to promoters and we're just getting 'yes', 'yes', 'yes' all over the place right now. And we're gonna start doing some shows, man."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lynn died in died in a car accident in December 1998 as he attempted to drive across Highway 101 in Mussel Shoals, California. The 30-year-old singer died instantly after his 1992 Ford Tempo was broadsided by a southbound full-size pickup truck about noon. Also killed was Strait's small bulldog, SNOT's mascot Dobbs, who adorned the cover of the band's debut album, the 1997 Geffen Records release "Get Some". Strait, a Santa Barbara resident, was crossing the highway after visiting his girlfriend in the community. Lynn apparently pulled into the path of the truck, which was going about 65 mph. The impact sent Strait's car spinning into the center divider where it stopped, a California Highway Patrol officer told the Los Angeles Times at the time.

SNOT's most recent U.S. tour, during which the band performed "Get Some" in its entirety, kicked off in late November 2014 in Palm Desert, California and wrapped in late December 2014 in Pomona, California.

Cummings fronted SNOT in 2008-2009 before he and guitarist Sonny Mayo exited the group amid "strained relationships."