Squeeze the Squid Interview

Squeeze the Squid are a three-piece funk-rock band in the vein of Frank Zappa and Primus that are keeping Alabama weird! They are actively touring and promoting a new LP – Black Jawn Brown. We interviewed them to learn more about their origins and boundary-pushing progress in the realm of live music.

Thanks for speaking with Harbinger Magazine! Who are the members of Squeeze the Squid?

Slady Squid – Bass and vocals
Barrakuda Bransky – Guitar
Ronnie – Drums

What type of equipment do you guys use?

G&L 2000 Bass. Gallien-Krueger MB 115 combo bass amp. Alesis SR-16 drum machine. Fender Stratocaster and a Marshall DSL40CR.

When/Where did the band form and under what circumstances?

I started Squid back in Oregon. Unfortunate family circumstances forced me to relocate back down South, where I grew up. Found a cool spot to land in Athens, GA.

Most of the current lineup met at Nuci’s Space in Athens, Georgia in the fall of 2020. Nuci’s is a spot where musicians rent out band rehearsal rooms. I volunteered there and got introduced to a drummer. Drummer had posted an ad to the bulletin board, looking for people to jam. A guitarist reached out to play. Drummer dude invites me. It’s like a blind date for people trying to create the next great band. Drummer and I meet in the room and start to set everything up. In walks this shy young chap with an egg carton taped to his guitar amp. Love at first sight… We jammed around and I thought it was going well. The guitarist, David, (aka Barrakuda Bransky) accuses us of being stoned due to how slow we’re playing. I accuse him of being a Narc. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

You have a really cool energetic and funky vibe – who are some of the influences on your sound?

We are into different stuff but definitely have crossovers. Slady is really into Ween, Primus, the Butthole Surfers, and Meat Puppets. Barrakuda is huge into Van Halen, Pantera, Al Di Meola and Smash Mouth.

We share some crossover with early Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed etc. We are both huge fans of Morphine. FUN FACT: Barrakuda is related to the late great Mark Sandman himself.

Ronnie brings the funk influence with his affinity for James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic.

You have been playing a lot of shows as of late, where have you been playing exactly?

We moved up to Richmond, VA and played locally and hit some regional spots… DC, Philly, Roanoke, Norfolk etc. Moved back down south together at the end of 2025 and are playing Birmingham, AL and hitting all the regional spots (Huntsville, Memphis, Tupelo, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Asheville) etc.

I’ve seen footage of some live shows, how important are visuals and theatrics in your performances? I love the squid hat, by the way…

Thanks! Much love. Being theatrical is vital. We are entertainers foremost. Keeping the crowd engaged is important and we do our best to create a great escape for those in attendance.

Do you have any fun tales from the road to share?!

While setting up for a show in Huntsville, we realize Slady forgot the power supply for the drum machine. Barrakuda had to drive an hour south to meet my lovely fiance at a Cracker Barrel in the middle of nowhere Alabama. I stuck behind and tried to convince the venue owner to not execute me for being such a ding dong. The owner was totally cool but I was sweating my freakin tentacles off. We were expected to play a 3 hour set. Barrakuda returns 45 min after our start time and we played 3 hours straight and delivered one of our best performances. I joke that we should forget items more often.

You have a new album in the works. Please tell us about that.

Black Jawn Brown. It’s currently being mixed and mastered. We linked up with some excellent audio engineers to create an exceptional product. Justin Jackley got recommend to us as an album artist. He created a freakin masterpiece.

We recorded BJB in an alleyway on a converted bus studio. We were in one of the rougher neighborhoods, close to the Race track. Our friend gutted an old winnebago type thang and turned it into a recording studio. It was close quarters and didn’t have enough room for drums. Thankfully the day of, we decided to record the first part of the album with the drum machine… which ultimately turned into the proper approach for each song. We were the guinea pigs there. No one had recorded in that setting. Had an absolute blast. Sketchy people walking up and down the alley probably wondering what the hell was going on inside. We had a great time.