Partly because of their past associations with bands such as Quickspace, Stereolab, Supersport and My Bloody Valentine, but equally because of the excellence of their debut single, "Easy Way Down", Snowpony found it easy to attract early media interest when they arrived at the end of 1996. The project was formed by Katharine Gifford (vocals/keyboards), Max Corradi (drums) and Debbie Googe (b. 1962, England; bass). Gifford, formerly keyboard player for Stereolab, had abandoned the first incarnation of Snowpony to tour as replacement vocalist for Moonshake during 1996. She left a tape behind with Googe, who had left My Bloody Valentine just a few months earlier. Googe wrote new basslines and helped Gifford recruit Corradi, who left Quickspace, after "business disagreements". The trio made its debut at the Garage in London shortly thereafter. "Easy Way Down" was released on their own See No Evil label, and was followed by The Little Girls Understand EP, for the Rough Trade Records Singles Club. Two years later their brooding and atmospheric debut album, recorded with John McEntire of Tortoise, finally appeared.
Corradi subsequently left the band and was replaced by former Moonshake drummer Kevin Bass, and ex-Echobelly guitarist Debbie Smith was added to the line-up in 1999. After parting company with Radioactive, the second Snowpony album was issued via the band's own Dead Pan Alley label in 2001. Sea Shanties For Spaceships made good use of Smith's guitar work in the creation of a more cohesive follow-up to their debut album. The quartet has continued to record new music when other commitments allow, with a number of tracks made available for download from the Snowpony website.
