Deer Park Avenue links band sisters Sarah and Stephanie Snyder to Long Island
Sisters Sarah, left, and Stephanie Snyder of the band Deer Park Avenue are spreading their love for Babylon Town throughout Europe. Credit: Florian Sievi
What’s in a name?
For Switzerland-based sisters Sarah and Stephanie Snyder, their band name — Deer Park Avenue — is a nod to a central street in their hometown, and to a time when they first learned to play in a band and their true selves began to take shape.
"There’s all this stuff about growing up on Long Island that’s so much more than just the music," Sarah said. "It was where we found our identity. It was those crucial ages where you’re trying to figure out who you are. We feel really fortunate that we got to find that there."
Through their band name, the sisters are spreading their love for Babylon Town throughout Europe, with their latest album hitting the Top 20 in Switzerland last month. They’re hoping that success will bring them home to the United States to tour, with a special stop on Long Island.
"We would love to come back and play," Stephanie said.
The sisters moved to Babylon Village from California when they were 7 and 10 and their father, the Rev. John I. Snyder, 79, took a position as pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
The sisters took vocal lessons and Sarah learned the guitar while Stephanie began playing the drums. It wasn’t long before the pastor decided music would be a good way to attract youth to the church and the sisters, now in their 30s, began playing there weekly.
"It was so much fun and we had a gig every Sunday," Sarah said.
The sisters’ mom, Shirin Snyder, who travels with them as a social media manager and "mom-ager" when they’re touring, said her girls always displayed natural musical ability.
"God has gifted them with this talent and they just really picked it up so fast," she said.
The sisters played their debut "concert" in the living room of their house. The first concert they saw was Ringo Starr at Westbury Music Fair.
"All the stories that we have of just starting out with music, they’re all from Long Island," Sarah said.
The sisters fondly remember their lessons at Positions Dance Studio on Deer Park Avenue and hanging out with friends at Mulberry Street Pizzeria on Main Street. After church on Sundays they would stop at Gemelli’s and pick up sandwiches.
"The food is just so good on Long Island," Stephanie said, making note of the bagels, cannoli and pizza. "There’s no pizza like Long Island pizza."
The family lived in Babylon Town for seven years before moving to Switzerland, then back to California, then Virginia, then California again, then Germany. The sisters continued to play music as a band.
While in Virginia in 2015, the pair on a lark entered a tristate battle of the bands at the Hard Rock Café in Washington, D.C. They won the competition, which got them attention from someone at the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards, and they were asked to join.
That was when the pair decided on Deer Park Avenue, or DPA, as their band name.
"We moved around so much in our lives and wherever we were, music was that grounding force for us," Sarah said. "Deer Park Avenue was the street that ran through the middle of our lives. It was all the stuff that we loved and that felt warm and felt like a neighborhood, and we hope that our music feels like a neighborhood for people who maybe don’t feel like they belong."
The name is fitting, their father said, calling the Babylon years their happiest time together as a family. The name is also widely recognized, he said.
"We meet people all the time, even in Germany, who know exactly where Deer Park Avenue is," he said.
Family friend Michele Graham, 59, of Brightwaters, said she was taken aback when she learned of the band’s name.
"I was actually surprised because it’s an odd name for a band, but I think it’s great," she said. "It leads them back to their roots."
The sisters describe their music as a mix of genres, including grunge, indie-rock and synth-pop. The pair’s first album, Conscious Mess, came out just as the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began and got little traction.
But by last year, their music career began to soar. They played the renowned SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and the famed Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, which features more than 600 concerts. They also toured in support of Switzerland’s popular rock artist Seraina Telli.
Their second album, Crucible, which was released in November, made the Top 20 in Switzerland in January, they said.
Now, aside from the street itself, when Deer Park Avenue is Googled, the band is the first result.
"When we moved to Long Island we fell in love with it," Stephanie said. "There’s something really special about it and it’s been in our hearts ever since. It’ll always be in our hearts."
What’s in a name?
For Switzerland-based sisters Sarah and Stephanie Snyder, their band name — Deer Park Avenue — is a nod to a central street in their hometown, and to a time when they first learned to play in a band and their true selves began to take shape.
"There’s all this stuff about growing up on Long Island that’s so much more than just the music," Sarah said. "It was where we found our identity. It was those crucial ages where you’re trying to figure out who you are. We feel really fortunate that we got to find that there."
Through their band name, the sisters are spreading their love for Babylon Town throughout Europe, with their latest album hitting the Top 20 in Switzerland last month. They’re hoping that success will bring them home to the United States to tour, with a special stop on Long Island.
"We would love to come back and play," Stephanie said.
The sisters moved to Babylon Village from California when they were 7 and 10 and their father, the Rev. John I. Snyder, 79, took a position as pastor at First Presbyterian Church.
The sisters took vocal lessons and Sarah learned the guitar while Stephanie began playing the drums. It wasn’t long before the pastor decided music would be a good way to attract youth to the church and the sisters, now in their 30s, began playing there weekly.
"It was so much fun and we had a gig every Sunday," Sarah said.
The sisters’ mom, Shirin Snyder, who travels with them as a social media manager and "mom-ager" when they’re touring, said her girls always displayed natural musical ability.
"God has gifted them with this talent and they just really picked it up so fast," she said.
The sisters played their debut "concert" in the living room of their house. The first concert they saw was Ringo Starr at Westbury Music Fair.
"All the stories that we have of just starting out with music, they’re all from Long Island," Sarah said.
The sisters fondly remember their lessons at Positions Dance Studio on Deer Park Avenue and hanging out with friends at Mulberry Street Pizzeria on Main Street. After church on Sundays they would stop at Gemelli’s and pick up sandwiches.
"The food is just so good on Long Island," Stephanie said, making note of the bagels, cannoli and pizza. "There’s no pizza like Long Island pizza."
The family lived in Babylon Town for seven years before moving to Switzerland, then back to California, then Virginia, then California again, then Germany. The sisters continued to play music as a band.
While in Virginia in 2015, the pair on a lark entered a tristate battle of the bands at the Hard Rock Café in Washington, D.C. They won the competition, which got them attention from someone at the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards, and they were asked to join.
That was when the pair decided on Deer Park Avenue, or DPA, as their band name.
"We moved around so much in our lives and wherever we were, music was that grounding force for us," Sarah said. "Deer Park Avenue was the street that ran through the middle of our lives. It was all the stuff that we loved and that felt warm and felt like a neighborhood, and we hope that our music feels like a neighborhood for people who maybe don’t feel like they belong."
The name is fitting, their father said, calling the Babylon years their happiest time together as a family. The name is also widely recognized, he said.
"We meet people all the time, even in Germany, who know exactly where Deer Park Avenue is," he said.
Family friend Michele Graham, 59, of Brightwaters, said she was taken aback when she learned of the band’s name.
"I was actually surprised because it’s an odd name for a band, but I think it’s great," she said. "It leads them back to their roots."
The sisters describe their music as a mix of genres, including grunge, indie-rock and synth-pop. The pair’s first album, Conscious Mess, came out just as the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began and got little traction.
But by last year, their music career began to soar. They played the renowned SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and the famed Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, which features more than 600 concerts. They also toured in support of Switzerland’s popular rock artist Seraina Telli.
Their second album, Crucible, which was released in November, made the Top 20 in Switzerland in January, they said.
Now, aside from the street itself, when Deer Park Avenue is Googled, the band is the first result.
"When we moved to Long Island we fell in love with it," Stephanie said. "There’s something really special about it and it’s been in our hearts ever since. It’ll always be in our hearts."
Deer Park Avenue
Who: Sisters Sarah and Stephanie Snyder
What: Genre-blending rock band
Where: Switzerland
When: Formed 2015
Why: Sisters spent their formative years living near Deer Park Avenue in Babylon
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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