The mathematician who traded a lawsuit for a musical identity
In short: Before he was the acclaimed musician Caribou, Dan Snaith was a PhD student in mathematics. His transition from academia to the global stage wasn't just an artistic choice—it was sparked by a legal threat over a shared name that forced him to reinvent his public persona entirely.
Born in 1978 into a family of mathematicians, Dan Snaith earned a PhD from Imperial College London in 2005. His academic work focused on Overconvergent Siegel Modular Symbols, a field he described as "original" yet "trivial." This rigorous background in mathematics informs his creative philosophy; while he doesn't physically dismantle objects, he describes his artistic process as taking "mental ideas apart and playing around with them."
Snaith’s musical career faced an early hurdle in 2004. Originally recording under the name Manitoba, he was threatened with a lawsuit by another artist using the same moniker—Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba. To avoid legal conflict, Snaith rebranded as Caribou and re-released his previous full-length albums under this new identity. Since then, he has released 11 studio albums, earning significant accolades including the 2008 Polaris Music Prize for Andorra and multiple Juno Awards.
His career is defined by distinct personas: while Caribou operates as a live band featuring long-time collaborators like Ryan Smith and John Schmersal, his Daphni project serves as an outlet for dancefloor-influenced DJ sets. This duality allows him to navigate different sonic landscapes—from the indie-electronic textures of albums like Swim (2010) and Our Love (2014) to the club-focused output of Jiaolong (2012).
Beyond his personal discography, Snaith has influenced the broader music scene through curation and collaboration. In 2011, he co-curated a festival in England alongside Battles and Les Savy Fav. His work continues to bridge high-concept theory with accessible art, moving from academic modular symbols to international festival stages like Coachella and Glastonbury.
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