Apex Herbivore: The Vegan Fuel Behind Dangermuffin Drummer Steven Sandifer’s Righteous Rhythm

By Stratton Lawrence

The life of a vegan touring musician can be unglamorous. Even at Dangermuffin’s level, drawing hundreds of fans to top clubs around the Southeast, the provided dinner at a venue is often of the burger-andfries variety. After nearly 20 years touring as a vegan, percussionist/ bassist Steven Sandifer knows a few tricks: pin every Indian buffet along the route, leave early enough to drive out of the way for a proper meal en route to the show, and always keep an emergency stash of beans and avocados.

“Sometimes you just have to do it,” says Sandifer of the bean wrap backup plan. “You need calories before you try to play drums for three hours.”

Fortunately for Sandifer, his bandmates in Dangermuffin (the group’s new eponymous album—their first in seven years—dropped in August) align with his dietary choices. “The experience we want to bring to an audience starts with the one we create for ourselves,” he says. “Not eating total crap hopefully gives us some longevity.”

Sandifer has seen both sides of the culinary coin. The James Island, S.C. native grew up the youngest of four boys in a family where “if there wasn’t meat, it wasn’t a meal.” He first toyed with vegetarianism as an undergraduate at the College of Charleston, mostly out of concern for animal welfare. “I was eating Subway veggie subs and French fries and things like that,” he recalls. “It wasn’t a very healthy diet and my body started telling me that, so I stopped.”

As a member of bluegrass band The Biscuit Boys, he moved to Nashville, where he made connections that led to touring gigs with groups like the Drew Emmitt Band (of Leftover Salmon). On the road with a country band, he ate fast food almost daily. “Everybody was sick and drinking too much,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘There’s no way I could do this for years.’”

A stint as tour manager for old-time musician Adrienne Young’s band brought him back to his collegiate inclinations. Young toured as a vegan, and Sandifer saw that it was possible to align his ethics, his health, and his career. The timing aligned with joining Dangermuffin and seeing the documentary Forks Over Knives, which casts light on the cruelty of corporate-level dairy farming.

“It’s one thing if you have goats in your backyard or you live on a farm where the animals are almost pets, but the majority of factory farms are torturing animals for profit,” says Sandifer. “I decided it would be hypocritical of me to say I was a vegetarian at least partially for animal rights if I didn’t also cut out dairy.”

Humane and environmental reasons— open fecal lagoons from factory farming wreak havoc on surrounding communities and waterways—underscored Sandifer’s decision, but supporting his own health made the lifestyle shift easier.

“I want to be a vibrant, active person and keep playing music for as long as I can,” says the 48-year-old, now vegan for 14 years. He and his wife, Michelle, lean on go-tos like lasagna with homemade “ricotta” made from cashews, tofu, nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Chili, pesto noodles and hearty grain bowls topped with avocado and colorful veggies also top their dinner lists. Many mornings begin with a smoothie.

Eating vegan only gets tricky when he leaves home. If he’s heading up I-26 to a gig in Asheville or beyond, Sandifer calls in a “meatless and three” order to A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen in Columbia. At home, he loves the Huriyali location on James Island and Jack of Cups on Folly Beach, where we chatted over bowls of Coconut Chana Masala on a steamy August afternoon. The dish, layered with toasted coconut and chickpeas doused in a tomato coconut sauce, perfectly balanced salty and sweet while leaving us satiated.

“It’s decadent. There’s so much flavor,” Sandifer expresses. “An omnivore wouldn’t feel like there’s anything missing.”

The key, Sandifer speculates, is to present meat-free dishes as complete, instead of labeling them as “vegetarian” or “vegan.” The cherry pie at Whole Foods is an occasional treat for Sandifer, but on a recent trip, he couldn’t find one with the “vegan” sticker on it, so he asked the baker if they had one in the back. “They’re all vegan,” the employee explained. “But if we put the label on them, they don’t sell.” “Some people think that if it’s vegan, it’s not going to be any good or have any flavor,” Sandifer laments.

Despite his convictions, Sandifer isn’t trying to convert others. He’s concerned about the imminent collapse of South American rainforests over land clearing for cattle and the incredible amount of water required to raise a single burger’s worth of beef, but he sees dietary choice as akin to religion and sexuality.

“Everybody’s body is different,” says Sandifer. “This works for me. But I’m the kind of person where if I’m wrong, I want to know it.” To that end, Sandifer recently researched the meat-dominant diet he saw some friends adopting. So far, he’s confident in the health and environmental benefits of his personal choice.

“I go to bed warm, full, and no one’s trying to kill me. There are a lot of people out there that don’t have those things,” says Sandifer. “A lot of people don’t have food security and are just trying to survive. To be in a position where I can choose only to eat what’s best for me is truly a blessing.”

Dangermuffin’s new self-titled album was released in August. Listen wherever you stream music and see the band at The Refinery with the Infamous Stringdusters on October 18. Discover more at dangermuffinmusic.com.