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The history of Seafood goes something like
this: David and Charles decided to form a band after going to a Pixies gig. They
advertised for a girl drummer and bassist in the free ads paper ‘Loot’.
Kevin and Caroline saw it when writing an ad to try and sell a scooter and
phoned up to asked if a girl drummer and boy bassist would do. David and Charles
were so shocked that anyone replied they said yes and the band was born. Named
after a runaway boat in the film ‘Caddyshack’ in which their hero Chevy
Chase stared.
They’ve managed to find the right balance
of indie, post-rock and folk music to appeal to almost everyone. This is
probably why Fierce Panda have stuck with them for so long. As well as releasing
a handful of singles Fierce Panda also released (and recently re-released)
‘Messenger In The Camp’ a compilation of Seafood’s early and limited
edition singles, as well as their full debut album ‘Surviving The Quiet’
which sounded like Sonic Youth having a jam with Sebadoh. I caught up with the
band in August.
**How would you describe your sound to
someone who has never heard of you?**
Charles: Casual pilots exploring twilight
noise seduction.
Dave: Schizoid, folk, rambling punk explosion.
**So who are your main influences?
**
Husker Du, Guided by Voices, Pixies,
Rapeman, Teenage Fanclub (Catholic education), Carole King, Ramones, Public
Enemy, Slint, Ultra Magnetic MC's, the theme from Top Gun, Sonic Youth,
Pavement, Palace/Will Oldham, Fugazi, Shellac, Drop Nineteens, Black Sabbath,
Lauden Wainwright 3rd, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Lou Barlow, Black Flag, Michael
Jackson (Off the wall, Thriller), Kraftwerk, Velvet Underground...erm that sort
of thing I suppose.
**Kraftwerk, have you ever thought of doing
anything electronica-esque then?**
Kevin: We have certainly talked about doing
versions of electronica songs and once came close to attempting to cover a DJ
Shadow track.
**What other things would you list as
influences?**
Kevin: Real work. I am happy to be in
band and not an open plan office. It's a totally alternative lifestyle so i have
a sense of gratitude and ambition. Generally speaking all industry is filthy so
you make the best of whatever you do.
**How did the Billy Mahonie/Seafood split
7" come about?
**
Kevin: We have been friends with the
'Honies’ ever since we toured with them in 1998. This idea was discussed ages
ago. It seemed like a good idea and when we eventually got around to doing it,
it was… I reckon. Billy Mahonie are an amazing band and we fancy the arses off
them. Naturally.
**Gavin from Billy Mahonie has done a
couple of side-projects… would any of you lot start side projects?**
Kevin: We are very much into the whole side
project scenario and each have our side project fantasies but as yet haven't
fulfilled them. We're very seafood, seafood, seafood at the moment, but you
know, there's plenty of time. Side projects are positive and good for the band.
I'm sure it'll happen at some point.
**If you got another band to cover one of
your songs, who would it be?**
Dave: Idlewild because they are
contemporaries and fans, I would like them to do one of our acoustic numbers. It
would be nice to hear.
Charles: I want to hear Oasis cover ‘Rot of the stars’.
**Are there any new bands you particularly
like?**
Kevin: Yes, Caretaker, Appendix out, Les
Savy Fav, San Lorenzo, Gerling, Kaito, Minuteman, Ursa, and EU... all these
bands are exciting.
How do you know about San Lorenzo?
Kevin: I met San Lorenzo when we played a
gig in Peterborough with various Gringo Records bands. I have a lot of respect
for all those Gringo Records bands and admire their self-sufficiency. They are
putting out good music. The San Lorenzo LP is lovely. I made a compilation tape
recently and put ‘Montauk’ on it… I guess that's a current fave.
**What one question would you most like to
be asked in an interview… and your answer?**
Kevin: What do you fear? Wasps and
Appendicitis with a worrying passion.
Charles: Ask me about Napster
OK what do you think of Napster?
Charles: Aha! This is a great question that
really got me thinking as far as I can tell I think it's bad. Napster argues it
is doing nothing illegal, they are only putting people in contact who wish to
swap MP3's. The site is not providing mp3 files but consider that Americans have
free access to Napster it costs them absolutely nothing to copy files across the
net. So why go and pay 12.99 for the CD?
Kevin: Erm, home taping didn't kill the
music industry. People still will want to go and buy a record. It's a bit of a
double edged sword for bands like us, I mean it's great that there's a chance
for our music to get into more homes- to people who would never have heard of us
but equally we kind of need to sell records to survive. I don't figure Metallica
have the same
problem... I'm gonna sit on my cyber fence for a bit.
What plans do you have for the future?
Kevin: Write the best second album we can.
In September we go to Japan, which we are
quite excited about. October we go to USA for short tour. Probably play in UK in
autumn too. But main emphasis this year now is to write and record this album.
We're working really hard at it. Hopefully next year we can explore and expand
the world. Oh and this summer I have made a vow to myself that I will cure my
no-sense-of-direction and discover London town on a BMX. Oh, and we want to
start releasing a series of "themed" EP's aside to our normal
releases.
'Themed' EPs?
Kevin: Yeah, we intend to start releasing a
series of EP's aside to our normal "pop" releases. So the first EP
might have a country/folk theme or it might be an EP of remixes… as you can
tell it's all tentative at the moment but like all these good ideas it will
happen... We have received a fantastically dark dubby remix of Toggle. That will
feature somewhere.
Can you tell us a joke?
Kevin: What's brown and sticky?
A stick.
I have a goldfish memory and that's as good as it gets! That’s so bad!
