Interview: Seek Harbour (Written)
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life bring you an interview with alternative rock band, Seek Harbour.
Following a lineup change and the introduction of new vocalist Aimee Allin, Seek Harbour recently returned with the new single ‘Skin vs Chrome’ and now continue with new single ‘Emotion vs Motion’. The new single is out on February 2nd, 2024.
1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
Hi GBHBL! I’m Edwin one of the singers of Seek Harbour and I’ll be answering the questions!
A bit about us – are a band from the Kent coastal town Deal in Kent (UK). We formed back in the late summer of 2019 when we all came up with the idea to perhaps begin a group which started as merely just a joke!
We all have musical backgrounds so have been in several other bands before we met each other, but, the idea came to fruition when the guitarist Chris went to watch Being As An Ocean and after being inspired decided this could be a fun project and the group chat began.
With different inspirations and influences coming from a John Mayer style from our guitarist, heavy metal influences from our drummer and Paramore influences from the vocalists we came together to create the fusion know as alternative-rock band Seek Harbour.
We started as 4 guys who released our debut single with lockdown hitting soon after – with a bit of writing and a song release during lockdown we then went on to recording a 4 track EP. During the planning of our 2nd EP one of the frontmen sadly left the band due to other commitments so we were left without an idea on how to release the songs. We luckily found Aimee just in the nick of time (after deciding to veer away from screams and introduce more melody into the tracks) and re-wrote the tracks ready for the release cycle.
Aimee is here to answer some questions with me as we see ourselves as co-lead vocalists and have been in video interviews together thus far too – hope you don’t mind!
2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
If you’re fans of bands like Deaf Havana, Hot Milk and Dream State then you’ll immediately get our drift! We write music that is melodic, thoughtful, emotional and relatable. We try to make our music open to interpretation to anybody listening so the lyrics can be moulded to fit the listener. We used to be melodic-hardcore with the screams but we now fall under the category of alternative-rock.
3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.
We are currently in the middle of dropping a 4-track EP over the course of couple of months. We have already released our first one “Skin vs. Chrome” and have another coming out in February so stay tuned for sure!
We are on tour as of next week! The 25th to the 28th travelling around England to Birmingham, Guildford, Tunbridge Wells and London and there are more in the works for this year as well as thoughts of revisting old songs to redo them with Aimee.
4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?
Edwin: For me personally, going back in the studio for the first time in a long time (10 years or so!) to experience what it was like to have all the great equipment (and producer!) taking part in the production of a song sounding incredible was a cool eye-opener for me. Getting that first track back – the debut single – and hearing how well it was mixed and mastered was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. The most proud I’ve been with my music to date. The reaction from my friends and family was a great memory for sure.
Aimee: I found that getting in the studio with the guys for the first time, really was the first major positive experience I’ve had. I felt very encouraged and supported, especially as I had never released an EP prior to joining Seek Harbour.
5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?
Edwin: I have had to really experiment with different areas of my voice to reach some of the choruses we have done on the songs we’ve made so even though long studio stints can be challenging being able to sing these songs for days in a row on tours has been a great testamant to my vocal stamina. It’s been going well thus far though! The way I overcame vocal fatigue and losing my voice at times has no just been vocal teas but water bubbling. Vocal tubes. If you don’t use them already do look them up, it is a great vocal recovery tool (and warm up!) for sure. I have since moved on from vocal tubes and use a Resono though.
Aimee: It was quite challenging coming into the band in such a tumultuous time. The whole EP had essentially been written and recorded so for a while I felt out of place and a bit insecure as I didn’t know how I was going to be recieved by listeners. Once we got recording and the final picture was in sight things became alot easier and I was able to open up and relax a bit more than previously.
6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?
Edwin: This is something we struggle with as we are a bit older we aren’t online as much as we should be. We tend to be quite busy within our lives to spend enough time in front of a screen. It’s almost as if you have to be just as active as the zombie Tiktok scrollers are to even learn how to grab their attention for long enough or to even keep up with the content and ideas required to create a presence. It is really hard for sure and trying to push to a wider audience isn’t as easy as one might think.
Of course measuring in numbers of plays can have it’s good feelings but it is definitely not without its drops.
Aimee: Putting out content and posting more online than I may usually do sometimes takes the performative element of being in a band to another level. Personally I’m quite a reserved person online and find this demand to share to be draining in some aspects, where I know others may not.
7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?
Edwin: There is so many people doing it now it’s hard to stand out, even if you do it’s almost as if it is luck of the draw now. We feel our product has a few fans out there that don’t know they’re fans yet but yet they may never find us. It’s not great to be buried, you have to really fight with the algorithm to stay above water. It would be easier to do social media full time like an influencer but with music instead! Ha! Unfortunately in this day and age we need to be able to fund our music so most things full-time online aren’t feasible.
Aimee: One thing I struggle with is body image being a woman. Over the last decade body positivity has been able to make waves in most music scenes, but the Alt scene just seems stuck to me. I grew up listening to bands like Paramore and Tonight Alive and seeing how praised women were for being petite and slim which in a way made me feel I wouldn’t have hope in the music industry as I never felt visually acceptable. I still struggle with this so perhaps it’s a me issue. It’s not even just applicable to weight but to race, religion, gender, sexuality and ability, the world is so diverse and music is so diverse aswell and I feel the more representation the better.
8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?
Literally just the simple stuff to push our algorithm and reach is the best help people can do ! All the ordinary bands ask for – pre-saves, video and post shares, likes, comments and just generally interacting with us will help.
9. Outside of the music, what do you do to relax?
Edwin: I am quite into self-betterment myself. I’m always trying to find a way to improve as a person. I thrive on feeling connected and grounding and so I like chasing the spiritual side of life as well as exploring with food. I also don’t mind the occasional video game!
Aimee: To relax I draw, make art and game. Whatever gives me some escapism really. I really enjoy games that are open world, explorative and gives you something to really dig your teeth into.
10. Where can people find you?
You can find us on several platforms:
Spotify and all other major streaming platforms | YouTube (most of our videos are hosted on Dreambound’s channel).
