Another band that turned up in our inbox recently were SEASONS, a group so sure of themselves that they insist that little voice inside your head SHOUTS THEIR NAME…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
You say simple… but we live anything but close to each other! The two who live closest together are Matt (guitar) and Brad (bass). They live in Milton Keynes and Ampthill near Bedford. Antony a.k.a. Weeman (drums) lives in Alconbury, wherever that is! Grant (singer) lives in Royston and Steve (guitar) lives near Stansted Airport. So meeting up to rehearse is always a palaver!
How did you meet?
This answer starts with the terrible twosome again – Matt and Brad. They were in a band before together, along with Weeman and when that went south, Matt decided to start a bit of a lighter project. After recruiting Brad, they went in search of a singer. Another of Matt’s old bands held the answer, a band in which Matt had taken over lead vocals from the one and only Grant Tuffs. So that’s where Grant came from. You following? Good ‘cos it’s about to get a whole lot weirder.
Weeman had moved away and began a new life when he was approached by a guy at work who had heard he was a drummer. The guy explained the project and it sounded promising so he enquired as to who else was involved. “Two guys called Matt and Brad,” was the reply. “Matt Turnbull and Bradley Beech?!” he gasped! “Yes!” replied Grant! I know, creepy right?
As for Steve, he claims he just passed out one night and woke up in rehearsals with them already able to play their songs. Just went with it after that.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We started playing all together around five months before we launched, which was October 2015. So it’s only been 15 months!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We believe Brad was the mastermind behind SEASONS. We felt it was a name that represented change, something we all liked the idea of as we were coming from different backgrounds into something brand new. Also we wanted something that could be easy to illustrate and would evoke lots of ideas for logos and stuff. Which is why our logo is… just plain… white writing… yeah… Next question!
What are your influences?
We all have very diverse backgrounds and musical influences. Probably the most obscure is Matt’s obsession with musicals and theatre! He actually wanted to be a stage performer growing up. Steve is partial to the odd musical as well, but there’s also the rock background of course, all of us are into our rock music. Bands like Mallory Knox, Don Broco and Lower Than Atlantis are up there as influences. Which is great because we’re in the studio with Ben from LTA, he’s producing our records at the moment. Amazing.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is mature, it’s clean and tidy but still contains heaps of energy. This is what makes us unique, we have the ability to make songs which people of any age can relate to and enjoy. One minute we are cruising along then before you know it we’re up in top gear, and your face is on the back seat. If we were to compare ourselves to a car, we would be a Mercedes SL55 AMG. All the class in the world but still enough power to cause a major accident.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
The themes of our songs come from Grant’s deep and solitary mind. He claims to just pick up on how the song feels in the early stages and work off of the emotions the music provokes in him, selecting a theme based around the strongest thoughts and fears that arise. Personally, we think he uses an online lyric generator.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live show is a lot of fun! We really believe in putting on the best show we can, we want people to see how much fun we are having and to buy into it! There are quirky little things we throw in to keep you on your toes, and we also pride ourselves on our ability to recreate our recorded backing vocals live. Having three singers in the band really helps. (Before you ask, Brad can’t sing a note. He is practicing every day though.)
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Probably the craziest thing we’ve seen at a show was Sonisphere 2010 when the Airbourne guitarist climbed up the side of the stage. Obviously we weren’t featuring at that show but, yeah. Can’t imagine any of us ever doing that, we’re all too wussy. We’ll get Grant to do a stage dive though! If we ever play the O2, we promise Grant will stage dive.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Weeman has a Tama something or other drum kit (it’s Purple).
Guitarwise, Matt plays a Fender Telecaster through his Kemper Profiling Amp, Steve plays a Suhr Classic T Antique through a Kemper as well, and Brad plays an ESP LTD B414-SM through his small but mighty Eden E300 head, although he really wants a Fender Precision bass!
Sounds like we know what we’re talking about, doesn’t it?
What are your plans for 2017?
World domination. Does that sound too pretentious? Trump did it…
We’re gonna release a string of singles. Basically we wanna keep things as fresh and interesting as possible. So releasing brand new music on a regular basis is the best way to do that. Also it ensures that we never make any music that’s less than single quality! We’d love a big name tour as well. So if you can put a good word in for us with Donny B or something that’d be sweet!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
It’s safe to say we’d all love to be on the bill with the LTA boys. Working with Ben has shown us how much of a laugh it would be. Plus we’d be really good at stealing their fans!
As for an opening act, we’ve got some good pals in a band called Arcadia. We met them on tour in Manchester and really dig what they stand for as a band and as human beings. Good lads. So Arcadia, Seasons and Lower Than Atlantis. Doesn’t that sound like a blast?!
You can catch the band live on the following dates:
- 14/3/17 – The Garage, London (main room) supporting Club Drive
- 2/6/17 – Bolton, Sedd Fest w/ Faultlines (Main Stage)
- 4/5/6 August – Fort Fest (Main Stage)