Seedling
Seedling
are indie pop at it's finest. The Dutch band recently toured with Welsh
band Melys and also released a split single with them on Mely's own
label Sylem. They have released an single Sham Pain with the fantastic
track William, Tell Me and an album Elevator Tourist which contains
Cool Baby, My Hips Go Woo which wins the best song title ever award
and its a top tune to boot.
Lo-Fi Pop managed to grab an interview with Seedling and here is the
result....
Website: www.musicweb.nl/seedling
What
are your influences music or otherwise?
Any
band would tell you that the musical influences of all the band members
differ greatly, and I guess Seedling is no exception to that rule. Though,
there are some similarities in our tastes ( I apologize for any spelling
mistakes!) We all like Belgian bands like dEUS (hurray for the violin!)
and the Evil Superstars (hurray for their ultra cool singer!). People
also sometimes compare us to PJ Harvey, Elastica and Throwing Muses,
and these are comparisons we don't really mind (but why always girl
bands?!). Further more we're into bands like the Velvet Underground
and the Violent Femmes; live we play covers from those bands. So, as
long as it's twisted and/or groovy and/or tongue-in-cheek, we'll probably
like it!
What
is your band philosophy/motto?
Er.. we don't really have one actually. "Do it yourself", I guess. And we >never 'give people the finger'; we show them four wiggling fingers. A real Seedling gesture, meaning 'giving people a whole bunch of fingers'!
How
did you get to meet Melys, did John Peel have any hand in it
He had a big hand in this! He just walked up to us after we played at
the Noorderslag festival (annual 'what's hot in Holland' festival) and
said: I know this band from Wales, you should get together. So he gave
us their phone number, and asked us ours, and the rest -as they say-
is history!
Did
you enjoy your joint tour with Melys?
Very much! They're great people, and a great band. What more would you want?
In addition i think
the nice part is that there are a couple of similarities between the
bands musically and philosophicaly, that are filled up with differences
that make it a strong combination. Furthermore the melyses looked after
us really well in arranging stuff, which was great...it made the stay
really easy and relaxed...like a holiday...and you even get to play
gigs!!!
How
did the UK gigs of the mini tour compare to the Dutch gigs? Were you
surprised by the reception you got in the uk?
People are more 'reserved' in the UK. There are so many bands in the UK compared to Holland, so you can't really blame the British audience for being 'spoiled' with so many great bands around in your own country. Still, I think we're very able to surprise people, because we do sound a bit different from what's happening in the UK right now. And that's exactly the respons we got, which was really nice!
Compared to Amsterdam,
Cardiff was really fantastic, London was more similar to Amsterdam again,
guess going out of the big city spoiltness people are more enthousiastic
and really enjoying themselves...same as in holland actually...
Have
you got any plans to come back here to tour again?
IWe have quite definate
plans to come back this fall, probably september and october...but the
exact details hopefully will be announcable somewhat in july... it would
be best to keep an eye on our website from time to time as that is the
place where the news breaks...
What
is the Dutch indie/alternative scene like, did it inspire you at all?
At the moment compared to a couple of years ago it is quite good...bands that all started around the same period, say 1996/97 all worked years to get their name across and are in holland finally getting somewhere with all their effort.
As a small example, most bass parts on the album are played on the amp of a befriended band called Dress, the layout of the cover is down by a guy from a band called Sal...bands of the label also helped out on stuff and we gig together as a package quite often...hopefully in the future also in the uk...
The rise of a couple of indie labels, like our label Transformed Dreams, or another one Muze records, helped out in this. Also the stubborness in most people involved in the dutch indie scene at the moment is inspirational and a warm heart from time to time...struggling together is more fun than swimming across the ocean on your own...
On
song titles alone "Cool baby, my hips go woo" is the best song in the
world ever! How did you come across such a great name?
Our violin player just popped the sentence a bit like that in our rehearsal studio, when she tried to describe to our drummer Mariken the vibe the song was supposed to have, shaking her hips.
Is
"William Tell Me" on your Sham Pain ep related to The Smiths "William,
It Was Realy Nothing?"
Well, yes it is. I should have added definitely included The Smiths in my answer to your first question. Morrissey is by far one of the best lyricists of our time, and wrote the lyrics to William, Tell Me after finding out what a nice little story was told in William, It Was Really Nothing. I just made up another story with a 42 year old William playing the leading role again. The title also refers to the legendary archer Wilhelm Tell (shoot me!)
What
is your number 1 must have?
As in 'stuff to own'? Ear plugs I guess, we're all losing our hearing at the moment, and you can never buy a new hearing after you lost it.
In addition to that, HILLS like in wales would be a 1 and a half definate must have...
And, maybe some
more pedals (not as on bikes, but effect pedals) for our guitarist Marg,
now she's got the whole front of the stage taken up by them (that's
why she moves a lot)... A newspaper hear had the headline "Band with
the most pedals" to describe seedling...and that might be true, but
back to the questions...
What
do you hate most about the world?
Hmm, social engagement question. I hate it that in the time we live in everything goes so well, it leaves people apathic. You can laugh at hippies or punks, but at least they had something to stand for. Nowadays, everything (especially in Holland, the welfare paradise) is taken care of, before you even had time to think if you really want to be taken care of. Which leaves us nothing but to crave for things as mobile phones, new boots, etcetera. The song 'Sensational Vacuum' is about this emptiness. I hate it the most that by now I myself own a mobile phone, because I was obliged to as everyone around me had one.
Here
are a few who's better questions..........
Cats
or Dogs?
Dogs, because they respond to you. Cats are so fucking arrogant (I have one staying at my place at the time, and I'm glad to see her leave again. She takes over the entire place)
Quincy
or Columbo?
Don't know who Quincy
is, so I'll go for our man in the everlasting raincoat. In addition
to that, the cigarsmoking qualities also make us think of our label
guy...
Bruce
Lee or Jackie Chan?
Jackie Chan, just because Bruce Lee is 'before my time' I don't really know him actually (he's probably a nice (?) guy, I guess)
On the other hand
as a general character Bruce Lee may be more appealing...Lee is more
chaaa!! then Chan...pof!
Long
Summer Nights or Cool Spring Mornings?
I can't really tell the difference these days, because I keep waking up at 5 in the morning lately. Is that night or already morning? I guess I'll go for the spring mornings.
Extra: I think seedling is as a sum a bit of a 24hour a day band, Bas (bass) and Susanne (violin) tend to be the last people in the pub besides the owners (our pubtimes are a bit later), and Marg (guitar) and Mariken (drums) are a bit more hard work rise and shine (though mariken a bit less shiny)
It is not an answer as there are no more questions, but as another one of these people could state UK or Holland, Melys or Seedling, as a joint philosophy i think there are a couple of bands in the world that are not based upon rivalry but on cooperation...and these two bands are examples of that...
Birmingham
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