INTERVIEW: Tomorrows Bad Seeds — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Tomorrows Bad Seeds

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IT is a hectic and packed time for…

the guys of Tomorrows Bad Seeds. I have been chatting with them about their singles, Frequency and Trinity – both of which have videos out. The songs are taken from the album, Illuminate – the band tells me about its creation and themes.

I ask Tomorrows Bad Seeds about their formation and what it is like living in the South Bay area of Los Angeles; if they have any gigs coming up; what sort of music the band are influenced by; whether we can see them come play over in the U.K. – they recommend some new artists we should be checking out.

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Hi, guys. How are you? How have your weeks been?

We are doing great! This week has been wicked. We just flew back home from Charlotte, North Carolina playing at the Jamaican Me Hoppy Festival, which was an absolute blast - seeing all of the unity and diversity amongst the town.

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

Moi - Frontman/Vox

Mets - Guitar/Vox

Pat - Drums

Dre - Bass man

Steve - Keys/Organ/Synth

The videos for Frequency and Trinity are out. What was it like filming and creating those videos?

Frequency was captured by our boy Chris (concrete) while we were writing and recording the track with our good friend, Jason J. It felt really organic and true to the vibe of the song, which was written and recorded in a matter of hours from start to finish. The session went really well, so we decided to use the footage for a video. We hope you enjoy it.

Trinity was an impromptu video done by Tom from Reel Wolf out of Canada. He was gonna be in L.A. and our boy James Wright suggested we try a video with Tom, and we chose to film at locations that have had a large impact in our lives growing up with one foot on the beach and the other in the streets; encompassing the humble beginnings as a reminder to never forget where you came from. Also, to remember (to) never lose track of where you’re going: we all buy the ticket and take the ride.

What was the reason for releasing those two songs as singles? Do they hold a special place for you?

The reason we chose to release those songs first is because of how quick the songs came to fruition from start to finish; so, it made sense for us to share them first and, of course, isn’t the deep underlying message for all of humanity, to share love where it is so badly needed all over the world? The same goals we all strive for here in the concrete jungles: giving respect to all positive ideas and living things alike.

All of the songs off of our upcoming record, Illuminate, hold a special place to us, as we are excited to release new music and have been for a while.

Illuminate is the album they are taken from. Are there key themes and common links that go into the music? How would you define the record?

Yes. There are some key themes and common links on this record that encompass life from beginning to end; into the illumination of its resurrection and the cycle of birth to death. We would define this record as grown Folk music, with a feel-good positive vibe and attitude but, also, touching on the realities of life - “Life is the Mission/Love is the Message” M. McEwan.

What was it like recording the album? Was it a lot of fun?

It’s always a lot of fun recording music and coming up with different ideas when one idea bounces off one another. It’s hard to expect when the magic hits, but it always does when you keep an open mind. It such a pleasure and privilege getting to work with the producer Chaz ‘ROX’ Toney out of the Island Empire Recording Studios in Carson, California. He is such a talented and hard-working producer/musician. It was many long days and even longer nights burning that midnight oil to its fullest.

We would spend long days and countless hours into the early morning working on and recording this record. It was so much fun and gave so much motivation getting to work with like-minded people we admire and respect so much.

How did Tomorrows Bad Seeds get together? How did you find one another?

Long story short; we (Mets and Moi) met in the summer of 2000 through a mutual friend. We started jamming music right on the beach break-wall where we met nearly every day, covering songs that heavily influenced us - from artists like Bob Marley, Sublime; Steel Pulse, Slightly Stoopid; the Eagles and many, many more. We would also jam in Moi’s mom’s living-room a lot, where she would give us so much love; amazing home Mexican food and constructive criticisms - and shared her theories of music with us that we still hold dear to this day.

Later that year, we had the idea of starting a band…

Tomorrows Bad Seeds is Moises Juarez on vocals, Matthew McEwan on guitar and vocals; Johnny McEwan on drums and Al Arnado on the bass. This was the original line-up, until a year later Sean Chapman join the band playing guitar and vocals. This one ensemble lasted till about 2007 when Andre Davis joined playing the bass later on that year; Patrick Salmon joined playing the drums. That was our line-up up until Steve Aguilar started playing shows with us in 2010...

2015 is when Sean Chapman left the band and now, since, we have various people performing for us from Jeff Nisen on guitar; Steven Ingraham jammed a few shows with us and now we have Anthony Francisco on tour with us. Also, there’s Kurtis Parsons on percussion and we are looking forward to playing with many more musicians.

You hail from South Bay, Los Angeles. What is the area like for music and likeminded artists?

The South Bay of Los Angeles is a very beautiful (although it looks like the balls of California on a map, maybe. Ha) area with open coasts and beautiful beaches with good waves; nice weather and beautiful people. With a melting pot of all different kinds of music ranging from Punk-Rock, Hip-Hop; Reggae, Jazz Blues etc…there’s lots of emerging talent coming out of the South Bay. We feel blessed to represent such a beautiful place, from which we got our start.

Aside from a few backyard parties, we played for a few good friends’ birthdays (one of which, Opie Ortiz from LBDA, was at pouring his homemade Martini concoctions down our throats as we were playing - some of our greatest memories were from the beginning when it all started.)

Hermosa Beach Pier was our first show at the Lighthouse, opening up for Too Rude. We love where we come from and love even more the fact that our city has our back - where we will be closing out some of the final shows of tour: June 1st and 2nd at Saint Rocke on 2nd Street and PCH in Hermosa Beach, California.

Do you all share the same sort of music tastes, roughly? Do you tend to listen to older stuff – or dip into a lot of new music?

We all have, relatively, some of the same taste in music, but we also like all different kinds of music. Collectively, being from Los Angeles, California there’s a melting pot of music and It is hard to just like one genre.

We all grew loving bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime; Beastie Boys, Nirvana; Public Enemy, 2 Pac; Biggie, Eminem; Anthrax, Rage Against the Machine; Steel Pulse, Bob Marley; Long Beach Dub Allstars; Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan; Daft Punk…the list goes on and on and on; we love music to say the least, so there are many, many more.

What do you all hope to achieve in 2018?

We hope to Tour Europe, Asia; meet new fans, spread positive vibes and positive music; keeping the vibes alive and spreading our message.

Can we catch you perform anytime soon? What dates do you have coming up?

Illuminate spring tour dates:

4/24 - Dallas, TX

4/25 - San Antonio, TX

4/26 - Corpus Christi, TX

4/28 - Knoxville, TN

5/1 - Atlanta, GA

5/2 - Jacksonville, FL

5/4 - Cocoa Beach, FL

5/6 - Miami, FL

5/8 - Wilmington, NC

5/9 - Durham, NC

5/10 - Virginia Beach, VA

5/11 - Vienna, VA

5/12 - Brooklyn, NY

5/13 - New Bedford, MA

5/15 - Pittsburgh, PA

5/16 - Grand Rapids, MI

5/17 - Columbus, OH

5/18 - Chicago, IL

5/19 - St. Louis, MO

5/20 - Omaha, NE

5/23 - Pueblo, CO

5/24 - Denver, CO

5/25 - Salt Lake City, UT

5/26 - Boise, ID

5/27 - Seattle, WA

5/31 - Santa Cruz, CA

6/1 - Hermosa Beach, CA

6/2 - Hermosa Beach, CA

6/3 - San Diego, CA

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

Just being able to perform and do what we love on a daily is a true blessing.

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

Work hard, practice; stay honest and true to yourselves. Don’t get caught up in all the facades or masks of ego we, as people, create for ourselves.

Are there any new artists you recommend we check out?

Ease Up, LAW; The Late Ones, Jason J; Anthony Francisco, Lea Love; Yuja Wang. I mean, there is so much talent constantly emerging from all over the world that it’s so tough to keep up with the times...

IN THIS PHOTO: Lea Love

Do you all get much time to chill away from music? How do you unwind?

Yes, and we love spending time with our families and children (for Mets & Moi). We also love to surf, camp; yoga, BBQ; breakdance and jam music, paint; create or just catch up on sleep…

Finally, and for being good sports; you can each choose a song and I’ll play it here (not any of your music - I will do that).

Moi: Sammy Johnson – Don’t Say Goodbye