Sea of Green

Rock´n´Roll goblin took a swim in the Sea of Green and met a bassist named Eric Kuthe.

 

 

Hello and congratulations on your great Time to fly album.

Thanks :)

1.Can you give us the story of Sea of Green, who you are and your
background.

"We've been together for just over two years now as Sea Of Green, but Chris
(the drummer) and I have been playing together for somewhere around 5/6
years. We ran an ad looking for a singer and a guitar player back in July
1999, after our previous band KUTHE broke up, and tried out quite a few
people until Travis showed up and things fell perfectly into place. From day
one it was a brotherhood!"

2.You are three guys in the band. Do you manage to perform your songs
live as they are done on record or do you have to compromise with your sound
while your playing live. Was it natural for you to form a three piece
band right from the start?

"Like I said above, we originally were thinking of a four piece line up but
good frontmen are a dying breed these days so it just worked out that Travis
started singing and thank God he did hahaha As for playing live, we actually
get told all the time that we sound even heavier live! I mean it would be
hard to play a song like "breathe" with all the tracks and samples in the
middle part but any other song is a piece of cake for us."


3.Your sound is very retro but very fresh.How do you work to get that
sound? Are you using vintage gear or is it the way you play that makes
your sound retro.

"It's a funny thing really, that sort of sound and vibe just comes out of us
from somewhere. We all grew up hearing our parents play some really cool
music throughout the 70's and 80's so I guess that sunk in and stayed with
us."

4.I guess that you have a lot of 70´s music in your record collection am
I right? What is the hardest album in your collection? And the softest?

"Actually, about three or four months ago I went on a shopping spree and
bought all kinds of late 60's and 70's bands that I always hear about. I
bought some Captain Beyond, Free, Atomic Rooster, Mountain, Blue Cheer etc.
etc. etc. but up until that point I was not that much into it. I mean it's
all good and groovy but if you don't own the CDs you can't listen to the
music :) As for the hardest album in my collection I would have to say the
new System Of A Down CD, it is HEAVY shit man. The softest would be anyone
of my many Oasis CDs :) I love Oasis and I don't care what anyone thinks
hahaha"

5. What did you listen to when you grew up?

"My dad always played Grand Funk, Black Sabbath, Rare Earth, Hendrix, Led
Zepplin and Alice Copper and my mom would play stuff like Barry White and
the Everly Brothers. The first CD I ever bought on my own was RUSH "Farewell
To Kings" and the second one was Van Halen, the first one....I was around 10
or 11 years old so I grew up hearing some heavy shit...."

6.Have you always played bass or did you start with any other
instrument.?
When did you start to play?

"I've been playing the bass for about 7 years now, but my first dream was,
and still is, to be a singer. That's probably why I end up writing most of
lyrics and melodies for our band."

7.When Sea of Green write their music is it a one man work or do you
work all together.

"Sometimes it is one person walking in with a complete song idea or maybe
just a riff but we always leave room for each other to add their own flare
to things. We also jam a lot and record the jams and then listen back to
them so that we can pick out ideas we like and turn them into songs. One
thing we do which I think is really unique and cool is that we switch
instruments and write songs sometimes. For example, "Annihilation" was
written with Travis on guitar and me on drums and a song called "Take A
Stand" (on the Japanese import) had me on guitar and Travis on drums. Those
two songs were written while Chris was on vacation. And Chris came up with
bass line and main idea for "Everafter". I really think more bands should
experiment and try this way of writing!"

8.Which bands are your main influences, what are you listening to right
now.Is there any new yet unknown bands that you like to listen to. I
guess a person in your position get to hear a lot of new music before
anybody else-am I right?

"I'm the kind of person who is ALWAYS looking for a new musical high so I go
out and buy all kinds of CDs from all sorts of different rock bands, but
always rock&roll :) Right now I'm listening to a lot of P.O.D, System Of A
Down, Motley Crue, Incubus and U2. As soon as I wake up everyday the first
thing I do is put on a CD, it's a great way to start the day. And yes, we
receive a lot of new unsigned bands and so many of them sound great. There's
a few bands that come to mind like Smoke and Greenhouse Effect, good bands.
I'm also really getting into some of Souldivider's older material, I'm not
just saying this 'cause my wife and I signed them but they are REALLY good
musicians who know how to write good, memorable songs :) As for my main
influences, I would have to say Sabbath, Kyuss, Oasis and now Queens Of The
Stoneage...."


9.On your website I noticed that you are working on some other projects

Can you tell us about them. When are they ready to be released and on
which label?

"Well it all started when Daniel from Mammoth Volume contacted me about
wanting to get together over here in Toronto to work with us on a side
project and I thought that, in theory, it sounded like it would work but
once we met and hung out for a bit it didn't really from a communication
angle so I'm not sure what will be happening with the recording? While we,
over here, are extremely happy with the out-come we understand that Daniel
is not although while he was here he never expressed that to any of us?
We'll see......"

10.Your own label 12th planet music is on the march right now.Is it hard
to run a label at the same time as you are in a band of Sea of Greens
dignity?

"It's no problem at all as I am self employed and have lots of free time. My
wife, Melody, really runs the show though :) I just kind of pick the bands
that we sign, like an A&R rep I guess, and figure out the finances but
Melody is the corner stone of the whole thing."

11.When can we expect a new release from Sea of Green?

"Well right now we are currently getting out of our contract with The Music
Cartel, for many various reasons which I can't elaborate on at the moment."

12.How will your new material sound compared to Time to fly.

"We are definitely going in a heavier direction right now, more of the "Move
The Mountains" and "Come On Down" sort of vibe as opposed to the "Deep
Inside", "Change With Me" groove. The new songs are heavier but still
maintain the melodic, psychedelic, hookiness that we are becoming known for!"

13.Any plans on a European tour? If so when?

"We would love to tour Europe next year sometime, any offers?"

14.If you could make a wish come true right now what would it be. (World
peace is already overused)

"I would love to win a couple million dollars in a lottery so I could have
enough money to market Sea Of Green properly and all the bands on 12th
Planet Music. You know, ads on radio, full page magazine spreads, big name
producer and studios etches etc. etc. oh, and a limo for me hahaha I don't
have a drivers license hahaha"

15 At last is there anything you like to say to the Rock´n´Roll Goblin
visitors?

"Let's all bust our asses to keep rock alive......buy the CDs, buy the
magazines, tell all your friends about cool bands you like and go out to the
shows to see the bands live. We all need your support and lovin' to make
this machine keep running!"

"Bong on People Of The Earth......"

 

Thanks a lot to Eric and visit him and his friends at www.seaofgreenrocks.com

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