Sick/Sea The Heading South Interview
Hot on the heels of their debut release the sublime ‘Moral Compass’ indie band Sick /Sea are currently travelling the length and breadth of America in an epic live tour. Consisting of siblings Cameron and Audrey and their good friend Miguel Morales they got together as a band back in 2008 in their hometown of McAllen in Texas. Since then they have been working hard and have finally been rewarded when Autumn + Colour Records signed them. Audrey was kind enough to take a little time out to answer my questions about music, the band, and life on the road.
-Can you tell me a little about how the band was formed and what it was like in the very early days? Any early performances that you remember in particular and why?
“Oh boy, when Cameron and I decided to collaborate, I only had an acoustic guitar, no other equipment, and we would have to practice by having him set up his drums against the back of the couch and I would sit over his shoulder so he could hear me singing. I don’t think a lot of people realize exactly how much stuff you need to have a band. A PA system, microphones, cables, amps, it’s just a lot.Our first “show” was for Cameron’s friend’s Sweet Sixteen party and they had one mic, no mic stand, and so I had to borrow someone’s electric guitar and we made a mic stand with part of Cameron’s drum set. Yup, it was terrible but a very memorable first performance.”
-Congratulations on the debut album, which I know is due out very soon. Was it a difficult road to get the album together? Are you excited about the release? It’d been getting a lot of good reviews from the critics. Has that helped calm any nerves?
“I wouldn’t say it was a difficult road, maybe I’d say it was a light-speed-rocket-ship-to-the-moon-road. If Autumn + Colour didn’t sign us when they did, we’d probably be getting ready to get into the recording studio right now to record Moral Compass. Not only that, but all those good reviews are press we would not have gotten if we didn’t get signed. They have hooked us up with Earshot Media, an amazing PR company, and combined with Toro Booking, we now have a great team of people helping us run on the fast track. An yes, all the good reviews have definitely helped calm our nerves. We’re glad that we’re not the only people who like our music.”
-What are your personal highlights from the album and why do those songs stand out for you?
“The climax in Blinked is one of my favorite moments because the gang vocals and the crazy, long, high note I sing were written in the studio. Those little things that get written in the studio are exciting to me because unless you have recording equipment, they are hard to write. It’s fun to record the foundation and then mess around with additions.”
-I know that you’re all big fiction fans, was this the main inspiration behind the album or is there more to what drives you musically? How would you best describe your music?
“I think that reading affects our writing style but I wouldn’t say it’s our inspiration. The inspiration behind these songs was some of the human interactions I’ve experienced in the last year or so. Human emotion and rationale fascinate me, even my own. I always try to keep an objective eye on my emotions but those bursts of intense emotion are magical lyric material and I try to capture it. We describe our music as a mix of genres but it’s still melodic and enjoyable by a wide audience.”
-Do you think that growing up so close to the border has influenced your musical style? Who else do you find musically inspirational?
“I wouldn’t say that any Mexican music found on the border influenced us because we never listened to it except at big family weddings. I would say however, that certain friends I grew up with affected my musical taste, as I’m sure is the same with everyone. Plus, Cameron and I would always be showing each other new music which is probably why we have such a similar taste in it. When we were starting the band up, we really looked up to a band from McAllen called Dignan because they were touring and making simply amazing music. Their drive and work ethic inspired us to take music seriously.”
-The video to ‘Robot’ is great. Was it fun to film? Where was it shot? Did it take a long time or was it quite easy to do?
“Thanks so much! Yes, it was absolutely a blast to film. It was shot at The Vertical Violet in Wichita, KS and as you can see from the video, it’s an amazing house. We love being there and spending time with the family that lives there. We wanted to showcase them because it almost feels selfish to be one of the few to know of such a sanctuary and such selfless people. We shot the video in one day plus the next morning for the outro and it wasn’t exactly easy, I’m just glad we’re all creative people. It took probably 4 tries but we got the long shots pretty quickly and we were very proud of ourselves! We were very happy with the final product.”
-You’re about to embark on quite a tour. How are the preparations going? Have you done anything in particular to get yourselves mentally or physically ready for the road? Where are you most looking forward to playing?
“What we do to prepare for the road is work as many hours as possible at our jobs so we can have money to eat on the road. There are a lot of other things we have to do like design, print, and mail out tour posters to the venues, notify our friends that we’ll be passing through their towns if we need a place to stay, get our van and trailer checked up, make sure our bills are ready to be paid while we’re out of town, and spend as much time with our loved ones as possible before we leave. We had a blast playing New York and we’re really looking forward to playing Atlanta because those cities are just so much fun to explore. We’re also excited to just see all the friends we’ve made in each city. It’s such a privilege to be able to meet interesting people all over the country.”
Their debut ‘Moral Compass’ is available now via Autumn + Colour Record