Interviews: Spring.Fall.Sea

In this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Post-Hardcore band Spring.Fall.Sea from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Marvin (Menz, guitar): Hi Breathing The Core, thanks for having us! It took a while for us to find a band name. It’s such a hard thing to decide on. But Spring.Fall.Sea was something we all liked. It describes the journey of a river, from something small to something huge. It describes our music pretty accurately, too, and it’s a nice metaphor for life in general.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Marvin: To answer that question, you would have to put us in a genre first. For the sake of argument, let’s label our music as high energy rock. Nothing is as fascinating as the energy and the rush that music can create. It’s magic. And we love to release energy and get lost in that magic. The more, the better. We all grew up and fell in love with the heavier rock genres, that’s something that will stick with us. That’s why we picked up our instruments.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Marvin: Dylan and I had known each other for almost a year before they started the band. But the music was the reason for us to get together from the start. So without music, we wouldn’t have met. 

Alex (Ekong, vocals): And I didn’t get involved until after the band had already been around for a couple of years. In my case, it was the music that drew me in. I went to watch them play in London and they played some songs that would later become our EP Time + Tide. Marvin felt I could offer something more to them and I agreed!

4. Each band member’s favorite band?

Alex: What’s cool about us is that we all have different influences but there’s overlap there too. Dylan (Percy, drums) is a huge Blink-182 fan but also love electro-rock bands like Angels & Airwaves and The Naked And Famous. I love emo and pop-punk bands like Fall Out Boy, Patrick Stump is a huge inspiration for me vocally. And I know Marvin loves metal and hardcore punk bands from the 80s. All of us are massive, massive Enter Shikari fans though! 5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Marvin: In the past, we have always inspired each other. I think the main inspiration for us has always been the passion and love for the music of the other members. That made us want to start the band. And from there we’ve always tried to focus on what comes out of us naturally and pushed each other to be better songwriters. That’s for the instrumental part. Lyrically inspiration has come from so many different places. We hope that our songs are understandable and you can vibe with it and know where it’s coming from.

6. Where was your last gig?

Marvin: We just played the Oxjam Ealing Summer Fest a couple days ago. It was great. And it’s the most local we’ve ever played. We live just around the corner. It was so much fun, we had a lot of friendly faces and a great vibe.

Alex: It was so great to close the stage after a full day of music. It was an older crowd than we usually play but they were so energetic and receptive to us. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a while!

7. Where would you like to play?

Marvin: We hope to play everywhere really and we have played many places already. Playing a US tour was a dream come true for us, our sixteen-year-old selves would be proud of us. We want to go to every place we haven’t played yet and hope to slowly grow and play bigger stages.

Alex: Personally, I’d love to play shows in America, I’ve never done that before. Holding out for a Spring.Fall.Sea comeback tour of Asia too!

8. Who would you like to support?

Marvin: Enter Shikari, I think that’s one band we can all agree on. We are all huge fans.

9. Who not?

Marvin: Worst case for us is probably to end up somewhere where people and music are really small minded. Any racist or sexist or homophobic bands we would not share the stage with and cancel. It happens unfortunately that bands get booked on shows like that without knowing, we heard some strange stories.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Marvin: I think every musician has had that experience. I think for all of us alcohol was a big crutch at first… but we’ve all played in bands before so we’ve all had gone past that beginner stage by the time we played the first Spring.Fall.Sea show. We still stress before shows all the time though. I think what makes you stressed is that you’re a perfectionist. But usually something will go wrong, I think embracing that is a lesson we still need to learn, too.

Alex: In my previous bands, the stage fright was always worse when you didn’t feel like the people you were playing with had your back or didn’t know what they were doing. Surrounding yourself with people who practice and play for the love of it helps, I think. Something I do as well as try and focus on the people in the audience who are totally vibing with the music - there’s usually one! When I see them having a good time, it helps me relax.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Marvin: Shojoskip inspired our first record the most. Slipknot is a huge inspiration for us as musicians in general and has pushed us in a direction for more than a decade. Enter Shikari is definitely one that we have to mention, too.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Marvin: I don’t think we have had any too strange experiences. There is some really cool one, for example when fans get band related tattoos. That’s sick. That’s a huge honor. I think we’re deeply moved by every person that enjoys our music and makes it their own.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Marvin: We are a small band. Most fans we have talked to personally, at least the ones that let us know that they are fans. And most of them we probably also consider friends one way or another.

Alex: I think we are lucky in the sense that our closest friends are also our biggest fans. They really support us, give us honest opinions and help us stay focused, it would be a lot harder to do this without them. We’re now getting to a point where we have fans further afield as well and I can’t wait for them to become friends with us too.

14. What do you think of our site?

Marvin: A music scene consists of so many more elements than musicians. We love everyone’s passion for music, thanks for doing what you’re doing and including us!

15. Something to add?

Marvin: Thank you for your time, listen to our music and come to one of our shows!

Alex: Look after yourselves and each other. Come see us on tour in August and make sure to check out Time + Tide when it’s out in September!