Guildford Pop Rock Newcomers Seasonal recently announced their debut EP Bloom, set for self-release on 19th May. The line-up includes vocalist/bassist Matt Trusele, guitarists Max O’Neill and Alex Coombes and drummer Alex Tickner. Seasonal formed as trio in 2016, later recruiting Alex on the strength of demos. Check out Certainty from the upcoming release below!
We caught up with the guys as they talked about their upcoming release and more!
So you guys are set to self release ‘Bloom’, how pumped are you for this?
We’re super pumped! Yeah it’s really cool to be releasing a record so quickly as we’ve only been playing as Seasonal for a year. It’s what we all wanted, we love all the songs, so figured why not, lets just do it. We hope everyone who hears it gets as excited as we are.
Tell us a little bit about the EP, What is your favourite track on the release?
We wrote this recorded this EP last year. Three of us(Matt, Max and Alex T) were already jamming together in early 2016 and Alex C jumped on board late February. We wrote a bunch of songs, and then wrote a bunch more. The songs on ‘Bloom’ are from the bunch more. We really liked the mix of the old and new influences that we’ve captured in these tracks. Lyrically, we took quite an honest and personal approach. There were a few things we all wanted to write about, and just agreed on what topics we felt fitted with the shells of songs we had. Our favorite on the EP has to be ‘Headphones’, as it just such an upbeat pop track at heart, with lyrics reminiscing our years growing up in Guildford, the town with so much to do for teenagers. It’s a great track to play live and we like to have a lot of fun with it.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
It would have to be Jimmy Eat World. They’re just the best band hands down. We tip our caps to a couple of our favorite records in the track ‘Headphones’. Jimmy’s ‘Clarity’ is one of them.
What has been your funniest moment while recording this EP?
Just being down in Folkestone recording made for a lot of funny experiences. Soaking up the atmosphere in local hot spots like Chambers and Party Bar, to a hotel with no radiators, men in bath robes just chilling in the reception and courtesy dirty underwear in the room. We had a lot of laughs when we were there for sure.
Would you say you have more freedom self releasing songs?
You definitely have the ultimate freedom when self-releasing a record, because no one else is there to tell you what to do. We picked the songs we wanted to record, when we wanted to release them and that’s it. The only less practical part of self-releasing is that requires self-funding of the whole project.
What is the pop punk scene like in Surrey?
It’s pretty good to be fair. There a bunch of really talented bands playing out around here and there’s been a few noteworthy bands in the past to come from the area like Reuben and Hundred Reasons.
Will there be a tour at all with the release of the EP?
Not yet unfortunately. We’re a new band at the end of the day, and it takes a bit of persuading to get on a tour or book your own spots in away from your locals. We’re playing The Boileroom, Guildford on 30th April 17, supporting Muncie Girls, so that should be a lot of fun to play the record to the hometown crowd before taking it on the road. Add us on the socials to keep up to date with what’s going on by all means.
What were your first ever gigs you went to?
I definitely win this because I went to see Michael Jackson with my dad. Matt went to the Deconstruction Tour and Max went to a solid Strung Out, Rise Against and Audio Karate gig. Alex T still isn’t sure.