A Chat with Seeg (17.12.21)
The brainchild of US-based singer-songwriter Bryan Segraves, Seeg brings together elements of draws together rock, pop and even folk in his genre-defying sound. After approximately five years of silence, the talented musician returns with his debut full-length album Echoes. We speak to Seeg about Echoes, performing with other artists and animal reincarnation.
OSR: What drew you to music?
Seeg: It is the most comfortable way I know to express what I’m feeling. I would also have to give a ton of credit to my family. My dad was a blues songwriter and music was a central part of my experience growing up. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to either be a composer or a rock star. That dream has looked different throughout the years but it has pretty much stayed the same.
OSR: You mention you have sung and played in churches over the last 15 years. What made you decide to “strike out on your own”, so to say?
Seeg: I think the biggest contributing factor was the growing desire to create my own music and use my voice more. This desire resulted in the growth of my home studio and has led me to where I am now. I still sing and play in churches, but I believe that there is a time and season for everything and I am simply riding the wave of what is in front of me.
OSR: What can you tell us about your album Echoes?
Seeg: I have been writing for most of my life, but I stopped when my dad passed away in 2010. For the next several years, I primarily wrote and played gigs on the keys for others. In 2017, I decided I wanted to start writing and singing again. I made it a point to write and produce one song per week from top to bottom and, after a couple of years, I felt that I had enough songs with a similar theme to compile and share. At the end of the day, Echoes was the result of me reallocating my voice to my music creation process.
OSR: What was the writing and recording process like?
Seeg: Long! ? I took my time with this album because I was writing it for myself and I was doing all of the production. I initially wanted it out in 2019 but one studio build, marriage, move, career change, and Covid later, I stuck the landing in fall of 2021. Timeframe aside, I greatly appreciated this spread of time because I enjoy the writing process so much and it gave me much more time to write and learn production.
OSR: What do you hope people will take from Echoes?
Seeg: It is an album about life, death, grief and celebration. My hope is that beyond the music and production, people will take comfort and hope if they are navigating the more confusing and isolating seasons of life.
OSR: If you could change one thing about the album, what would it be and why?
Seeg: The amount of collaboration in the process of making it. It felt important to write this one mostly alone for the sake of rediscovering my own writing voice, but I want my future writing and projects to be done in close quarters with my friends. They are all stupid good on their instruments and wonderful people to their core.
OSR: If you could perform with any living musician, who would it be and why?
Seeg: Too many to realistically list, but if I’m shooting from the hip probably Eric Whitacre or Plini. I have a deep love for composition and music that feels positive and spiritual, and I feel very at home when I hear those kinds of ideas.
OSR: Do you believe the Covid pandemic has affected the music industry and how?
Seeg: Honestly, I think Covid was difficult in a lot of ways that are worth acknowledging, but I have seen some positive effects on creative people in my community. While a lot of us struggled with employment and income, I also saw people that have wanted to write start to write. Musicians that wanted to become artists did. Teachers opened schools. That sort of thing. Ultimately, I think much like the rest of the business world, the music industry has relied more on technology to bring us together during/after Covid.
OSR: If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would it be?
Seeg: I would hope my dog. We spoil the snot out of him.
OSR: What does the future hold for Seeg?
Seeg: I am already working hard on a couple of projects in 2022 that I don’t want to say anything about yet, but there will certainly be a lot more music. I can’t wait to share it with everyone!
Many thanks to Seeg for chatting with us. For more from Seeg check out his Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
