Planting The Seed

16 April 2013 | 1:15 pm | Monique Cowper

"In inner Sydney I’d find something I’d like to see every couple of weeks. Maybe it’s not the flavour of the moment but there are plenty of bands fighting the good fight."

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It seems like only yesterday that punters who liked their music on the more dramatic side were spoilt for choice with bands like Cog, The Butterfly Effect and Karnivool battling it out for dominance on our airwaves, stages and festivals. Then almost overnight the resources seemed to dry up. Dead Letter Circus have been flying the flag as the new reigning kings of Aussie prog rock while we wait for Karnivool's well overdue next album, but Self Is A Seed guitarist Craig Smith admits the game has changed. “Back in 2005 or 2006 there was a clear track ahead,'' he said. “ As a rock band you knew, we're here and our next step is to try and become Dead Letter Circus then we'd like to be The Butterfly Effect and then Karnivool or Cog. Now it's sparse. You really have to rally to create a scene.''

Self Is A Seed is one of a handful of Sydney bands, like Breaking Orbit, that Smith believes will strengthen the genre again in coming years. “I'd like to say it feels like it's on its way up. In inner Sydney I'd find something I'd like to see every couple of weeks. Maybe it's not the flavour of the moment but there are plenty of bands fighting the good fight.''

Part of Self Is A Seed's battle plan is their recently released debut Siren. It was produced over a two-year period under exceptional circumstances. The band have not only played and toured together but they shared the same house for four years and all do the same job, working as carers for people with disabilities. “I don't know why it works for us,'' Smith admits. “We see other bands falling apart but we've all been mates from day one.''

Smith might claim that all is harmonious in the Self Is A Seed camp but one of the most outstanding tracks on their album is the song Siren. Vocalist David Bleus sings to his “brothers” asking for forgiveness with an incredibly powerful plea not to turn back now. “Siren is essentially about the band; that's why we couldn't have thought of a better name for the album,'' Smith said. “I guess it is about how essentially easy it is to get lost in a band. We had a chink in our armour and I know it is such a cliché that bands use, but it is like a marriage. We do spend a lot of time together and it is a brotherhood. That song was a definite turning point for the band. It was very much, 'let's do this'.”

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Self Is A Seed will be playing the following dates:

Friday 19 April - Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW
Friday 26 April - The Beetle Bar, Brisbane QLD