The Sound Of Seeking

Seek and shall you find. If only it were true when dollars are involved, particularly as musicians do not have that much dosh to splash around. For every Tiesto, Oakenfold or Tong, there are a plethora of struggling performers who probably cannot afford a Happy Meal.

Take Sydney trio Seekae. The producers of acoustic and synth-driven electronica have won many fans and admirers, but not a great deal of green… yet. They understand what it is like to be short on notes. “Oh yeah, we can definitely relate to having little or no money, although we're okay at the moment,” explains band member John Hassell. “Work-wise, we all have something else on the side and generally spend our money on new instruments and money for the studio. We're also lucky as we've all saved up a lot of money for us to use so we can practice.” That investment strategy has paid off as they are now in a position to practice, practice and practice some more.

Of course, ploughing money back into music is seen as a shrewd investment, predominantly if that investment yields results, acclaim, success and a little bit of extra lolly. “It would be great to have that respect from your peers and ultimately be in a position where this was a full-time job. It has been amazing to see what has happened so far as we have played across Australia and have played to some fairly large crowds when we've been overseas. I cannot ask for more or complain.”

For Seekae, early results have indeed been forthcoming thanks to their clever union of electronic music and atmospheric cinematic melodies. They have unquestionably caught attention – they were featured at a recent Vivid Live event at none other than the Sydney Opera House, one of only three Aussie bands to perform at the iconic venue for the event.

Still, it has been a while since John Hassell, Alex Cameron and George Nicholas ditched their guitars for laptops, interfaces and samplers. The first result was the 2008 LP, The Sound Of Trees Falling On People, which they followed up with the experimental and electronic + Dome.

The decision to shift from indie music to electronica was deliberate. “At the time I was playing in another rock band but started to get into Aphex Twin,” Hassel explains. “Electronic music was exciting and had no boundaries. It was new and it was the most exciting music I had heard. Once the seed was planted, it went from there.”

Although electronic music has retained its excitement, albeit in sporadic doses, Hassell reckons the stuff that is being produced today has not quite reached the dizzying heights of past years. He has a rationale as to why. He says, “I think that is because I am more experienced with producing electronic music. There is some great stuff being produced on [label] Warp that is just as original though.”

That Seekae continue to diversify can lead to issues when they try to classify what they make and why. So if experience leads to wisdom, how does Hassell describe the Seekae sound? “The best way to explain what we do is to simply say we make electronic music. We compose music on computers and play on synthesisers. We've all been friends for a long time and often write music separately before we meet up a few times a week to exchange ideas. That leads to a mixture of sound.”

Given the boys write separately, when they come together to compare notes the dynamic can suffer, albeit slightly. “[The dynamic] can be hit and miss at times. Musically we've all done things that don't always sit that well together. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. It's just a matter of not getting stuck in a rut and ensuring we push each other forward.”

But there is an upside. “When we get together it is the weird combinations that we don't expect to work that actually do (work). Sometimes a Frankenstein-like creation works. There aren't too many other electronic bands doing this kind of thing and hopefully people get down with it.”

People have, indeed, got down and swanky to the Seekae strikes. Negative criticism has been sparse; not that it bothers Hassell. “You have to accept negativity. You can take it to heart but if you do it will do you no favours,” he says. The  trio first formed in 2006 when Nicholas and Cameron, former primary school alumni, just so happened to bump into each other after an eight-year gap. Cameron, who was then playing in a band, introduced Nicholas to then bandmate John Hassell. Not too long afterwards, Seekae was born. Originally known as Commander Keen, they started messing around with hip hop, ambient post-rock and indie pop to create what they'd call “ghetto ambient”.

However, the more they messed with samples and the electronic side of life, the more they liked what they heard ‑ the challenge was converting their previous live band experience to a live electronic band without losing the components of surprise and without boring the pants off their audience. After all, there is little excitement in standing and watching three blokes press buttons on pieces of metal. The answer was to combine the wires, the MIDI and the beats with live instruments and pre-programmed snippets that included drums, synths and samplers.

Hassell is aware that it is easy to be written off as another jolly electronic band that presses buttons on a laptop, so the adoption and incorporation of live instruments into their sets has become integral to the Seekae sound. “We always reflect on our live performances to see what we can do better next time,” he confirms. “Music is constantly changing, so we are constantly changing. What we record in a studio may sound different to when we perform it live.” And with that spontanaeity comes certain times when the magic just happens. “There was a time when Alex brought a track to the rest of us. Once we heard it we knew it was an album track.”

Seekae are also good at surprises. Like a Kinder Surprise, unwrap the layers and a treat is ready and waiting for the grateful recipient. Anyone who has seen the boys live can probably attest to their remix of White Town's seminal tune, Your Woman.

That diversity is slowly coming together for the band's forthcoming third album. “We've just finished recording our new album. It's still early days but it may have strings, brass, woodwind and may be a bit more poppier than our previous albums.”

But then that's up to the flow. “It could change, as we all can be indecisive,” Hassell laughs. “The way we get stuff done is being forced into it via a deadline. The more structure, the more we get things done.”

Seekae will be playing the following shows:

Thursday 6, Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September - The Basement, Sydney NSW