Seam - Drowning in Funereal Distortion

After putting an end to the Bitch Magnet project, singer Sooyoung Park launched a fascinating band that, right from their debut album “Headsparks”, progressively steered 80s hardcore toward the more colorful shores of atmospheric psychedelia. That band was called Seam, and online there are

surprisingly few articles dedicated to them.

Yet that anaemic vocal delivery, those martial rhythms, those hazy distortions make them the most

deserving heirs of Codeine, where the alternation between contemplative stillness and walls of guitar reveals their kinship with contemporary shoegazers from across the pond.

We managed to reach their leader Sooyoung Park by e-mail, now based in Singapore (and a member of Bored Spies), who granted us this exclusive interview.

Let's start from the beginning: why did you leave Bitch Magnet? And what did you have in mind when you started Seam?

The Bitch Magnet project was conceived from the outset as something short-lived, so we did a couple of shows, had a great time, and then called it quits. We're still good friends and I enjoy hanging out with those guys.

If “Headsparks” was still closely tied to the hardcore scene, with “The Problem With Me” and “Are You Driving Me Crazy?” you moved toward a more atmospheric form of rock…was that a calculated choice?

Funny, I actually think “Headsparks” is the poppiest Seam album! I think every Seam album has a slightly different atmosphere, and that “The Pace Is Glacial” is the darkest of the four.

Why did you put an end to Seam after “The Pace Is Glacial”?

We toured to support the album between 1998 and 2000, and by the end of the tour we had nothing new left to write, so we entered a long period of inactivity, which eventually led the band to stop altogether. But it wasn't a calculated move.

In my opinion “Dust And Turpentine” is your best song, since it contains all the band's essential traits: languid guitars, the alternation of hard and soft tones, bursts of garage-rock noise. Do you agree? And how would you define Seam's music?

You know, that song is also one of my favorites. We recorded it very quickly, in one or two takes if I remember right, but it has some of the percussion and guitar work I love most from that album.

What are the best Seam albums and songs, in your opinion?

I don't listen to my own records much, maybe once every 4-5 years. The last time I listened to "Are You Driving Me Crazy?" I remember thinking it was more consistent than the other albums, but I feel the other albums hit peaks that this one doesn't reach. That's a tough question!

As for the best songs, I think "Dust And Turpentine" is at the top of the list along with "Granny 9X" and "Aloha Spirit".

Looking back at what you did 20 years on, are you satisfied or would you change anything?

I'd probably pay more attention to the recording and mixing process, in particular.

Were the other members of Seam just players, or did they play a key role in shaping the band's artistic direction?

It depends: some contributed a lot to the music and the band's direction, while others seemed to just be in it for the free beer and whiskey.

When you started out, in the early Nineties, there was a parallel movement running counter to grunge, centered on slowed-down tempos and hushed atmospheres (I'm thinking of Idaho, Bedhead, Codeine…). Did you feel part of that current at the time?

Bands don't usually think of themselves as part of a movement, and we were no different. A couple of the bands you mentioned were friends of ours, but we never talked about our music being part of some kind of scene. I remember having conversations with Bedhead about audiences complaining because we played quiet songs, and commiserating with each other over things like that.

Do you listen to that kind of music today?

Rarely. Lately I've mostly been listening to electronic music and K-pop.

What's your main occupation these days?

I build software and try to make it look good.

Could there be a Seam reunion in the future?

Hardly.

Would you like to leave a message for your fans?

Well, it's hard to imagine anyone out there still listening to our music after all this time, but if that's the case, it really makes me happy.

Ride the wave of great music

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