Seiche are an electronic duo hailing from Perth. The group is made up of singer Emma Lucia and guitarist/ Ableton-ist Tristan Dziga. Having recently popped onto the live scene with a string of shows including a spot at WAMfest 2019, they’ve emerged from the studio with something really special in first EP Arete. Recorded with producer Keiran Kenderessy, they’ve sent it out into the world in style by pressing vinyl and having a slightly off-kilter launch in the form of a warehouse party on December 7 at a secret location in the Perth CBD. ANTHONY JACKSON investigates.
First off, congrats on the completion of your first extended player and the pressing of the vinyl, it looks and sounds amazing. Tell us about the band, how did you guys come together to start making music?
E: Tris and I are actually cousins so we’ve known each another all our lives. We started working together when I filled in as a singer for his previous outfit, The Raging Lincolns. The singer left right before a couple of shows in Geraldton, so I had to learn about 10 songs in about a week! I kept the gig, singing for them up until I went to live overseas for a brief stint.
T: After Em went away I was in a musical no man’s land for a couple of years. I played guitar for a few bands but not much was really sticking or speaking to me artistically except for an insanely pretentious prog-doom act I had been playing with. The keyboardist got us a slot at Noize Machine which is this sort of anything goes open mic; they had people drumming on giant metal fans, guys screaming in your face, people like Filth Goddess and Fur Chick were regulars. I’d been producing for a few years, but never quite made the leap into live performance because I didn’t feel like what I was writing really fit into a specific genre.
E: Low and behold not long after I’d returned to Perth I got this text from Tris out of the blue one day asking what I thought of this composition he’d been dabbling on and could I (again pretty quickly) sing something over it. That song ended up being the bare production for the track Faces in the Lake.
T: I got us billed as Gay Communist Gun Club and here we are today… admittedly with a different name. Although I’m still open to a project with that name if anyone else is.
E: …potential prog-doom side act. Keep your eyes peeled.
Being an electronic duo, you must have a different structure of writing songs than just getting together and playing live. Can you tell us how you go about the songwriting process? From your first ideas to the final mastering how did it all come together?
E: Generally Tris works on an electronic arrangement and brings his ideas for me to listen to and I choose what I’m going to work on. Usually, I absolutely love everything he showcases and he’s a bit more critical of his own work. But it works incredibly well when I resonate with something he’s written and take away the file, carve out what section will be the chorus and what will be the verse and work out the melodies.
T: I’ll usually bring in a working title for the track, just to give Em some extra hoops to jump through, but she’s pretty good at coming up with lyrics to match it.
E: Lately we’ve also tried writing more organically at the same time with Tris on guitar and myself using voice to riff over each other. It’s a lovely and different experience to create in real time so I’d dare say you will see more of that writing style in future.
You worked with Keiran Kenderessy (Loops Studios) who is a mastermind at pretty much anything he does, how was working with him? Did he offer any out of the box insights that you overlooked? How did he help shape the overall end product?
T: The Big Potato himself! The man is a national treasure.
E: Kieran was absolutely incredible to work with. It can be extremely intimidating as a singer heading into the vocal booth and having an engineer scrutinise every take you do, but he is infinitely patient you know you’re in safe hands. He was super helpful in directing me whilst recording and came up with a lot of my favourite vocal arrangement ‘moments’ on the EP; suggesting we do a particular vocal harmony here or encouraging me to try a vocal run to layer what ended up being on the final recording. Kieran really sparkled up our sound beautifully for the release and we are so grateful for his time and efforts.
The launch party looks like something really special, it’s not just your run of the mill launch, what have you got planned and who is along for the ride?
E: Originally we wanted to have a really cosy, intimate performance at Rhubarb Records in Leederville who were amazing in helping us get the EP printed onto 12 inch vinyl, but unfortunately the venue fell through at short notice.
T: A connection of mine had recently had me in to have a look at his warehouse and I was kind of taken away by the vibe of the place. Stacks of speakers 10ft tall, lasers, projectors, a really friendly dog – the place had it all. So we had to either cancel the event and reschedule or make the extremely obvious choice of hosting a warehouse party with all the trimmings.
E: Yep, we’ve definitely taken the bigger than Ben Hur option. We have a great lineup of local producers and bands supporting us on the night; Grunge Barbie is bringing her whole band…
T: We’ve only seen her solo before, so it’s going be a treat.
E: We’ve also got cBat, Trebt, Black Antlers, cr0nes, Doth’s debut show, Lawesome and Miss B Savage doing some stuff which you should not try at home.
T: And we’ve got Rodrigo Fiasco and Dark Matter Executions doing some absolutely hectic stuff with lasers, so take this as a strobe warning.
What’s next for the Seiche in 2020?
E: Hopefully more of the same! We have a lot of other tracks that we’d love to record and get out into the world so that will definitely be on the cards.
T: When the stars align there’s a music video to make as well – technically that’s meant to be happening in January.
E: Tris and I both hold down full-time jobs so it’s always a bit of a juggling act trying to find the time for musical endeavours but we love writing and performing so much we make the time somehow.
T: Do it slow, do it right.
E: We’re also looking to incorporate more live instrumentation into our shows to make it more epic than it already is. There’s something undeniably magic about performing your music live and physically bringing it to people. It’s addictive.
Seiche release their Aretes EP December 7 on vinyl and digital download and will be celebrating the release with a huge warehouse-rave style event at a secret location in the Perth CBD on Saturday, December 7. Tickets are on sale now through Rhubarb Records. Keep an eye on the Facebook event for more info.
