One of the hottest bands coming out of Brighton at this moment is Sea Bed, aka Jim Corbin and Lizzie Massey, have been gaining substantial attention and praise of late. The duos gorgeous electronica meets R&B sound has had Sea Bed playlisted on BBC Radio 1, performing on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury Festival as well as holding a spot on the New Music Friday Spotify playlist gaining an impressive amount of listeners the band. Having recently released their stunning second EP, The Art Of Living, we spoke to Jim to find out more about Sea Bed and their line-up.
Who are Sea Bed?
Lizzie and I are the main writers and have spent the most time working together, going into different studios and writing. For a few months now, we have been incorporating a live drummer into the band who will eventually become part of Sea Bed and also be a part of Sea Bed’s identity. As we are getting bigger and better gigs, we are also looking to get in a fourth member to add to our live set up. We are trying to get as far away from our old laptop set up as possible as the human aspect brings something special to the music – stepping away from the 1’s and 0’s, and embracing the rawness that a band brings.
How did you meet Lizzie?
Lizzie is originally from Slough and moved to Brighton when she was about 17. I live 15 minutes down the road from Brighton in Shoreham. We both met around 2009 when we were studying music in Brighton. We were on courses which we weren’t both in together so we would see each other in the common room. I applied to a band poster but then didn’t realise that Lizzie was in the band until we were in the rehearsal room. After we finally both left our music course, we both realised that we were still no closer to knowing what it was that we wanted to do as we were in and out of bands at the time. We then decided to make a band together of music we actually wanted to listen to, and started to invest in audio equipment, samplers, synthesisers.
Can you remember your first session?
Yes, we were getting really excited by all these sounds. The freedom of being able to plug in an analogue synth and go, “Wow, this doesn’t sound like anything we have done before”. If I was to listen back to those first recordings now, I’m sure every inch of my body would curl up. But we never thought at any moment that we should stop as we both knew we were onto something, even if it did sound terrible at the time.
What is the story behind the name?
Sea Bed was the best of a really terrible list of names we had stored on an iPhone, I think Lizzie still has the list somewhere. Sea Bed just seemed to stick out, almost instantly – we slept on it for one night then thought, that’s the one. The name Sea Bed doesn’t really pin us to a genre, as a name like Black Sabbath or Queens Of The Stone Age does, it allows us to be a bit more fluid in which route our music goes.
How do you both approach the writing process?
It has changed over the last year. At the beginning of Sea Bed, our music was a lot more dance orientated and loop based in production. We then started honing in on song writing more, making songs that you could tap out and sing at a table.
Tell me a bit about The Art Of Living EP?
After the Moving Ghost EP, we felt that we needed to make something more cohesive and with a stronger identity. We wanted to encapsulate more of where we were as a band. I feel the guitars are more present and there is more of a Cocteau Twins kind of sound; a more dark, mystical and electronic pop vibe. Whereas Moving Ghosts was very beat orientated and production driven.
What has been a musical eye-opener?
We both went to Berlin for the first time when we were in an Indie Rock band and ended up going into a disused building that was turned into a creative space, the place looked like it was out of one of the deleted scenes in the movie Hostel. Hearing music being played out of the speakers and feeling people’s energy and seeing their reaction listening to the music had quite an effect on us. At that point we were only just discovering going out clubbing and exploring more of an underground scene, it made us realise that it all comes down to what is coming out of the speakers.
Who would be in your ultimate supergroup?
Herb Alpert, Paul McCartney, Aphex Twin and A Tribe Called Quest. Perhaps also some of the guys from Parliament to funk it up.
Who would be on your ultimate line-up for a gig you are putting on and where would it be?
Suicide would start things off, then the original Motörhead and The Doors headlining with a three-hour set. It would have to be in the Latest Music Bar.
If you could work with any artist, who would it be and what would they bring to Sea Bed?
It would have to be Tom Browne, he would bring uncontrollable groove to the entire record. Or to have Egyptian Lover in the room with us would be super interesting.
If you could give a musical award to someone, who would it be to and why?
To Bill Drummond (The KLF) for the biggest “head fuck” of 2016.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to a band called New Fast Automatic Daffodils, The Chameleons, Air, Autechre, Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, as well as some old Kraftwerk and Diana Ross.
Have you seen any live music that has stood out recently?
I saw an electronic artist called Kub, also known as Daisy Emily Warne, who has also done all the artwork for our last two releases – that was a great gig.
What are your future plans up to the end of the year and after?
We are supporting HÆLOS at Heaven up in London on 10th November which is going to be amazing. We are also doing our first headline show at The Hope & Ruin on the 19th November which will be with a four-piece band. In December we are playing the Electric Dreams Festival which is being put together by Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood). We have also been writing hard in the background whilst The Art Of Living EP has been coming to release, so there hopefully should be some more music coming out by early next year.
Website: seabedband.tumblr.com
Facebook: facebook.com/seabedband
Twitter: twitter.com/SeaBedBand