Exposed’s Ellie Nodder catches up with Ciara Hurding, drummer of the 80’s-inspired indie pop peddlers.
You started the band when you were 13-years-old, right? When do you think it changed from just a group of friends messing around together to a “proper band”?
I think we’d been writing songs for a few years, but not good ones. And then we just started to hone in our sound and think about how we wanted to sound rather than just writing whatever came to our heads. And as soon as we started to do that, we got better offers for gigs and festivals, and I think being that bit older did help. I think it’s good that we didn’t get those offers until a bit later because we definitely improved and it’s good for people to see the best version of the band.
You’ve described your sound as ‘indie glitter’. Can you explain this a bit more?
Indie glitter was something that we came up with when we were about 16 because we always used to wear glitter on stage and just decided to make it our thing. And I think it was based off the sound of the keyboards in our songs being kind of shimmery, but I think we’re starting to grow out of that a little bit as we get older – but we’ve still got the indie glitter tag following us everywhere!
In what ways do you think your sound has grown up?
Yeah, I think that we’d go for more of a 80s-influenced synthpop indie thing! Or something like that!
Things have really progressed for you recently, but what do you think was the biggest moment for your band so far?
I think last year as a whole was a massive year for us. It was sort of the first time we were on the festival circuit; we did the Isle of Wight Festival, Tramlines, YNOT and Truck. It was just massive for us because a lot of these festivals we’d previously paid for just to watch our favourite bands, and to be playing alongside massive names was really cool for us. I also think the end of last year was big as we had our first tour, which has always been a massive thing for us to do. We’ve said since the very start that we just really want to do a tour; we want that feeling of getting to stay over somewhere because you have a gig the next day, playing in London and then driving to Brighton at like 3 in the morning.
What can we expect from a Seamonsters set at Tramlines?
We’ve got a new song that we’re playing for the first time at Tramlines which we’re very excited for. We’re bringing out the songs that we feel are kind of festival appropriate and a bit dancy – and maybe a cheeky cover as well!
What does playing at Tramlines mean to you, being a local band?
I think more nervous in some ways. Like, we’re really nervous for this gig because at the start of the year we were touring, but we’ve not played in a while, and to come back to Sheffield and this to be like our homecoming gig at Tramlines is a really big deal. But it’s also very exciting, especially as Tramlines has just grown and grown and we’ve seen it do that because we’ve been there from the first year, even before the band, when we were going to it. It’s just really cool to see the massive names they’ve got on now and to see our name alongside them – it’s insane.
Where would you like to see The Seamonsters being in ten years?
Headlining Glastonbury, ideally! We want to be the biggest band in the world!
The Seamonsters // The Leadmill Stage // 16:15
