Interview

EP: Please state your name and position in the band?
Seth: My name is Seth Roberts and I sing and play guitar.

EP: You’ve had a storied musical career from the breakup of Watashi Wa to the short-lived Eager Seas and now to your current band Lakes. Looking back, how did those events shape your current outlook on your music and life in general?
Seth: The transition to Eager Seas was definitely a big time in my life with the break-up of Watashi Wa. After Eager Seas I felt discouraged about the label situation with Tooth & Nail and once Lakes came about I was wondering if people were still going to care. I feel like we are still Eager Seas we just changed our name to Lakes because of the confusing situation behind that name. It was also an exciting time though because it was a new start and I had also just gotten married. The last two years have been crazy between getting married, having a baby and starting a new band; I basically started a new career.
EP: Does it seem like fans of Watashi Wa followed you into your new project?
Seth: It’s hard to know about a new band from the [previous] band you liked unless you really followed them or you hear about them from [another source]. There hasn’t been a lot of buzz about us yet so it does feel like I started over.

EP: With as much detail as you can go into, what happened with the Eager Seas record “People Like People” being released under Watashi Wa’s name?
Seth: After Watashi Wa broke up I was touring with MXPX so the expectation that [the label and I] had was that I’m playing with MXPX and I’m doing [another band] on the side. After I [finished the album] though I felt that this is what I really want to do but the label was still in the mindset that it was not a main priority. Tooth & Nail are a great label with great people but our music wasn’t a good fit on the label. We talked about a couple different solutions and the final decision was to release it under Watashi Wa because [the band] had a name. I think we could have still gone by the name Eager Seas but we felt there was so much confusion around [that name] and Eager Seas will always be associated with Watashi Wa so we figured to just start with a new name.
EP: Will we ever see any of those songs re-recorded for Lakes?
Seth: We don’t have any plans to but we have talked about doing old Watashi Wa songs that weren’t recorded. For example, there is one song called "Look" that we might re-do. For a long time we were holding on to the old stuff but now I feel like it would be limiting us.

EP: Was there a conscious change in sound from Watashi Wa to Eager Seas and Lakes or was it more of a natural progression?
Seth: It was a conscious change in the way that we were starting a band and we wanted the freedom to be able release any kind of album and make sense kind of like the Eager Seas record which has a lot of different sounds.

EP: How did the current line-up of the band come together? Have there been any line-up changes since the recording of the “Photographs” EP?
Seth: Yeah, our band has changed a lot since then. I really like the idea of a band that stays together as a line-up for [their entire career] and that is always what I wanted but it hasn’t worked out that way. I have a different mindset now though as far as changes happening; I’m okay with change now. Originally Eager Seas was Jason and I who made the album with me. We started playing with Jacob, our current drummer, shortly after our first tour as Eager Seas. We finished the EP as Lakes with a couple different line-ups but for the first time in a while I really feel like a band right now. I am playing with people who I consider my best friends which is something I haven’t been able to say in a long time.

EP: The first release with Lakes was the “Photographs” EP which was released in 2006 on The Militia Group but there seemed to be a lack of touring behind the release. Was there a specific reason for that?
Seth: We record the EP right when I got married and put it out when [my wife] was pregnant. We got a tour but we had to cancel because she was due during the tour. After that we had our baby girl and I decided to take a break.
EP: Do you think you are getting a solid start with the band now?
Seth: Yeah, we are going to start working hard.

EP: Some themes I find running lyrically through all of your previous and current projects are love, hope and an overall positive outlook. What inspires such optimism?
Seth: I think it’s partly my idealist personality. If my wife and I have no money and she is worried [over it], I still think in my head ‘it’s going to work out.’ I think everybody is drawn to the ideas love and hope and I want those things as well.
EP: It’s great to hear that. I feel so many bands write about the negative aspects of life. We all go through those things as well and it is easy to dwell on them.
Seth: In a lot of the songs I’ve written lately I have been focusing on things going on in the world. Part of being positive is being realistic. It’s great to think about hope but if we are being realistic, life isn’t always like that. In our society we celebrate things too much. At this point in my life I feel it’s a time to not celebrate what I have but what other people don’t have. That seems like hope to me. I want to be a part of our generation’s mindset change.

(At this point the band was about to play so we had to stop the interview. We continued the interview in the band’s van after they were done with their set.)

EP: What is the band’s songwriting process like?
Seth: Usually I write the melody and lyrics then Jason and I come up with all of the [other] parts. It’s been different lately now that we’re more of a band. We’ve been writing more collectively and letting it be a natural process.

EP: How did the current tour come about with Science Heroes?
Seth: Andy (vocals, guitar) of Science Heroes is my cousin-in-law and we’ve been friends since we were young. He’s always wanted to go on tour and when I was visiting him he mentioned about touring together. This small window of opportunity came up and we booked it ourselves a few weeks before the tour.
Note: the band is currently without booking agent; just a heads-up to any agent reading this.

EP: What are the band’s plans for the future?
Seth: The goals we have right now are to make an album and start touring California first so we can build up a name. We also want to do more stuff online and interact with our fans.
EP: Is there any timetable for the release?
Seth: Our timetable right now is just work hard and when it makes sense put out the album. Heavily touring makes more sense when we have an album to push but [touring] is still really important. The main goal though is to work on the album and tour when we can.

EP: Will you be working with The Militia Group again?
Seth: We are going to be working with them but we’re not sure in what way. They are really great friends and the very passionate about what we are doing.

EP: We talked a little bit about the music business’ current state. How does your band plan to evolve with the music industry?
Seth: Definitely make use of the online options. We’re not as worried about selling records; what’s important to us is for people to hear us and get excited about it. You can get music for free anywhere nowadays so we want to be creative about getting the music to people and still being able to make a living.

EP: Well, I’ve gone through my questions. Is there anything else you would like to add?
(We proceeded to go off on a social and religious tangent that is too long and unrelated to type out until finally running out of time as the band literally were about to drive off)

EP: Thanks so much for your time. Sorry to take up so much of it.
Seth: Oh no, it was great to talk; thanks.

Thanks again to Seth for his time and the band’s patience with our never-ending conversation.