Emotionalpunk.com
Eager Seas, a reflection, an invitation:
There is a clear connection between Seth Roberts writing and expression through music and his beliefs. He feels that “Eager Seas” is a reflection about his life unto God. “Eager Seas has nothing to do with spreading religion,” Seth said. “God changed my life, and my life is because of Him; I’d like anyone who wants to understand that, to know about that. This album wasn’t intended to spread religion, but I think that this album, as a reflection on my life, is clearly a reflection of what God’s done in my life.”
Watashi Wa: Formerly Signed:
With a sense of concern for the way he responded, Seth carefully chose the way he wanted to word his response to my question regarding the label issues. The other members of Watashi Wa had signed release papers to get out of their contract with Tooth And Nail Records; Seth initially felt he was to sign them as well.
“I asked Chad, who is my A&R guy, whether or not I needed to sign a release to get off of Tooth And Nail Records…we all talked about my future plans and whether I wanted to work with them or not.” After discussion, Seth’s conclusion was that the music he was doing would not clearly fit and identify with the general of appeal of the Tooth And Nail Records music reach. They ended up working out a deal that Seth would release “Eager Seas” under the original name “Watashi Wa,” though it had none of the same members; they would include “All Of Me” on the album as the long-completed music video was included with the CD in the enhanced content.
Before this happened, there were a few conflicts between people at the label: “there were people that wanted me to stay, and people who didn’t like the album that much…and what I felt was that the people who didn’t like the album that much should have really liked the album. It’s like when a girl and guy are going out, and there’s nothing wrong with the relationship, but there’s nothing really worthwhile with prolonging it…it’s like saying, ‘Why don’t we just be friends?’”
Because the label had spent money on the album, and the label wanted to make money back that they had spent on it, which Seth mentioned “totally makes sense,” they offered Seth a chance to release it under the name “Watashi Wa”. This way was with a completed, nice music video for “All Of Me” included in the multimedia content under the familiar name, and while it wasn’t entirely ideal for Seth, it seems to be make sense. “Ideally, I would’ve wanted to release it as a different name, but it did make sense to release it with the familiar name for the album to sell and push,” Seth stated. So it seems that while things were a little blurry with Seth’s final record on the label, they found a nice compromise, and he seems happy with it. “It makes sense,” he contentedly remarked. “It’s one of those things that, ideally, they would’ve liked it to be a different way, and I would’ve like it to be a different way; but this is the best possible situation for both of us to be okay with, and I’m happy about that. The album is finally coming out.”
The break was clean and everyone still talks a lot. Seth remarked, “I feel really good about it, and I feel that they feel good about it as well, but when I wrote something about what was going on online, I don’t think I got it across the way I wanted it to come out.”
Watashi Wa: Live?
A band I had only seen one time is no more, and Seth Roberts and the other members have all completely parted ways. Seth is waiting for the right moment to get a solid touring lineup together, and while he has other future plans, did not mention anything concrete.
“Mike Herrera from MxPx and Lane, our old drummer, played on the new album; after we made it, we got a temporary band to tour with, and though we had plans for a few of them to continue playing with us but they didn’t end up working out. We haven’t really talked about touring for awhile. At this point, I think in a week I’m going to play an acoustic show; do a few shows like that and eventually we’ll get something together. Whether we’re going to tour as ‘Watashi Wa’ or not is a different story.” And it seems likely that Seth will continue his music endeavors under a different name. He continued, however, to mention that these songs will not all be kept locked down: “we will play some of these songs, eventually; we talked about touring eventually as a different name and playing a couple songs. We even talked about doing a “Watashi Wa Reunion Tour” but I don’t think we’ll ever actually go through with it.”
Seth doubts he will ever play songs from “The Love Of Life” ever again, however. They have had plans to redo an old favorite, “Look” from their “What’s In The Way” LP, but nothing concrete is nailed down yet.
A Timeless Set Of Influences:
Seth recommends listening to “Shaking The Tree” by Peter Gabriel, and has been spinning (or clicking, rather) lots of Tom Petty. He has also been frequenting an album from a band called The Fray (“How To Save A Life”). Seth also mentioned and surprised me a bit stating that he thinks everyone should own “The Shape Of Punk To Come,” by Refused. However, I didn’t expect anything less when he said two other essential albums were U2’s “The Joshua Tree” and Allison Krauss’ “Forget About It.” Seth often blasts music from his rhapsody at work, and it seems his passion for music goes both ways (playing and listening).
Your latest album is characteristic of your mood in the time since “The Love Of Life” came out. What happened between that record dropping and this one? It sounds completely different, like a different band, and I have a feeling it’s obviously reflective of your life’s changes after Watashi Wa disbanded. Can you go more into the introspective and personality of “Eager Seas,” do you think it reflects your mood and life in the period since Watashi Wa broke up?
Eager Seas: A Personal Introspective:
Seth explained the passionate, considerate effort that was put into this album that has almost been a ghost since it was completed in 2005. The album is highly personal, meditative glance into the time of Seth’s life since Watashi Wa was no more.
“After Luke quit, we tried to find someone to take that spot, and it just kept not really working out. It just got to a point where it was too hard to keep it going.
“There’s something about a band that everything is right about it; there’s certain chemistry and a certain momentum that makes sense. Yeah, there’s work involved, but it got to the point where it was obvious that it wasn’t working and we were trying to make it work. Originally we had talked about taking a break, and seeing if some time would change things, and then it just kind of disintegrated. Around that time, in my life, a lot of stuff was changing. A lot of the things that were really familiar and comfortable to me, and a lot of the things that I found who I was in—that I identified myself with—broke down. I kind of lost two of my best friends; my best friend who is now my wife started dating my other best friend. And at that point I was torn because I wasn’t able to hang out with either of them. Then, the band broke up; I went on tour with Mxpx and a lot of the things that were really familiar, and all the little and big things in life were really different. My relationship with God was questioned; I questioned what I believed in, church, relationships, my morals—everything. I was really into examining every aspect of my life, and for awhile I was really bummed out and I stopped caring about a lot of things, and I got to a point where I was very introspective and skeptical about a lot of things.
“A lot of the songs on the album were about how I was feeling during this time. A lot of it has to do with friendships and people in my life, and a lot of it has to do with the way I was feeling—alone, broken, not really alive. I felt really desperate for God and to feel life again and to feel and know what I was living for. Now looking back, it was really one of the best times of my life, because I’ve come out of it knowing myself and really knowing God in a much more real way. It has nothing to do with the way I was brought up, or religion, or church, or anything I’m involved with—it has to do with me and Him, and I know that that’s what he wanted. He wanted me to go through a time where everything got stripped away that I could falsely identify myself with; and through it I fully found myself in Him. In the end, it had really nothing to do with anything else, at all.
Seth also mentioned that he would’ve gladly pointed out the significance and meaning to every track; I was super curious about “All That I Can’t Keep,” one of my favorite tracks on the album. I inquired about it’s meaning, about it’s significance to his life, and the way he responded made it clear that he had personal notions and feelings to it, as if it were truly a part of him. Something that was truly remarkable, especially for someone who said he “wrote songs to please the record industry” (read on).
“When I’m gone, I don’t want people to remember me; I want people to know God by my life. I don’t want people to remember me, as Seth, but instead remember the fact that God changed my life. A lot of intentions in life—to succeed, to have money, and the American Dream, don’t really make sense to me. ‘All That I Can’t Keep’ is about being a good husband, a good father, and a good friend—I want to give away what I can’t keep.
“Specifically, it’s about this one time that I was on this airplane, and this person found out that I was touring with Mxpx. They were saying how cool it was, and I was thinking to myself, it’s really not that cool or great. I like them and I love music, but it seems like we long for greatness and we have this weird idea of what greatness is that isn’t right. It’s just about how I want to be a selfless, humble servant of God, who is a good friend and a good person.”
Seth Roberts: Musician For Life:
Like the addict I am, I can’t wait for more jams from this incredible band. I couldn’t help but ask what Seth’s plans were for this year and the future, and while it seems he’s not ready to hop in the next tour van with a temporary set of musicians, there is little doubt in my mind that Seth will ever stop playing music and writing songs.
As for his plans in 2006, Seth stated that “I don’t have anything concrete planned right now. I have a lot of things that I’d like to do, but at this point I’m going to write songs for different reasons than I’ve been writing songs. When I first started playing music, I would go home and write songs just because. This last year, I’ve been trying to write songs for labels, or songs that people would like a lot, or that would end up on the radio. I used to write songs with my heart, and for awhile I really wasn’t; I’m at a place where I really enjoy having time to just play like I did when I was 13. To write a song because it’s fun and I want to and put my heart into it.”
Always Remembered, Rest In Peace, Watashi:
And the many years (over 8) that Seth was in Watashi Wa have been at a close, but Seth will never forget the times he shared with that lovely band.
“We had some really amazing times together; we had a lot of really great experiences, but I think the best times were right before and on the Tooth And Nail tour. In Arizona, one night, just before we played, it was the closest I’ve ever felt with any friends besides my wife, we were just really close, it was really awesome time.”
I would like to thank Seth for taking the time out of this day to help me learn more about him. I respect Seth Roberts so much, and hope that all of you have been enlightened; go support him and purchase this record. God knows, he deserves it.