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What are your influences music or otherwise?
Any band would tell you that the musical influences of all the band members differ greatly, and I guess Seedling is no exception to that rule. Though, there are some similarities in our tastes ( I apologize for any spelling mistakes!) We all like Belgian bands like dEUS (hurray for the violin!) and the Evil Superstars (hurray for their ultra cool singer!). People also sometimes compare us to PJ Harvey, Elastica and Throwing Muses, and these are comparisons we don't really mind (but why always girl bands?!). Further more we're into bands like the Velvet Underground and the Violent Femmes; live we play covers from those bands. So, as long as it's twisted and/or groovy and/or tongue-in-cheek, we'll probably like it!
What is your band philosophy/motto?Er.. we don't really have one actually. "Do it yourself", I guess. And we never 'give people the finger'; we show them four wiggling fingers. A real Seedling gesture, meaning 'giving people a whole bunch of fingers'!
How did you get to meet Melys, did John Peel have any hand in it?
He had a big hand in this! He just walked up to us after we played at the Noorderslag festival (annual 'what's hot in Holland' festival) and said: "I know this band from Wales, you should get together". So he gave us their phone number, and asked us ours, and the rest as they say is history!
Did you enjoy your joint tour with Melys?Very much! They're great people, and a great band. What more would you want?
In addition i think the nice part is that there are a couple of similarities between the bands musically and philosophicaly, that are filled up with differences that make it a strong combination. Furthermore the melyses looked after us really well in arranging stuff, which was great...it made the stay really easy and relaxed...like a holiday...and you even get to play gigs!!!
How did the UK gigs of the mini tour compare to the Dutch gigs? Were you surprised by the reception you got in the uk?People are more 'reserved' in the UK. There are so many bands in the UK compared to Holland, so you can't really blame the British audience for being 'spoiled' with so many great bands around in your own country. Still, I think we're very able to surprise people, because we do sound a bit different from what's happening in the UK right now. And that's exactly the respons we got, which was really nice!
Compared to Amsterdam, Cardiff was really fantastic, London was more similar to Amsterdam again, guess going out of the big city spoiltness people are more enthousiastic and really enjoying themselves...same as in holland actually...
Have you got any plans to come back here to tour again?IWe have quite definate plans to come back this fall, probably september and october...but the exact details hopefully will be announcable somewhat in july... it would be best to keep an eye on our website from time to time as that is the place where the news breaks...
What is the Dutch indie/alternative scene like, did it inspire you at all?At the moment compared to a couple of years ago it is quite good...bands that all started around the same period, say 1996/97 all worked years to get their name across and are in holland finally getting somewhere with all their effort.
As a small example, most bass parts on the album are played on the amp of a befriended band called Dress, the layout of the cover is down by a guy from a band called Sal ...bands of the label also helped out on stuff and we gig together as a package quite often...hopefully in the future also in the uk...
The rise of a couple of indie labels, like our label Transformed Dreams, or another one Muze records, helped out in this. Also the stubborness in most people involved in the dutch indie scene at the moment is inspirational and a warm heart from time to time...struggling together is more fun than swimming across the ocean on your own...
On song titles alone "Cool baby, my hips go woo" is the best song in the world ever! How did you come across such a great name?Our violin player just popped the sentence a bit like that in our rehearsal studio, when she tried to describe to our drummer Mariken the vibe the song was supposed to have, shaking her hips.
Is "William Tell Me" on your Sham Pain ep related to The Smiths "William, It Was Realy Nothing?"Well, yes it is. I should have added definitely included The Smiths in my answer to your first question. Morrissey is by far one of the best lyricists of our time, and wrote the lyrics to William, Tell Me after finding out what a nice little story was told in William, It Was Really Nothing. I just made up another story with a 42 year old William playing the leading role again. The title also refers to the legendary archer Wilhelm Tell (shoot me!)
What is your number 1 must have?As in 'stuff to own'? Ear plugs I guess, we're all losing our hearing at the moment, and you can never buy a new hearing after you lost it.
In addition to that, HILLS like in wales would be a 1 and a half definate must have...
And, maybe some more pedals (not as on bikes, but effect pedals) for our guitarist Marg, now she's got the whole front of the stage taken up by them (that's why she moves a lot)... A newspaper hear had the headline "Band with the most pedals" to describe seedling...and that might be true, but back to the questions...
What do you hate most about the world?Hmm, social engagement question. I hate it that in the time we live in everything goes so well, it leaves people apathic. You can laugh at hippies or punks, but at least they had something to stand for. Nowadays, everything (especially in Holland, the welfare paradise) is taken care of, before you even had time to think if you really want to be taken care of. Which leaves us nothing but to crave for things as mobile phones, new boots, etcetera. The song 'Sensational Vacuum' is about this emptiness. I hate it the most that by now I myself own a mobile phone, because I was obliged to as everyone around me had one.
