Sea Yarns is the musical brainchild of New England based musician Tavis Macleod. The projects latest E.P. “Flood” is a sonic blast of reverb drenched post punk bliss. I sat down with Tavis to talk about early musical memories, a love for surf rock music and the making of the “Flood” E.P. Listen to all things Sea Yarns here.
What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a child and what artist did you enjoy the most?
One early memory I have is my father was going through his old vinyl records and playing me some of them. I specifically remember several Beach Boys records he played for me. The other early memory I have is watching and dancing to Krush Groove. When I was that age I don’t remember having a favorite, I just remember liking a good beat for dancing and melody. Mostly in soundtracks of movies I watched when I was a kid. As I got older my attention shifted to music that had a mood, tone, and had spatial quality that I connected with. So I would say the music I make today as an adult has an emphasis on all of those things.
When did you first start making your own music?
I guess officially when I was a teenager. I bought a cheap strat and small amp from a friend of mine. Pretty much as soon as I got them, before I even knew how to play them I was trying to write. Writing/making/creating/
How did Sea Yarns begin and how did you shape the experimental sounds you create?
I remember I was listening to a lot of instrumental old surf rock and footwork music at the time. That sort of created the concept to try to juxtapose surfy guitars and soundscapes with contemporary rhythms. The result was dreamy, bendy, surfy shoegaze guitars and drones over drum beats manipulated with pitch shifting effects. I’m not sure that narrative makes any sense to anyone but myself, but that’s what happened. I’ve always enjoyed trying to figure out how to thoughtfully stitch different ideas or styles together to create something new or different for myself.
Your latest E.P. “The Flood” is really inspiring. What was the writing and recording process like? Any particular gear you used that really helped shape specific parts of the songs?
Thanks! The songs were originally conceived to be instrumentals. But after playing the songs live at some shows, I decided to sing on select songs where it made sense to help focus and songs engage the audience. The vocals were loose and raw in comparison to the music, which was captured more precisely. I used a lot of pitch shifting effects on the drums. That has been a signature sound for Sea Yarns up to this point. The original guitar idea was to try to do a low motion surf rock guitar kinda thing. But in reality that just resulted in unintentionally sounding shoegaze-like. Either way, I was pleased with how all the sounds melded together.
If you could do a score for any film director who would it be and what would the film be about?
David Lynch would probably be pretty fun. And regardless of director, I’m a fan of films that have anything remotely to do with parallel universes, time and space manipulation, etc.
What’s next for you? Any new recordings/shows etc etc?
I would like to finish up the larger group of songs that these 2 songs came from as part of a larger release. I have also been working on another group of songs that have a more LoFi and relaxed feel to them.
