Started by brothers Aaron and Ryan Morgan in '04, Seabird generated a simmering street buzz with their EPs Spread Your Broken Wings and Try and Let Me Go On. Signing with Credential Recordings/EMI, the band made its national debut with 'Til We See the Shore (2008) and its lead single "Rescue," which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on MTVU's "Most Wanted," appeared on mtvU's "The Freshmen" and became the soundtrack for the lead promos of ABC's 12-time Emmy-nominated "Pushing Daisies." Seabird songs also appeared in other hit series like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Numb3rs." Out on the road, Seabird toured with NeedToBreathe, Fiction Family, House of Heroes, Jars of Clay, Barcelona, Meese, David Crowder Band and did their own 15-date college tour.
In 2009, Seabird released Rocks Into Rivers, their sophomore full length produced by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Sixpence None the Richer) and Aqualung's Matt Hales at Ocean Studios and The Smoakstack. The album walks the line between earthy and urban, blue collar and big city, with emotionally bare lyrics about running into walls, finding new paths and questioning yourself in the process. It's an energized blend of sexy Brit-style sonics and the working man's ethos of '70s American rock.
Seabird are playing Bunbury Music Festival in July and their third album Troubled Days is being released Friday on Fountain Square! I sat down with Aaron Morgan in anticipation of the exciting times to come.
What was the inspiration for your latest album, Troubled Days? What does it mean to you?
We had been writing songs for about 2-3 years and many of them were very telling of our struggles as individuals and even as a band, this is primarily where the title track came from. We've always tried to wear our hearts on our sleeves when it comes to the lyrical content of the songs which at times makes for those darker moments on the record, but ultimately we think leaving the listener in a place of hope is really important. So while the title "Troubled Days" certainly speaks to the realities of us being humans and making mistakes, we feel the record as a whole has a pretty redemptive quality to it.
How long did it take to put the album together?
Some of the songs on this record are 4-5 years old, but others were finished in the studio in August. We are always writing so some of this record was taking shape while we were touring "Rocks Into Rivers"
After parting ways with EMI we decided to turn to the crowd funding site kickstarter to fund the recording. By the time the record comes out officially it will be about 1 year from the kickstarter launch.
Your songs have been on many television shows. Do you watch for them? How does it feel when they are played?
We usually have some advance notice when a song will be on TV and usually try to watch it together...sometimes the scenes where our songs are used is pretty ridiculous so we get to have a good laugh when that happens.
It's always a cool feeling to hear your music on such a large platform as national television, hopefully that continues to happen on this upcoming release.
If you could work with any artist, who would that be and why? Local artist?
I'd love to work with Spoon at some point in our career whether it's opening for them or having them produce an album. As far as local bands I'd also like to connect with walk the moon, and twenty one pilots from Columbus.
You are no strangers to playing music festivals with the next one being Bunbury Music Festival! Who are you looking forward to watch and/or mingle with?
We're incredibly excited to be a part of this festival and can't wait to see Fun, MGMT, Devine Fits and Cake perform. We're gonna do our best to sneak backstage and meet all of these bands as well.
Enter to win tickets to Bunbury Music Festival HERE!
Seabird
Fountain Square w/ Mike Mains & The Branches
Friday June 14th
8p
FREE
Bunbury Music Festival
Friday July 12th
Lawn stage
7:15p
