From the moment Sea Girls‘ debut cut “Call Me Out” first dropped, it was clear big things lurked just over the horizon for the London-via-Leicester quartet.
Their first stab at the mainstream saw them peak the interest of media outlets nationwide (enter Radio 1’s Huw Stephens), luring us in with their bold strain of guitar-laden indie. Now, nearly 100k Spotify listeners later and thanks to first-rate earworms like “Lost” and the radio friendly pop edge of “Eat Me Whole”, these boys have done nothing to dampen the buzz.
Featuring fervent guitar lines and soaring vocals, the infectious nature of the group’s sound is undeniable. Built upon a solid base of hook-heavy choruses and solid songwriting, their sound is an anthemic indie/pop hybrid that sits oh-so comfortably alongside ‘acts of the moment’ like Blossoms and Vistas. Put simply, they’ve become a band invoking the very best of naughties indie for a whole new pop-fuelled generation.
Needless to say, we wanted a natter. Hot off the back of Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend, we managed to sneak in and grab a few words with frontman/guitarist Henry Camamile to discover a little more about the high-flying indie outfit.
Hi Henry, thanks for taking time out to chat with us. First thing’s first: we don’t believe you’re sailors and as far as we know you don’t have XX chromosomes, so where did the name come from?
We thought it was a lyric in a Nick Cave song that sounded otherworldly. Turns out the lyric is actually ‘city girls’ but we mistook it for sea girls and it stuck with us!
You’ve been hitting some pretty major festivals of late, what’s been the highlight of the season so far?
That run of festivals from Biggest Weekend through to Neighbourhood Weekender and then All Points East was astonishing. It got better every show. Playing packed crowds in Warrington and London were our favourite shows to date.
What’s the strangest / most unexpected thing to happen whilst playing live?
A full crowd mosh to “Favourite Colour” in Birmingham even in the quiet bits. We were very touched by that.
Any touring tips you’ve picked up whilst on the road?
I guess just try to stay with as many friends as possible to save the dollars and tidy up before you go (as you might need to come back).
Did you expect your Heavenly War EP and tracks like “Eat Me Whole” to gain such a warm reception?
We just hoped people would connect with the songs and find them more-ish. Heavenly War was a cool intro for us into 2018. It is not a typical song in its construction, so a treat for us that people got it!
Looking back, are there any lessons you’ve learnt that you’d wish you’d have known starting out?
The more you write the more you improve as a songwriter. You can only get better. I was a little scared after we wrote the first obviously “good” song that we couldn’t do it again, so I sat on my hands not wanting to write something worse.
Well you’ve pulled a few more out of the bag since then. On another note: What do you see as the biggest threat to the music industry in 2018?
Closing music venues. Artists need somewhere to play their shows and new bands need smaller venues to play in especially. A few venues we have played have been in danger of closing and without them we may not have been able to play the towns without them. Live music is at the heart of it all and it needs to survive and be supported.
What record would you tell your younger self to listen to on repeat? (and why?)
I still listen to the songs I did as my younger self. I imagine it should be something that was out before I was born and I didn’t listen to until recently, so Dancing in the Dark by Springsteen would be such a song. Super nice dynamics in it and fantastic lyrics.
After BBC Radio 1s Biggest Ever Weekend, what’s next for Sea Girls?
We have a new music video coming for “Too Much Fun” which we are in the middle of filming. We’ve been pouring water over ourselves for that which is refreshing in this heat. Before our headline tour in October, we’re gonna be playing at a lot more festivals too: Reading and Leeds, Bushstock, Citadel and loads more.
