Week in Pop: Bobbi Rush, King Z3US, Longface

Post Author: Sjimon Gompers

Seagazer

The oceanic stare of Seagazer; photographed by Madison Bartlett.

Bloomington, Indiana’s Seagazer provided a listen to their new Erose Contra EP full of modern day pastorals for the world to ponder & meditate upon & share in turn with loved ones. Following on the heels of the single “Veils” that was unveiled earlier this year (which is subsequently the last song on the EP); principle tunesmith Alex Rigsbee writes ballads as if they occurred from idle audio experimentation, the osmosis effect of repeated listens to your DIY home heroes, lessons learned from collaborations & the spring-well of inspirations that exists somewhere from deep within.
The journey begins on the title track that works in vintage lounge splashes of guitar & key tones that burns with the incandescent daylight of calm, enjoyed between the gutter & the mellow on “Feral and Tame”, soaring about on the inventive “Flew Here and There”, the window-gazing feels on “Passing of Scenery”, taking the listener behind the red curtain rows on “Veils”. Seagazer gathers the illumination that informed the twee-pop stars of yester-year and creates a collection of surprising & ear catching patterns that point to tomorrow’s DIY paths of unlimited potential.

Seagazer’s own Alex Rigsbee; photographed by Madison Bartlett.

Alex Rigsbee shared the following candid thoughts on the making of Erose Contra, the Bloomington landscape & all things Seagazer:

Bloomington is a town full of culture with a great music scene. There are many different styles that come around, so there’s a lot of room for creativity and doing what you want to do musically. I used to play in a band called High Fiber. We would play shows with a ton of interesting bands in town with genres ranging from ambient to electronic dance. I really enjoy going out and seeing my friends perform music they wrote because it always has elements of originality. There’s a lot of enthusiasm involved in each other’s stuff, and I think it’s really great.

Seagazer live; photographed by Madison Bartlett.

Whenever I feel inspired, I try to write music that stands out in some way while still staying within the bounds of pop and catchiness. My goal is to get across a feeling of inspiration to people that appreciate music deeply. I am pretty minimalistic in regards to the equipment I use, but I do the most that I can with it.
I’ve been in many different situations while writing these songs. Some came from times when I was playing around with different chord progressions on my laptop keyboard at my girlfriend’s house. Later I would transpose the arrangements to guitar, bass and vocals. Other times, I would write and record at the same time. The recording of the songs all took place in many different places within the span of a year.

Listen to more from Seagazer via Bandcamp.

High in the sky with Seagazer; press photo courtesy of the artist.