6 May 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with Seos from Derry band SHASMA to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
Seos Martin (Vocals and guitar): With my debut album almost finished in December 2021, I went on the hunt for a metal bassist and a versatile drummer with a good appreciation of punk, finding James Dunn (Bass) first through a mutual friend. Within a month, we had our first acoustic set booked. On completion of our debut performance, the promoter kindly pointed us in the direction of Nathan Walker (Drums – and the ticket guy on the door that night). Within the week, we were making noise in the practice room as a three-piece.
The band name came from the fact that my full first name, ‘Seosamh’ (Ulster-Gaelic pronunciation, ‘shAsu’) causes most people some difficulty. Someone once saw how my name was written and pronounced it, ‘Shoshma-H’. I don’t know why I still think this was the funniest but you can imagine what it’s been like putting my name on posters over the years. The late-night epiphany of a simplified ‘SHASMA’ (during a long session of pondering) allowed me to fulfil my nerdy ambition of designing an ambigram band logo. That was it decided.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
My own parental influence varied from Van Morrison, Tracy Chapman, Neil Young and Nick Cave to Sinead O’Connor, X-ray Specs, UK Subs, Motorhead, and The Stranglers… with plenty of reggae, and a bit of house music, acid jazz and funk thrown in along the way. Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Meat Loaf and Bryan Adams dominated the charts.
Not quite 10 and a half and enjoying writing uneasy poetry, I was introduced to grunge when a cousin stuck on Nirvana’s Nevermind album at a holiday house in Donegal… We bounced about the living room and my grandmother threatened the wooden spoon if we wrecked the place like that again. What a time to be alive! I was on my own Nirvana high. Within a week, Kurt Cobain was dead. %$@#!
Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and the inspirationally ‘local’-enough Therapy? were soon discovered amongst pages and pages of tributes and speculation as I poured over recent stacks of music magazines from friends and family. I bought a guitar in my last week of primary school and immediately started music to my scrawlings.
Alice In Chains, R.E.M, Alanis Morissette, Stereophonics, Gomez and Depeche Mode have played their part too. More recently, A Perfect Circle, The Mysterines and Masters of Reality.
Nathan brings influences from Muse, Green Day, Foo Fighters and his drum hero Buddy Rich.
James loves Motorhead, Metallica and Megadeth.
How would you describe your sound?
Grungy alt-rock.
I’m not sure we have the right to use the term ‘grunge’ as we’re long past the original era but it’s a more direct and accurate description of what we sound like overall than ‘post-grunge’.
The three of us bring a blend of punk, hard rock and metal, honesty, sarcasm and cynicism that achieves our own take on the genre; our style differs from the ‘Big 4’ of grunge (Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains) and all of their local contemporaries to a similar degree as they did from each other but we’ve got all the same elements that they shared.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
‘Alien / Familiar’ is an interpretation of combined break-up stories from friends; the finale of the disillusionment sometimes experienced in the lead-up to the closing of the prolonged end of a relationship. It’s about waking up to one’s current situation and making the difficult decision to venture on a new life path. The song’s concept is a progression on Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’.
What’s your local music scene like?
I’ve always had a great appreciation of what it is to be one of so many musicians in a city with such an artistic history. Too many fantastic acts to mention them all, even amongst those currently active at this moment in time. A quick dander through the town on any given day and you’ll pass at least of them. The bar has been set high and the audiences tastes are diverse. I try to make the best of the variety of music in the town when booking gigs. We’ve focussed on building our following here whilst honing our stage-craft, gigging with as many of our local favourites as possible before venturing elsewhere. The talent here is incredible and there are still so many local acts we’d like to work with.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We’ll be gigging as much as possible while releasing another single or two and the debut album. Following recent gigs in Buncrana and Belfast, the next chance to see us live is at the 7 Twenty Lounge in Derry, with special guests to be announced soon. The album is currently available at gigs only for now and will be available on all major streaming and download platforms in September. We’ve only recently started writing together and I’m buzzing at the results and audience response. I look forward to continuing on that part of this journey with James and Nathan.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Right now, we’re exploring what we can do as a band. We’ve shared nights with a range of acts from Hutch, Hark DC, Little Kings and Polar Bolero at the softer end of the spectrum to The Marra, Humanitas, Grim17, String Cut Puppets, and HeadMelt at the heavier end. We’d love to work with all of them again and many more throughout the city, especially on collaborative performances. We could always do with a second guitarist for certain tunes…Just sayin’… Playing acoustic sets as a band has got me wondering what we might sound like with a larger ensemble; maybe violin, cello, piano and a bit of harp? I love the idea of reimagining songs.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
We once played a 5am acoustic set to about 10 people in the Guildhall Square, Derry. Our 2nd time on the bandstand, we were one of many acts signed up to play the Derry City and Strabane District Council ‘Mayor’s 24Hr busk’ in aid of the local First Housing Aid & Support Services. We had a 25min set with Nathan on cahon, James on electric bass and me playing my semi-acoustic whilst occasionally screaming into the almost silence of the night. We were getting away with a level of noise for which we would otherwise probably have been cautioned, if not arrested. Buzzing from the set, we hung about to watch the next acts. A couple of performers later and the next guy didn’t turn up. Nor the next. We ended up playing 3 sets, at times, just to the security guards and the one guy draped in a tricolour, wearing a Guinness hat who just didn’t want the celebrations to end. We never did play that trad tune he wanted.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We love performing. We love putting on great nights. The best way to check us out is at our live shows. Our latest single is out now on all major streaming platforms, the music video is out in a couple of weeks and we’ll be gigging further afield as we release more in the coming months.
Upcoming live dates and performances
Friday 31st May 2024 – 7 Twenty Lounge, Derry
You can find out more about SHASMA on their website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, TikTok or YouTube.
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