Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with Jack Tonner from Manchester band Sea Breeze 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?
We’re a three-piece genre-bending psych-rock band from Manchester! The band was started by myself on bass and Joel Eastwood on guitar in 2022, with Ivan Renac joining in 2024 on drums.
Myself and Joel were in a rock band together called Torn from the ages of 13 to around 18, playing venues like Manchester Academy, Town Hall, Band on the Wall and others. Footage of us playing is still on YouTube so it’s nice to watch every now and then. The band broke up because we were all going on different paths, I went to university, our bassist became a priest, y’know, the usual…
The band started when myself and Joel went on holiday to Portugal, heavily obsessed with Khruangbin and stayed in an apartment named ‘The Sea Breeze,’ and it grew from there!
I met Joel back in primary school in Failsworth, Manchester. Myself and Joel met Ivan through a mutual friend and we had no permanent drummer so we asked him to join.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Myself and Joel were heavily into metal as kids, Metallica, Slayer etc.
At the time of starting Sea Breeze, we were listening to Khruangbin, King Gizzard, Yin Yin and Altin Gün.
But influences change all the time, for me, I listen quite a lot to 70’s folk revival and death metal, Joel listens to a lot of hip-hop and electronica like Four Tet, Ivan listens to quite heavy dubstep.
How would you describe your sound?
Sea Breeze’s genre-bending take on psychedelia is like honey for the earholes, mixing elements of rock, funk, reggae, disco and more, creating their own faithful addition to the genre and putting the Manchester psychedelic scene on the map.”
Ian Byrne, One More Tune Podcast
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
The first single on our upcoming album is called Nighthawks, which is based on the famous Edward Hopper painting of the cafe. The album itself named UNTITLED. is based on Jean-Michel Basquiats naming conventions for his paintings. The whole album is a dedication to great works of art, as it includes The Great Wave, Garden of Earthly Delights, Son Of Man, Birth of Venus and others. We have also had all of our single and album artworks painted.
What’s your local music scene like?
I think the Manchester music scene is booming as usual, for psych-rock in particular it’s very good, with Manchester Psych Fest every year, Sour Grapes do a lot for the psych scene and Big Hands have psych jam sessions.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We’ll be dropping two more singles and then the album by summer, go on our second tour towards the end of the year to support the album and then get writing again.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
We would love to collaborate with King Gizzard, Buckethead and probably some rappers, would love to do a remix album of our tunes like Alt-J’s Reduxer.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
Nothing funny, however our first gig was sold-out supporting Yin Yin at The White Hotel, it was an incredible experience, the chaps were very supportive and they couldn’t believe that it was our first gig!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I’m a grade 6 figure skater, Joel is allergic to sports and Ivan can do a frontflip from standing.
Upcoming live dates and performances
Thursday 5th June at Salty Dog, Northwich
Friday 6th June at Record Junkee, Sheffield
Friday 27th June at The Pub for Lancaster Co-op, Lancaster
Saturday 12th July at AATMA for The Jack Off II, Manchester
You can find out more about Sea Breeze via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Bandsintown, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube (channel) or YouTube Music.
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