Where are you currently based?
B: We’re both living in our hometown of Newcastle!
M: Benny will never leave this bloody town – He’s hooked! We both grew up here and I’ve recently moved back to be closer to the long haired/ golden voice of Benny for writing and band purposes. Cracking surf!
How did you first start playing music?
B: We both fell into it in similar ways I guess. Got given instruments from cousins that didn’t want to play anymore and found ourselves figuring it out in front of the speakers. Music takes a hold of yred oxide ou if you give it enough.
M: Benny actually had to teach himself how to sing because nobody wanted to sing in his first high school band. You know the ‘short straw’ trick? He literally unlocked his f*ucking amazing voice because of a bloody straw!
I slaved away in the school concert band on the drums since year 2 – this jerk gets a short straw thrown in his face and is now the voice of an era!
How did Boo Seeka form?
M: The universe has its ways of connecting people when you least expect it. Before this all started we weren’t even really hanging out together. Benny was drunk in Bali when he called me for the first time in 10 years to see if I wanted to be in a band with him. I thought he called the wrong number. Maybe he did and just ran with it. We will never know. but he’s stuck with me now! + I think he thought I had slept with his sister at some point so that’s awkward.
B: We’ll never know….
You’ve just released your new single ‘Take A Look’, what influenced the sound and song writing for this track?
B: We always know what we want to create, but getting that out of our brains and into the computer is one of the hardest things for us. But we think we did it for TAL.
M: The track is basically a message to ourselves. A message we took way too long to decipher, but glad we got there.
You’ve been in the studio working on your forthcoming sophomore album with super skilled producer Matt Bartlem (who has previously worked with Matt Corby, Lastlings, Jarryd James).
Please tell us how you came to work with Matt and how the experience and process has been as a whole.
M: We’ve recently just signed to new management – Untitled group, and they’ve worked closely with Matt previously. To cut the whole story short, the first minute we met Matt we knew he was going to be an integral part of this next album!
B: Originally we were just going to do one track with him, but TAL came out so good we knew we wanted him to do thewhole record. He’s got the best dog too so it pushed us over the edge.
How did you approach the recording/production process?
M: It’s funny how every band would create their own process over time and although ours may be slightly dysfunctional or basic at times, it really allows us to write and create anywhere! Benny writes most of his hooks and melodies directly into garage band on his phone then we build from there!
B: We work with some pretty amazing guys in the industry, so our little demo writing/ producing click is amazing. Will Cruger from the band Abroad is in our corner alongside Matt and special guest instrumentalist, Ian Perez.
M: ‘Take a look’ is definitely the start of something special for us – we keep calling it phase 2 and we’re pretty excited for the world to hear what phase 2 is going to bring!
What programs/equipment did you use?
B: My Brain, imagination, bottles of wine, a guitar and my phone.
M: We’re not the biggest gear heads but we’ve been experimenting with some new synth sounds, some new ways of recording our beats and vocal effects for this next album. ‘Take a look’, for the gear heads has some pretty funky gear being used. Listen closely!
You’ve recently signed to label ‘Daily Nightly’ what’s the story behind this? How has the experience been so far?
B: It’s our Managements label. We love that they look after everything. Keep it in-house. Keep the control. It’s our first release together and many more to come.
M: Annabelle, our direct at DN is a wizz. She’s got us covered!
What have you found most challenging and rewarding about the creation of the album?
B: There are so many songs in my head and to keep it short, to hear people vining off whats coming out, that’s the be all and end all for me! We want to being some excitement back into peoples lives!
You have an Australian Tour pencilled in for October 2020 (pending COVID-19 restrictions), can you tell us where you’re heading? Or is that still a secret?
M: Ohhhhh that’s tricky! Let’s just say we’ll be seeing all our favourites plus some new spots we’ve heard great things about!
Your debut album ‘Never Too Soon’ was a global success. What do you attribute to the massive success of your debut album and what tips would you give to any upcoming artists who are wanting to break onto the scene?
M: Remember I mentioned the short straw? The kids voice is like gold.
My advice to anyone coming up through the ranks is to have the right thought process. Be ahead of the pack and plan! Plan like your music is a brand and you want people to want to be associated with it!
You’ve played massive shows with performances at Splendour In The Grass, Beyond The Valley & Groovin The Moo. You have also supported the likes of Kim Churchill, DMA’s, Jarryd James, Cherub and SAFIA. What do you enjoy most about playing live and how do you prepare for live shows?
B: We would play 365 days a year if we were allowed. We just want people to come to our shows and forget about all the crap going on in their life for an hour. Doesn’t matter if it’s our headline shows, festivals or we are supporting someone, we still prepare the same. We want to give people the same feeling we get when we stand in the crowd and watch our favourite bands and artists.
M: This is what we live and breathe from the second we wake up to the minute we go to sleep each night! If we’re not performing, we’re dreaming up idea’s on how to improve or add things to our live shows etc etc. All I can say is once we’re allowed back into things, the shows we play are going to be wild!
Who are you listening to at the moment?
M: Benny tries not to listen to too much music when we’re in the writing process but I force as much music as I can into his head when we’re in the car or chilling at home!
Jungle, Slowly Slowly, Glass Animals, Dua Lipa, Bronson, The 1975, Tyler the Creator, Coldplay, Amity Affliction, G flip etc etc. We keep it broad.
B: As I mentioned before, we know exactly what we want to put out to the world and I, personally, like my own time in my head to bring that out. But I’ll admit, driving along our beautiful beaches in Newy blasting some Dua Lipa is a favourite pastime currently.
What do you like to do away from music?
B: Cooking, helping others where we can, sampling every red wine that is available, figuring out how to to prank our new management cause they got us good the other day and we need to get them back, surfing, basically anything we are allowed to do in the current times.
M: I’m getting old, man. I saw a chiropractor today. I’d love to say I’ll be sinking as much piss as Benny boy but that boy can sink them like no-one else. I’ll just spend my time with old John the Chiro!
What’s planned for 2020?
B: At the moment…. who knows… no one knows. Hopefully we can get back to the studio, finish the record, release it and get back to what we love doing the most. Hanging out with a room full of legends every night.
M: We’re pretty big planners so we’ve got some big things lined up for the end of the year in regards to shows and production. I’m also not meant to say this but we will have another single and possibly album 2 dropping before 2021 begins too…
Favourite food and place to hangout?
B: Uber eats and the bottle shop are making a killing out of us at the moment. We really try to support all the local businesses as well.
Newy Burger Co see’s me every few nights!
M: We actually grabbed a burger on Monday night for the premiere of our new track on Triple J and sat at bar beach car park and listened in. Brought back memories as I think we both used to take a few lovers to the exact spot when we were kids. Ah, take me back!
