SeaBath: Local indie-pop band makes waves

SeaBath, one of the newest bands in TT, is making musical waves across the country.

The four-member group consists of lead singer Amy Li Baksh, guitarist Damir Shorab Ali, bassist Aaron Low Chew Tung and percussionist Dexter Banfield.

The band says its genres include indie-pop, roots a fusion of Caribbean music, among other things.

Shorab and Low Chew Tung have known each other since childhood, but the rest of the crew met up during their adult lives, through music.

Banfield is the nephew of Gerald Banfield, former drummer for late musician Andre Tanker. He is also Newsday's webmaster, who manages the paper's website.

He told Sunday Newsday, "I would just go and watch him practise and I’d try to play what he was playing, and I realised, ‘Hey, I could do this!’"

Low Chew Tung started off playing guitar about 20 years ago, but added bass to his portfolio about ten years.

"I’ve always had music around me. My brother is a musician, my dad wrote and arranged songs…I had no inclination to do it until I saw some guys with rock T-shirts playing guitar," he fondly recalled.

After that he stuck with it as it was fun.

Shorab said he, too, grew up in a family that loved music, recalling his father blasting music every time chores had to be done.

"From classical to Chicago to the Bee Gees…It kind of just became part of your being."

It is Baksh who calls herself the newbie of the group. While she’s been writing songs for at least 20 years, she only recently began singing.

"I did my homework and made sure I start learning the actual craft of singing."

Last year when she, Shorab and Banfield met up for a jam session, the idea of the band was born and they officially began that journey in March 2022.

"We all like music and then we played a little and said: ‘Well, that sounded good,’" Baksh said, laughing.

And as simple as it sounds, that’s all it took.

One conversation with the members would make one realise they’re very much a family.

The name SeaBath, they said, "felt like the connecting current between all the music we’re doing."

The rest of the band still isn’t too keen on one of Baksh’s previous name suggestions – Corbeaux Against Spongecake. But she promised she’d somehow try to incorporate it into a future song.

Currently, they have a single, Gilloteen, from their upcoming EP, Songs for Rainy Season. A reference to the beheading device which originated in France, the guillotine, the single is about the modern-day working experience and "how divorced that is from what people are passionate about and want to do with their lives," the band explained.

It includes lines like "Forty hours forever is just forever/You give your body, you give your life for an unending cycle," and "Nothing you do today will fill the hole they’ve made."

The hook goes, "‘Cause you see, someone’s going to take them out to the guillotine/To be free, we have to start lining them up for the guillotine."

All instruments can be heard distinctively throughout the song, which they said was deliberate, as they told the producer, Dominik Gryzbon, to ensure there was clarity in that regard. Gryzbon has worked with global stars such as Elton John and Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and has been in the same space as Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover.

Asked what the experience of being in this band has been like, Banfield said he’s just "really happy for it.

"Everybody is really just on it, and what helped tremendously is meeting some really cool and great people who have various talent and are part of the SeaBath family now."

One such person is Gryzbon, whom they met on a whim at Kafe Blue in Port of Spain.

"He just wanted to connect with people who are doing music," Banfield said.

It was this addition, Shorab said, that "helped push (them) to become very serious about (their) approach."

For Low Chew Tung, the experience of performing live with this band can be compared to the comfort of "falling into conversation with old friends."

Baksh is learning that she quite enjoys performing on stage and has been defeating her shyness, which she is thankful for.

On her voice, she said she tries to ensure her accent "comes out through the music.

"Aaron’s bass playing anchors it as being very Trini," she added.

While there’s no set release date for the EP, listeners can expect another single from them soon, and the EP should be released by the end of 2023.

They all reiterated that their aim is not trying to "fit in" with any current music scene, but rather, just making good music.

Gilloteen can be found on music-streaming platforms and YouTube.