SEAFOAM WALLS
“It’s hard for even us to describe our sound,” says Seafoam Walls guitarist and singer Jayan Bertrand. But this Miami four-piece does its best on a Bandcamp page that cites jazz, shoegaze, indie rock, and hip-hop in an amalgam dubbed “South Florida Caribbean Jazzgaze.”
“A lot of people think we’re from somewhere else,” says a mystified-sounding Dion Kerr, Seafoam Walls guitarist, adding, “I think we’re the most Florida sounding of bands. We have all this reverb and effects that make us sound like the ocean.”
You can decide for yourself whether Seafoam Walls are Florida enough when they play a free show on August 28 at Gramps in Miami sponsored by Sunnyside Dispensary, Jitney Books and PureHoney. The band is promising to play previously unreleased songs that are, for them, heavier and faster than usual. “We’ve also been working on some cool transitions,” says Bertrand. “We’ve got some new intermissions we can play between songs. We’ve been looking for variations of what we’ve been giving.”
They’ll also play tunes from their 2021 album “XVI,” which as a music critic for Miami New Times I nominated as the best local album of the past year. “Those were songs written in my early twenties,” says Bertrand, who’s nearing 30. He named the album in tribute to his late father — like him, born on the 16th day of the month. “I felt it honored him in displaying the music he passed down to me,” he says.
The album and the band found an ardent supporter in Thurston Moore. The former Sonic Youth frontman released the record on his Daydream Library Series label and is bringing a solo Bertrand on his European tour as an opener. Bertrand in turn hopes to bring his bandmates to a couple of European gigs. “All the doors Thurston has opened for us based on the announcement alone has been huge,” he says. “The publications we got reviewed by we couldn’t have imagined that happening. We got a booking agent out of it and we’re looking for a manager.”
Since the August 28 show at Gramps is sponsored by Sunnyside Dispensary the band was glad to share how cannabis affects their creative process. “It gets me in a vibe where I’m chilling and more open to ideas to throw some paint on the canvas,” explained drum sampler Josue Vargas. Bassist Joshua Ewers agreed, “It gets me loose and a little bit out of my own head.”
And for Bertrand cannabis has been a key ingredient not just for Seafoam Walls, but every musical project he has been a part of. “I don’t know if it makes you play better or worse, but your connection to music feels stronger with it. It definitely gets me more absorbed in music.”
Seafoam Walls play 7pm Sunday, Aug. 28 at Gramps in Miami. ssseafoamwalls.bandcamp.com
~ David Rolland, reprinted with permission from The Jitney
