On Friday, Sept. 18, Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) put on their annual fall concert: They Are Gutting A Body Of Water (TAGABOW) headlined, with support from Vassar student bands Dovetail and Seahorse. Seahorse is a hard-hitting rock outfit composed of vocalist Zoe Rodriguez ’28 [Disclaimer: Rodriguez is Assistant Opinions Editor for The Miscellany News], guitarists Jamie Boland ’29 and Andreas Vavasis ’29, bassist Ameila Khurana ’29 and drummer Levi Rosner ’28. I had the pleasure of sitting down with the band for a post-concert interview, where they gave me some insight into their writing process and main inspirations in the Vassar music scene. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You guys had the opportunity to open for TAGABOW last night. What was that experience like?
JB: I felt like, towards the beginning especially, we were super nervous. Usually our stage presence is something to behold, but I feel like as the show went on, we got the crowd interacting. We settled into a flow, we got comfortable.
AV: I mean, they have 142,000 monthly listeners [on Spotify], which felt like—compared to playing a regular campus show—pretty big.
ZR: There was a line, there were bouncers. We had artist passes!
Many of Seahorse’s songs are about animals. You have a very particular thing that you’re going for, musically. For those who don’t know, what is this sort of unifying writing theme that you’ve been doing?
JB: I think that animals provide some very evocative imagery, and through that, we’re able to kind of bridge the gap between the lyrics and songwriting. So, for example, “Jaws” feels a little bit like the “Jaws” soundtrack…where musically, it’s rising tension, rising tension, then it explodes like a shark attack—and it’s back into the water, and it’s calm again. We really like to have those kinds of gimmicks that connect the theme of the song to the musicality of it. Other examples include “Truck Stop,” where I use a whammy bar to make a car revving sound… And then in “Space Eel,” there’s a plot: it’s an electric eel using electric shocks to signal back to Earth, because it’s in a space station.
AV: It’s just really fun. We’re all sitting in Skinner [Hall], and we’re like, ‘Okay, guys. What if there’s a bear? What if there’s a truck, and it’s in the desert, but then what’s driving the truck—it’s a bear!’ I feel like it lets us be creative, but in a very lighthearted and fun way. So I think it’s a good thing to write around.
AK: I feel like it makes [the writing process] a lot more collaborative, because we can all create this story together. We all have a cohesive vision.
What was Seahorse’s origin story? What compelled you guys to make the kind of music you make?
LR: During freshman year orientation week, I sat down with some people I thought were cool. And I talked to this guitarist named Lucas Fitz-Gibbon [’28], and then he introduced me to another guitarist, Matthew Snyder [’28], who then introduced me to [Rodriguez]… It was kind of like a Theseus’s ship of instrumentalists. We used to be called Divorce Court.
AV: But you [Rosner] knew I played guitar, and you were like, ‘We actually have a sudden need for a guitarist.’ So he asked me, ‘Can you come to a jam sometime?’ So I showed up…and Levi was late and walked in eating a big ol’ burger. We played some Green Day, some Hüsker Dü…and then I was like, ‘I actually have two friends that play the guitar and bass.’ And here we are!
Since COVID-19, Vassar’s music scene has had to undergo a serious revitalization. Is there anyone or anything in the Vassar music scene now that inspires you?
ZR: When I first went to Slush Pit, it was very eye opening. Because there was no music scene anywhere near [me] where I lived. It was like stepping into a whole new world. I’d never seen the scene in real life—I hadn’t been to a concert. It was completely new, and it was mind-blowing because people were into it, and the atmosphere of it.
LR: I think StuMU [Student Music Union] events in general, seeing all the bands on campus, is really inspirational—seeing our peers, who are in the exact same situation as us, doing music right now. And I know I personally have my inspirations in my peers on drums that I look up to.
AV: I knew that I wanted to join a band when I got here, but I feel like it’s been more of like a reinforcing it with every new thing. I mean, Dovetail last night… I’d never seen Dovetail! The Meek at Slush Pit, Creature at the Bike Shop. One of my favorites was the Tiny Desk with all of the rappers. That was so fun.
AK: My roommate last year [Kerala Kim ’29], she’s kind of like a singer-songwriter type. She doesn’t perform a lot here, but she’s crazy talented. Throughout the whole year, she wrote at least 20 original songs or something… She’s a good writer. She’s also a great songwriter. So when I was being a chud and not writing anything, she would inspire me.
JB: I wonder if some of the Brooklyn people, and me—I’m from [Washington] D.C.—felt a bit of a drought actually, when they came to Vassar, and maybe felt like there’s no scene here. D.C. has a history. It’s Fugazi, it’s Bad Brains. There’s a pretty lively scene. Obviously, New York City is the same. So coming here…I felt a kind of hunger for some kind of heavy music to be out there for people who feel this drought to dance too.
Is Seahorse planning on recording any of your original music? Where do you see this project going? Any dream gigs?
JB: We’ve been emailing back and forth with WVKR because they were discussing collaborating with StuMU in opening up a recording opportunity for student bands. That is still in the works, though there have been complications. But we’re trying to hop on that as soon as possible! We also talked about a goal for this year is playing a show that’s not at Vassar, like New York City or Marist.
AK: We’re gonna make it happen!