For as long as one can remember, California has supplied a multitude of extremely talented acts to the post-hardcore scene whether it be worldwide phenomenons in the vein of Thrice, rapidly growing groups such as A Lot Like Birds, or local favorites like Love American. Just a few weeks ago, another genre standout was officially added to the mix in the form of Eager Sea, a band hailing from Antelope Valley that recently put out their heart-wrenching debut EP Canvas after months of writing and recording. I had a chance to ask vocalist JohnPaul Barrientos some questions about their gripping first album, his very own dream tour, and more, so read on, and don't forget to download a copy of Canvas for free over at the group's bandcamp page.
For those who haven't heard of Eager Sea before, could you give some background on how the band came together?
Well, first and foremost, I want to say thank you for even taking the time to listen to our album, let alone do short Q and A with us. The band Eager Sea was officially formed in July 2012. The three of us were previously in a pop-punk band called BlindFire, but that band started as somewhat of a way to pass time. After personal trial and error those other bands were dropped, and David (drums) and I continued BlindFire after months of downtime. The level of seriousness increased drastically and our genre took a serious turn for a more emotional and heartfelt attempt. So, after a long time of bouncing between names, we settled on Eager Sea.
You recently released your debut album Canvas; what was the writing process for that like?
Ah, memories. Many of these songs have changed so drastically to what you hear today on our bandcamp from the way the first drafts came out. For a while, Isaac Chavez (our current bassist) was in another band playing shows all the time so I'd have to say half, if not more, of those skeletal ideas came from David and I just sitting in his music room writing for countless hours on end. At one point I remember I would play something that I thought was new but later would realize it was just us recycling some of our material that was written prior haha. The original Canvas release was supposed to have 13 songs on it. We probably wrote somewhere upwards of 35 song ideas in the time we spent in that room. The band was trying to find a voice and with our scattered influences it was much easier said than done to write an album. We spent about 4 months writing, putting in as much time as a full time job if not more into our band. That's the most work I've done with a band to this date, haha. The best part is one of my favorite songs to play is one that we wrote the day before we went in to record. I won't give out any names though haha.
How would you personally describe Eager Sea's sound?
I really hate to have to answer this question, haha. Our sound [is]... like a musical medley ruined by crappy singing? haha.Seriously though, its hard for me to put a finger on it. I would of course love for people to say i sound like my favorite bands but the more honest I am with myself the more I see that isn't true. I think I'd have to say we sound heartfelt, and emotional. I'm tired of everyone trying to generalize everything, so I'll go with that. Emotional, sad, and from the heart.
If you could go on a dream tour with any three bands, who would they be and why?
Thrice, Envy, and Explosions in the Sky. What an awkward tour that'd be haha.
What goals do you have set in place for Eager Sea before 2012 comes to a close?
Well, since we're all dying at the end of this year anyways, we're going to go out with a bang. We're going to try to do a West Coast/Central US tour, God willing an East Coast one. We're going to go into the studio again [as] we have a lot of material we need to record. Basically, printing Canvas and getting merch for all that, shows, and touring as much as our tiny little budget lets us.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Thanks so much for your time man. This was awesome. Also, just wish us luck!
