S.E.E.D.

Who is in s.e.e.d., how long you been together and how did you start off?
s.e.e.d. (souls emancipated into eternal defiance) is adam anderson (vocals), bill scheffler (guitars), don shaker (me, guitars), andrew smith (bass) and brandon thomas (drums). we’re from santa rosa, california, and we’ve been together for almost 2 years now. we got started when adam and brandon decided they wanted to start an old-school hardcore band as a side project, but once we started jamming the band took on a life of its own really quickly. what started out as a just-for-fun thing is now a serious working band with two u.s. tours under our belts and two more planned for 2001.

For people that haven’t seen you or heard your music, describe one of your live shows?
one thing you can always expect from s.e.e.d. live is a lot of energy. it’s very important to us as a band that our shows be fun and exciting for us and our fans. we love to see kids cutting loose and getting crazy at our shows, because that’s what we’re doing when we’re up on stage. as long as everyone’s having a good time and no one gets hurt, it’s a good show.

How has the reaction been to the CD?
so far the reactions to our debut have been overwhelmingly positive. i think we’ve been lucky to come along at a time when people are ready for
something a little different, because we definately have an atypical sound.

Whats the experience that has affected you most?
just living, getting older every day, pouring my heart into my music, realizing that i’ll probably never get another chance to do this so i’d better do it right.

Who are your biggest influences and who are you listening to now?
every member of s.e.e.d. has vastly different musical tastes and influences. between the five of us just about every style is represented; everything from hip-hop to folk, metal to emo. speaking for myself, my two biggest influences as a guitarist are “justice” era metallica and tom morello of rage against the machine.

Where’s your favorite place to play?
i think my favorite show so far was phoenixville, pa in july 2000. we played with zao, all out war, the hoods, and a bunch of others. all our friends from the east coast were there dancing and just going nuts…it was just an awesome experience.

Who would you most like to take on tour, and open up for?
wow, this is a tough one. there’s so many great bands out there… my favorite bands in the hardcore scene right now are the hoods and sworn vengeance from here in northern california, punishment from philadelphia, cipher from long island, too many more to list.

What music did you grow up on? Most embarrassing record you own?!
the first album i ever bought was “powerslave” by iron maiden when i was 11. i’ve been a metalhead ever since. as for the most embarrassing, definately manowar. what can i say? i love those guys…

Does the band have a message?
all the members of s.e.e.d. have different beliefs and lifestyles. some of the ideals we share that come through in the band are self-exploration, community building and equality. there’s nothing we like better than seeing a bunch of kids from different scenes–metalheads, punks, hardcore kids,
whatever–come together and have a good time and all respect each other.

What does it mean to you to be in the band?
musically, s.e.e.d. is a band without limits. we’re not afraid to explore any style. it’s that freedom of expression above all else that keeps me doing this,
but then there’s also all the other great stuff that comes with being in a band: touring, making new friends all over the world… i wouldn’t trade it for
anything.

Can you remember your first show with s.e.e.d., how did it go?
our first show ever was at a hole-in-the-wall bar out in the middle of nowhere in august 1999. we’d been a band maybe 2 months before that, and i was definately nervous, but it went well. a lot of our friends came out and it was a good time.

What’s your vision of the future of the world?
not very positive right now. i won’t go into detail, but america has a new president and things don’t seem to be going very well here, politically, socially, environmentally or economically. i think these things go in cycles though, so i just try to live my life and not worry about it too much.

Whats your favourite movie at the moment?
you know, i don’t think i’ve been to a movie in the last 6 months. i’m pretty out of touch when it comes to pop culture. my favorite book of the moment is “the chosen” by chaim potok.

If you were to set up a hardcore/punk all-dayer who would play?
ok, i’ll probably forget a few, but here goes, in no particular order: candiria, hoods, merauder, sworn vengeance, zao, cipher, punishment, snapcase, i’d make earth crisis get back together and headline. also i’d have to throw some metal in there: meshuggah, opeth, the haunted…

What 3 bands/albums are your favourites and why?
that list is always changing, but right now it’s the haunted “made me do it” (old metallica meets old slayer with h/c style vocals. what could be better??), candiria “300 percent density” (i’m listening to this as i type this, i think it’s their best album to date), and deltron 3030 (normally i don’t like hip-hop but this album is undeniable–every single song rules).

What are your upcoming plans?
touring touring and more touring. our new cd “life a breath away” will be out in june and we’ll be on the road supporting it all through the summer. after that we’ll spend the rest of 2001 writing new songs, then repeat the whole process.

The final words are yours
check out our website at www.eternaldefiance.com. you can get in touch with us at thexissilent@yahoo.com (me) oradamseed@yahoo.com (adam) to get info about upcoming shows, how to order our merch, or just to say hi. we’d love to hear from you. thanks a lot to hardcore times for the interview. support underground bands, zines and record labels, they’re keeping the scene alive.