Chicago, IL (Top40 Charts/ Green Light Go) Art inspiring art. That's where the story of
Chicago psych-folk quartet Seafarer's latest single "Cave", available for download now and out on a 7" later this year,begins. Patrick Grzelewski, the band's front man, acquired a mixed media piece by
William Schaff (best known for Okkervil River's album art) called "The Baffled King Composing", the title of which was also undoubtedly inspired by Cohen's "
Hallelujah", his first purchase of original art. "William was so appreciative and a total gentleman during the transaction, and made me feel like a real connection takes place during this sort of creative exchange," says Grzelewski. The piece as well as this connection inspired some early, more complicated lyrics, but it was when he began to think inside the box that the song began to come together. "On a whim one night I came up with a very simple guitar line that really connected, and a few verses of lyrics just poured out. At that point I decided to embrace an element of restraint with my composition, something I always felt that Schaff's piece did so immaculately."
"Cave" is a dark song with lots of space in it to examine the textures Seafarer creates and let the eddies of emotion they create wash over you. The lyrics, though open-ended and mysterious, create an atmosphere of tension that grounds the song in the theme of creation. "I think it really works that way, leaving things open ended and instilling a sense of uneasiness and tension in the listener that I associate with a certain aspect of solitude," says Grzelewski. "Specifically the range of emotions you experience when creating art alone is being represented; being in turns calm, whimsical, awestruck, paranoid, tense and terrifying."
The B-side, "Vagabond" is also rooted in the origin of inspiration, though from a completely different source. "Back in the days when Dan Ivec (cover artist for Hiding Places) and I were packing coffee bags at Metropolis for a living, we developed some very strange ways to keep from losing our minds on a day to day basis," says Grzelewski. "Both being writers, we came up with odd scenarios, story lines, and random fits of off-kilter prose we could collectively indulge in. The idea for Vagabond came from one of these exchanges, and really became one of my first exercises in character study through songwriting." When he brought the song to the band they had some storytelling of their own to do. "The four of us got really involved with the building instrumental section of the tune towards the middle, and came up with this amazing story about a drug addict wandering the streets looking to score. It progressed from this almost unbearable tension, to serene and calming interlude (achievement of the fix), and finally to harsh and jarring interruption (the comedown). It really helped us make peace with the finished product. It's just funny because that story we invented has nothing at all to do with the content of 'Vagabond', but expressed the point we were trying to convey musically with utter astuteness.
