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An Interview with Martin Vorbrodt and Frank Spinath of Seabound
Posted: Monday, January 15, 2007
By: Damon Wilson

Coming together as band-mates some 12 years ago, Seabound's Martin Vorbrodt and Frank Spinath have lived through the sleepless nights and confronted some demons to bask in the glow of their success. It was 1999 when Seabound got the nod from a label and started making their brand of electronic music known to the world at large, and that world has been receptive to their contact. Their latest release, Double-Crosser, is filled with themes of deceit and self-deception, set to a score that at times is both complimentary and contradictory. Seems that when Vorbrodt says that Seabound loves contradictions, he means it.

The concept behind this album and its emotional impact...is this purely a psychological study, or is there a deeper specific motivator?

Spinath: We wrote the songs on Double-Crosser over a period of about two years, so naturally there are a large number of varying influences that went into the tracks and shaped the final collection of songs. However, when we began thinking about the red line, deceit and self-deception emerged as the major themes of several songs. That's how the main idea came into being.

Has there been any discussion of a new North American tour since booking agent complications derailed Seabound's participation in the Covenant tour?

Vorbrodt: We are working on that at the moment. There is a chance for a U.S. tour in early 2007. We are very eager to tour the USA again, but job constraints and the issue with the booking agent have made it difficult to tour North America.

Please tell us a little about how the remixes for the limited edition of Double-Crosser came about, as well how the collaborations with the Australian-based band Tankt came to pass.

Vorbrodt: The Covenant collaboration was initiated by Eskil of Covenant himself. He heard the original version of 'Scorch the Ground' from a sampler at a club and asked the DJ who the band was. After he found out that it was from his old friends Seabound, he offered to participate in producing the album. He ended up mixing 'Scorch the Ground,' doing the vocal mixing for 'Castaway,' and he did an extended version of 'The Promise.'

The collaboration with Tankt was rather unusual. Usually I would start writing a new Seabound song by producing the instrumental track and sending it to Frank, but in this case, he wrote the lyrics without any instrumental tracks. To inspire me, he sang his vocals on an instrumental track by Tankt. We both thought 'This is cool. Why not keep it like this, and ask Tankt if they want to join this collaboration?' and fortunately, Tankt liked the idea, and so we were able to release this version.

Talking about the creative process, do the two of you still send each other parts of songs back and forth, or is most of the work done face to face? How do you think this affect the outcome?

Vorbrodt: Since we don't live in the same city anymore, our collaboration has become rather virtual. Basically, I start creating new songs by beginning with the instrumental track. When the instrumental track is complete or close to completion, I send the track to Frank so he can record his vocals and send them back to me. I then insert his vocal recordings into the song and finish mixing. I actually think that you are more productive when you work on your own and when you can take as much time as you want for recording. However, I think that discussion and feedback is essential.

Frank, you seem to prefer singing in English as apposed to German. How come? Do you write your lyrics in German first then translate?

Spinath: No, I write in English. I've always felt comfortable working this way, and I'm very happy that native speakers seem to enjoy what I write. For me, writing in English provides just the right amount of dissociation from my inner self, enabling me to be more truthful and adventurous, lyrically, as a result.

Frank, is it true that you don't like the song, 'Day of the Century?' Why?

Spinath: Everybody has their top and flop songs, and artists themselves sometimes have strong feelings about their output. I've always felt that 'Day of the Century' was one of our weaker songs, and in the beginning I didn't want to release it at all. After we incorporated some changes, such as the second vocal line in the chorus, I felt comfortable enough with it to see it released, but that track will not make in into my personal Seabound 'top 10' ever.

Tell us a little about your favorite aspect of being in Seabound and being a musician in general.

Spinath: Seabound is a perfect outlet for me as a person. I love to give birth to artistic output, and just like with real offspring, it takes two to create new beings. Now you assign artistic gender to Martin and myself. [Laughs.]

Please tell us about how the two of you meet and how Seabound came about.

Vorbrodt: We met through mutual friends, and though our musical outputs were pretty different in the beginning, we just thought, without developing any plans or major targets, 'Why not give it a try?'

Frank, are you still working at the University of Bielefeld? Do many of your colleagues question you about your music?

Spinath: No, I have taken a position as a full professor of psychology at Saarland University. I don't talk about my artistic night life too much when I am working at the department. Of course, most people I work with have eventually heard about Seabound, but I try to keep those two facets of myself separate to a large extent. If I was a student, I would personally appreciate not to have things such as my professors' hobbies, interests, or worse, nighttime activities, rubbed into my face, either.

On the topic of anonymity, what has it been like having Double-Crosser top the German Alternative Charts?

Vorbrodt: Of course we were very happy to see Double-Crosser at the number one position of the German Alternative Charts and at high positions on other charts. We appreciate the positive feedback we have received from DJs as well as fans.

How have your lives changed with the ever-increasing level of success you are enjoying?

Vorbrodt: I have five more cars and take a bath in champagne every morning! No, actually my personal life hasn't changed at all, I think.

Have the two of you exhausted your musical aspirations?

Spinath: Both Martin and I have always wanted to evolve musically and lyrically. I think that you can easily tell how Martin's production and mixing skills have improved across the albums so far. On Double-Crosser, I have allowed myself to explore new vocal territory, such as the screams on 'Breathe,' and I barely censor any lyrical ideas anymore. I wish that we will continue to explore this synergistic and personal potential within Seabound further. If you ask me, I want to 'mine' it, if you know what I mean.

Do you recall the first time that you heard one of your songs being played in a club, podcast or elsewhere? What was your reaction?

Vorbrodt: I don't remember the first time I heard a Seabound track on a podcast or in a club. I do, however, remember hearing a Seabound track on TV for the first time. The weirdest thing was that it took me almost half a minute to recognize that it was our own song. I just thought, 'This sounds somehow familiar,' until I recognized that it was 'Point Break' from our first album, No Sleep Demon.

Will you continue to work in side projects? What effects, if any, do your side projects have on Seabound?

Spinath: At the moment, I am involved in Edge of Dawn and Ghost and Writer, and I think that I have become much more agreeable since I became involved in these side projects. If you take Seabound and Edge of Dawn, both projects have a very different modus operandi and thus meet very different needs in me. In Seabound, Martin and I work in a strictly separate fashion and exchange music, vocals, ideas and feedback online only. The synergy in Seabound comes from the distance, and we have become very good at it. The music might be somewhat less accessible, yet it has a distinct quality that will enable you to listen to it over and over again. In Edge of Dawn, Mario and I work much closer in the studio, which is why I am more directly involved in the process of writing the songs. Ghost and Writer is a little labor of love release from Jean Marc from The Weathermen and myself with a very unpredictable future.

To date, what country, or perhaps even more specifically, what city, do you enjoy playing the most, and why?

Spinath: We love playing live, no matter where. However, reactions can differ, and there are cross-cultural differences to some degree. I wish that we can return to the USA soon and also play Canada. Toronto has been Seabound-less far too long now. It's also fun to play eastern European countries. During our 2004 tour with Pride and Fall, we performed in Poznan, Poland, and the crowd was amazing.

What has been your best concert experience as Seabound?

Spinath: I very much enjoyed playing San Antonio, Texas, back in 2002. It was the final show of our tour with Stromkern, and the crowd was mind-blowing. If you check out the pictures on our Web site, you will know what I mean. We also made friends with Reagan and Andrew from Iris back then, and have become good friends since then.

Do either of you have an all-time favorite album?

Spinath: My all-time favorite album is What Noise by Kissing the Pink. It's from 1984 and has never been released on CD.

What bands do you currently find interesting and why?

Spinath: IAMX and Skinny Puppy in particular. IAMX is probably the most authentic act out there, and if you like electro, good vocals and sexy lyrics plus full authenticity, check them out. Skinny Puppy amazes me because after all these years of superb albums, they still manage to impress me with every new release. The new album, Mythmaker is going to be yet another milestone.

What do either of you think of file-sharing? What effects do you think it has on the music industry and the artist?

Vorbrodt: I am not happy at all with that development. Illegal downloads ruin the labels and make it difficult for indie artists to keep on releasing music. Some people think that they are doing the artists a favor when they upload their tracks onto file-sharing communities, but the opposite is the truth. I would not mind if people were to download two or three tracks of an album to get an impression of the songs on the album, though I think there are always a lot of legal snippets on band sites which suffice for getting an impression. But from the artist's point of view, it just sucks when you know that out of 10 people who listen to your music, two or three actually paid for it and the rest got it from pirate sites.