Describe the process behind recording ‘Take A Look’. Where did the idea for this track come from?
“We have quite a unique process when it comes to getting songs to their final product and this song was a true testament to that! If anyone has ever met Boo for longer than 30 minutes they’d know he is constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY, on his phone recording and laying stems. He is the most tech-illiterate person I know, but can work GarageBand on his phone like a wizard.
“Once Boo had his idea down for ‘Take A Look’, he shot it across to me and we workshopped ideas and sounds until it was ready for proper demoing. From that point we enter ‘demo mode’ with our good friend and co-writer, Will. Will is an amazing writer and works well with us getting exactly what we want on the screen. The final process was getting into the studio with our producer, Matt Bartlem, who we then spent a little under seven days with getting the final product. Huge shout-out to Matt and Will who are a huge part of this song and made it what it is.”
How do the both of you demo songs together? Are you constantly sending stems to one another via Dropbox, or bunkering down in the studio together?
“We’ve definitely found our groove in the last five or six months with songs. As I’m only 18 months into the band, there was definitely a transition period from how Boo used to write with Sam (Previous member/ dead set legend/ best pilot we now know), but we’ve stumbled on some techniques that we now know work.
“As mentioned, Boo has over 200+ licks and stems on his phone that he creates on GarageBand. They then make their way over to me and my world where we nail some beats and rhythm aspects before they head over to the demo and production world. Boo comes from a singer songwriter background so anything he can sing over and over with an acoustic guitar and gets stuck in our heads usually makes the cut. We’re Dropbox kids too – Google drive really pains me sometimes!”
On that note, what’s your studio environment like?
“We essentially have three studios! We have a home studio which has all our live gear, drums, several guitars. It’s where the initial magic happens. Then there’s our demo studio which is with our demo/co-writer Will in Melbourne. It’s near the best Ramen joint in the world, so we often fly down on a whim to visit Will/ Ramen.
“Our final studio is with Matt in Burleigh. This is where everything is tied off! It’s an amazing little home studio with all the bells and whistles BUT nestled in the trees of the Burleigh Point. A pretty inspiring little studio!”
Talk us through through your production workflow. What gear or software are you working with?
“GarageBand and Luna for initial ideas and demos, then Pro Tools for the final product. We’re not massive gear heads, but find most production software to be similar for how much we use it. I know the mixers, producers and techies will be hating on me for that call!”
Boo Seeka is renowned for having a pretty tight live show. Do you ever have to rework your songs to play them live? Tell us about that process.
“We like to mix things up in the live realm. We love a good intro or an extended bridge. Once we have all the final stems from production, Boo and I will get deep into our live set and create what we call ‘moments’ that we want the crowd to feel. Often a few chord changes and extensions of certain parts get us where we want to be. We can’t give too much away, but come see us live and you’ll understand in the first minute of the show.”
You guys have recently signed with Daily Nightly and are under new management by Untitled Group. What’s it been like working with them so far?
“Besides each other, our managers and crew at Daily Nightly are who we speak to the most. If we don’t hear from Tom, Mike or Annabelle for more than five or so hours, it feels odd. It’s only early days but we’re so pumped to be onboard with both signings and if ‘Take A Look’ was anything to go by, we’re in for a fun and exciting rest of our musical career!”
Finally, what’s next on the horizon for Boo Seeka?
“We have album two being finished as we speak, we then plan to tour the world with that when we can – then it’s back into album three. We don’t stop! We THRIVE on playing live, so we’re working and working on getting that to a level where we’re happy with it. We just miss everyone!”
Listen to ‘Take A Look’ on streaming services today.
