INTERVIEW: Sea Swallowed Us Whole

Sea Swallowed Us Whole
Interview By Geoff Burns

The five-piece rock band from Orem, Utah, Sea Swallowed Us Whole, has had some rough patches throughout the years, but they have fought through all of it to get where they are right now. We spoke to the band about what it was like getting started as a band, going through lineup changes and their newest self-titled EP. Check out the interview below and let us know if you’re a fan of their music.

 I heard that you guys had a pretty well-received first show as a band back in 2008. Can you explain the show and why it inspired you to keep going with Sea Swallowed Us Whole?

We were very young at the time, like 16-19. That first show had a great turnout and the crowd got really into our set. Being that young and getting such positive feedback from the start really fueled our determination to make something of ourselves and our band.

What kept you guys moving as a band with so much van breakdowns, bad promoters and lineup changes?

We all have a great passion for music. No other time in our lives have we been as fulfilled and happy as we are while touring/playing, and with that brings a lot of dedication to our band. Though we have had our fair share of bad luck, we tried our best to just move past it, and stay positive. It always brought us to better opportunities, “When one door closes, another opens” as they say.

Did you ever think SSUW would still be together today even after many dead ends?

Definitely! It’s kind of an unspoken agreement between us. We all still have the same drive for the band that we started with. SSUW will be sticking around!

How has Tyler Ruiz and Chris Gibbons contributed into making SSUW how it is today?

Tyler is an extremely talented musician with a very extensive drumming background. He has studied many different styles and thinks outside the box with his patterns, which makes the rhythmic backbone of our music much more dynamic.

Chris is a frontman in all aspects of the word. He’s great at keeping everyone’s spirits up, and it definitely shows in our live performance. He’s had a love of theater and performance since he was young, and that mixed with his vocal talent is what makes our melodies so powerful and catchy. This is actually his first time doing vocals for a band! They both bring a great presence and attitude that is vital for a band to stick together and keep progressing.

How were you able to get the chance to have Alesana hand pick you to go on tour with them?

 They held a competition for that tour. Out of 10 finalists, they would pick three bands to do different dates of the tour. The three finalists were hand picked by Alesana themselves.

Were you guys shocked at the opportunity?

We were completely shocked! Though we stay positive, we were realistic in our chances. So once we got the confirmation that we had been selected, it blew us away. It’s something that we will always be grateful to Alesana for, that opportunity was the biggest we had ever had. It really solidified in our minds, “This can really happen, hard work really will pay off.”

Were you prepared as a band to play to sold out shows with bands like Sleeping With Sirens, Memphis May Fire and A Skylit Drive?

Well, we thought we were! Haha, the first show was honestly terrifying. We ended up being to the venue at like, 7:00AM. So we spent all day just being stoked and preparing, but then an hour before our set we hear, “So it looks like the show has sold out, over 800 kids here tonight!” and it kinda floored us… we were all side stage, staring out at this seemingly endless sea of kids thinking, “Whoa… are we ready for this?” But after we started playing, we got in our groove on that first show and were totally fine for the rest. Although the San Diego date sold out as well, with 2,000 kids, and that was definitely the biggest crowd we had ever played to. Extremely humbling, a little scary… but really exciting.

What are you trying to get across to people with your debut EP?

This new EP is very different than anything we’ve done before, it’s much more vocal-based and melody driven. So on one side of it, we wanted to try something new musically and show our diversity. From a lyrical and emotional side, this EP at the forefront is about individualism. We live in an area that is heavily influenced by the idea of “majority rule” in daily life, and we see a lot of people feeling supressed and having a fear of being themselves. Our lyrics are focus on self-awareness, really. Being honest to yourself, knowing your worth, and making the most of the time you have.

Is this the kind of direction we’ll see from the band with the next release?

We’ve never been a band to keep to a specific sound, so we can’t really say. Especially now that we have Chris and Tyler with us, we can explore even more styles. We always want to progress and keep things interesting. We’re already started working on some new music that you can tell is SSUW, but is very different from the EP.

Can you describe a time in your career as a band when you have said to yourself, “This is it. I’m living my dream?”

 The San Diego date of the Rock Yourself To Sleep Tour. 2,000 kids moving to our music, cheering after every song, that feeling was indescribable.

Besides that, our first show with Chris as our vocalist. It was in our hometown, it sold out, we only had one song from the EP out, but the whole crowd knew every word. Being surrounded by friends, family and hometown fans getting that excited was amazing!

What does the future hold for SSUW?

We plan on getting back on the road this coming year. We want to play anywhere and everywhere! We’re constantly writing new music that will be released in 2015 as well.