A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a producer who’s sound I couldn’t quite describe, but knew it was the perfect pairing for my summer. That artist is Neon Indian and ever since then I have been a huge fan of the chill-wave sound that hit the scene around 2009. This led to the discovery of other awesome artists in this genre including  Washed Out,  Blackbird Blackbird,  Teen Daze and Toro y Moi. I was thrilled to have just stumbled upon another project, courtesy of Twitter, that has created some perfectly smooth flowing sounds that are ideal to use as a soundtrack whenever you’re trying to set the mood to relax mode. This musical team goes by the name Underwater Seacreatures; a name that is equally as cool as the music they create. In an attempt to learn a bit more about the creators of this rad music I recently was able to set up an interview with this Richmond, VA duo (Nathan Keeys & Marcos Eduardo Da Silva Garcia).

Dan Cordie: How did each of you meet and start creating music together?

Nathan and Marcos: We met through a mutual friend. There was a day our mutual friend wasn’t home and we just happened to start jamming together. There was simply something to it that we both recognized and decided to elaborate on after that. At the time we both produced hip-hop, so we sort of bonded off of that. Our hip-hop sound was naturally both real relaxing and serene so once we made the transition to the music we make now it wasn’t that drastic of a change.

DC: What artists did you look up to when you were growing up?

NK: I was and still am a die hard Neptunes and N.E.R.D fan. First N.E.R.D song I heard was “She wants to move.” *yes I was a late fan* Pretty much changed my music life completely. After that I was all about attempting to hit falsetto notes lol. I also grew up listening to a lot of my parent’s music. Stevie Wonder and Bette Midler were probably my favorites. My uncle at the time produced music for the still successful reggae group Bambu Station. I used to sit in and listen to the group jam out. He was probably one of my greatest influences.

MD: I really went through a lot drastic sea changes in my listening range as an adolescent. I was into alternative music before anything else, in Venezuela my favorite band way back when was Garbage, and traditional Spanish artists like Camilo Sesto, and pop artists like Fey, Laura Pausini, and Shakira back in her Piez Descalzos phase (way before her anglo-debut). Then in the states I became acquainted with the likes of Radiohead, The Strokes, Sigur Ros, etc. I devoured a lot of alternative/indie music with a ravenous appetite, very quickly after immersing. Then I discovered Tribe Called Quest. That sort of changed things for me for a couple years. I wasn’t aware such a thing existed in hip-hop, and it piqued my curiosity to the point of imitation. Then after a couple of years of teaching myself about hip-hop, I sort of drifted back into indie music but with the awareness of all I learned in the hip-hop realm. I’d like to think we are an amalgamation of many different cultures and genre’s, which adds to our musical appeal.

DC: Is there a story behind the name Underwater Seacreatures?

NK: I came over to Marcos’s house for a jam session and I walked into his room to find him in the dark “obviously stoned” watching a documentary on deep-sea exploration lol. He then kinda spun around in his chair and was like “yoooo you tryna see some underwater sea creatures?!” Later when we decided to make the group that name came up.

MD: While that story is true, I still hold that the reason I agreed with the name is because of the curiousness of its redundancy. It’s meaningful to me. To me it’s about the miscegenation of minority roles, within and without their own ethnic groups. The diaspora of people, willing and unwilling. It’s a metaphor about displacement, sort of being different than your surroundings but having adapted enough that no one recognizes you as different, unless of course you let them know that you are in fact, an iceberg. I grew up feeling different than the rest of my Spanish colleagues, ostracized for not instantly adopting whatever dogmatic trend it was “culturally” right for me to do so, and I think it was the same for Nathan being an African-American. The specific name was just something gooberish we felt described our personalities, but to me its about a great deal more than that. Personally, I moved from my serene spot over- “sea”[s] to completely different “waters” here in the U.S., and that will always be a huge part of who I am as well as part of our name.

DC: When did you first discover Chill-wave and what turned you on to the sound?

NK: Summer 2009 when it seemed like all the popular chill-wave artists emerged. Marcos and I actually came to each other during a practice and were like “you gotta hear this music.” Ironically, I showed him a Toro y Moi song and he showed me a Neon Indian song. That day was pretty much when we decided to switch our style up, and we haven’t looked back. It just fit, it was the most true to us.

DC: What other genres did you dabble in before making the music you make now?

NK: I played saxophone in elementary school and Trumpet in my high school symphonic band. The music style was pretty much really structured. Part of the reason I started making electronic music was to be sporadic. Hip Hop became the first genre I actually dabbled in….still dabbling.

MD: When I was very young I played traditional Venezuelan music on an instrument called a “Cuatro,” as well as classical on piano and cello… but these were not really up to me back then and I barely remember any of it. When I started making Hip Hop was really the beginning, and of course with chill-wave/glo-fi we really came into our own.

DC: Have you played any shows as Underwater Seacreatures? Any future plans?

NK&MG: We are currently getting ready to play a show in Richmond in a few weeks. Getting live performances down is our main focus right now. As well as our first album, which we just decided on a track-list for and is titled Women. It’s coming in the next couple of months. We haven’t settled on a release date yet, as we wish to make videos for our EP to attract more exposure.

DC: Who are some artists who have influenced the music that you are currently creating?

NK&MG: Toro y Moi, Neon Indian, Ariel Pink, Washed out, The Neptunes, Nite Jewel, Stereolab and a lot of 70s and 80s funk.

DC: When did you start writing the EP and can you describe the process of putting it together?

NK&MG: We actually started writing the EP about a year ago. It was a fairly long process because we were unsure about what style we wanted to portray in or music. The EP started to come together when both of our sounds merged. It came to the point where we can produce a beat or song separately and it would still sound like US now.

DC: Was there an overall theme that you were trying to stick to with the creation of your EP?

NK&MD: Not really, there was never an overall theme. Except for the chill-wave indoctrination we submitted ourselves to as our method of expressing our emotions. This EP was made strictly on our feelings at the time. Urban life in Richmond, life in art school, girls, weekends, haze, ennui, nostalgia, secrets, the polarity of our pockets, etc. A great deal of things some new, some timeless.

DC: I really dig “Expensive Mondays”, can you give me some background on this song?

NK: I wrote “Expensive Monday’s” at a point when I was pretty much completely broke. I love Cheap Monday jeans so I decided to give the name a spin off of that. The lyrics begin with:

“Coins in my pocket on a Monday, good but always poor.
The way my life is going how much can I sell it for.
Just give me a job
I’ll take out my girl
I’ll take her around.
Lay in the sun
Run through the waves..but im stickin to now”

I came from a family with very successful parents and I think this song speaks for a lot of young adults who have this struggle of keeping that successful lifestyle going. The musical aesthetic for this song was pretty much the opposite of the lyrical message but it somewhat gives the whole song a “don’t worry you’ll get by” feeling.

DC: Who are some artists that you can’t stop listening to right now?

NK&MD: Both Toro and Neon Indian’s albums are outstanding from what we’ve heard so far. As well as Washed Out’s less recent release of course.

DC: How do you spend your free time?

NK&MD: Sleeping. Or bojangling haha. No, a lot of our free time is used to promote ourselves, go to school and write songs. There is a retarded amount of musicians in Richmond so it’s crucial to stand out. We do go out on the weekends though like anyone else haha.

DC: What is the music scene like in Richmond, VA?

NK&MD: There’s a vast variety. Electronic/Dubstep/Moonbahton is big here for downtown nightlife. The Hip Hop culture is huge here too. Not many chill-wave artists that we’ve heard of but we like to think of ourselves as pioneers in that regard.

DC: Are there any upcoming releases that you’re really excited to pickup?

NK&MD: Freaking out and Era Extrana definitely

DC: What do you hope to accomplish in the upcoming year as Underwater Seacreatures?

NK&MD: Our new album is in the process of being finished. It has more of an 80s funk feel to it with some very catchy songs. I think you guys are gonna love it. It’s called: Women. The release date is still up in the air but we will keep ya posted!

DC: Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

NK&MD:…$ea$wag

Stay connected with Underwater Seactreatures on  HYPERLINK “https://www.facebook.com/” \l “!/UnderwaterSeacreatures?sk=info” Facebook and  HYPERLINK “http://twitter.com/” \l “!/UnderwaterUs” Twitter and listen to their EP on  HYPERLINK “http://underwaterseacreatures.bandcamp.com/” Bandcamp