Creative London: Michael Sebastian

We got talking to singer Michael Sebastian to find out what he’s been up too lately, when his next gig is and his favourite spots in London.

1. TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR BAND, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PERFOMRING TOGETHER?

As a solo artist I’ve been working on the project for about 3 years, or you could say, my whole life. The band developed around the music naturally as I was playing with tracks before and needed to lift the energy of the gig. I’m now playing with bass (Jonny), guitar (Joakim) and drums (Stefano). They bring an energy to the live show that will rip a room away from their idle chit-chat, and hearing your ideas channelled through a talented four-piece is an enormously gratifying experience.

2. WHERE CAN OUR READERS HEAR YOUR MUSIC?

All of your regular online marketplaces, as my label would have me say. My last EP with Animal Farm is on Spotify and iTunes, also available at my website, bastiancreations.com, plus anything new I put out will be on my Facebook page . Though really, the best way to check out Michael Sebastian is at a Michael Sebastian gig.

3. DO YOU HAVE ANY GIGS COMING UP?

Always, we’re playing a big one at Barfly in Camden on the 30th of April. Tickets can be bought cheaper on pre-sale from HotVox promotions and it promises to be the loudest, tightest, grooviest gig you’ve ever been to.

4. WHAT BAND MEMBER KEEPS EVERYONE IN CHECK (I.E THE MOST RESPONSIBLE) AND WHO IS THE FUNNIEST ONE OF THE GROUP?

Joakim, is definitely the funniest. His story about waking up on the floor in an empty club in Italy with a lady hoovering carefully around him is a good example. I’m probably the most responsible, seeing as it’s my baby, so I’m loathe to let her crawl out of the cot or skip class, but the gig is where that all flips over and I lose all sense of societal responsibility and respond to all of the impulses in my body and mind with reckless abandon. I often find myself crawling on the floor, attempting strange dance moves, or singing in foreign accents to which my normal brain and the band are like, “oh, so this is happening now?”

5. BEST ADVICE YOU WERE GIVEN WHILE IN THE BAND?

When I was just diving into music professionally, I remember a Scottish musician telling me, ‘If you want to succeed in music pal, dinnae be a dickheid, ken.” So true, in the creative industries, no one has to work with anyone, but if people have a good time working with you, they’re likely to do it again. Whereas if you let your ego get the better of you, and prance around like your shit smells of roses, then nobody will want to help you out.

6. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOUIRTE HOT SPOTS IN LONDON?

Passing Clouds to party to live music in a venue that feels like a mixture between a house party, a club, and your weird aunts house where she always makes you drink terrible herbal teas, and tells you about your horoscope.
Roundhouse for hugely varied yet always world-class gigs, theatre and dance, in a space that suggests a modern day Coliseum.
Clissold Park in Stoke Newington, as an escape from the engines and excitement, where the grass is green and the longboard is king.

WEBSITE: bastiancreations.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/michaelsebastiansound

TWITTER: www.twitter.com/msebastiansound

Photography by Nyla Sammons