Flyleaf’s Bassist Pat Seals Talks About the Weight at the Bottom of the Pyramid

******

William Clark: What is it about the bass guitar that drew you in, as opposed to a six-string?

Pat Seals: Well, I started playing bass at church when I was a kid. And initially, like everybody, I wanted to play guitar first. But they were like, “We need someone to fill up the low end”, so I was like, “Okay”.  And the more I spent back there, I realized that I knew all the chords, and playing bass was like a fun control over the band, you know? It’s like all the weight at the bottom of the pyramid. So, that’s kind of what drew me in to the bass guitar.

William: When you pick up a new lick that’s fun to play, have you picked it up from someone else or have you had some kind of creative epiphany that just happened when noodling?

Pat Seals: Oh, definitely! That’s when the best licks come out, when you’re just fiddling around and not trying to write anything, you know what I mean?

But, I love Tim Commerford from Rage Against The Machine, and Flea, and Chi Cheng from The Deftones, and all those guys have fun licks which I draw inspiration from sometimes. So… right on!

William: The name Flyleaf reminds me of when Forrest Gump saw a feather floating about….Where did you come up with the name?

Pat Seals: [Laughs] Well, a flyleaf is a blank page at the front and the back of a book, and after we lost our first band name, Passerby, because of a copyright issue, we all just started writing down words saying, “Can this be a band name? Can this be a band name?”. And Flyleaf was one of them, and it kinda just got stuck with our manager and then us!

William: Since the band’s debut album, Flyleaf has sold a ton of albums and you’ve toured with some other great alternative rock groups (Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin come to mind). Did you ever imagine moving to this level when you first started playing?

Pat Seals: I definitely never thought it would happen exactly the way it did. You know, I thought that I would do something with my playing.

But, if I got to go back in a time machine and tell myself what would happen in my music career, I wouldn’t believe my older self! [Laughs]

William: You lay down some creative bass lines and vocal harmonies on the band’s new album, New Horizons. As the bass player, do you think you drive the melody forward in some way?

Pat Seals: I think good bass lines do drive the melody forward. Actually on our first two records, I don’t think I was really paying enough attention to the vocal melody.

I was just kinda did it to fit the part, to help standout against the guitars, to help accent the drum parts. But this is one of our first albums where I felt more of a focus and to become more of a part of the song, and not just stand in the background and hammer away.

I think on a lot of the mixing, too, I definitely was a lot more thoughtful about my performance and tried to really show my musical confidence.

William: New Horizons is Flyleaf’s third studio album. What was it like going back into the studio, and has the creative process or workload of the group changed as things have evolved?

Pat Seals: Um, it kinda did. I think we all slowly realized over the course of all our albums and EPs how to expedite our respective jobs.

Jared would write a riff, and we immediately would know “Alright, this riff should be used for that part of the song”, “The solo part should go here”. We all have come tighter when it comes to writing new music, and we can put bits and pieces of a song together much easier instead of just being “I don’t know what to do, we’ll see what happens!”.

Things just felt more controlled this time, and when Howard was around during the songwriting process for New Horizons, we all just had this sense of familiarity and had a very fun time!

New music just came up, and it wasn’t like, “We need to make a new album now! Oh, no!”. [Laughs]

William: Does any track on the CD have any special meaning to you?

Pat Seals: I have a lot of favorites on the new record. This is my favorite album we’ve done, and I’m not just saying that because it’s our newest one!

But,“Fire Fire” is the song where if I had to pick a favorite, I would say it’s that one. Lacey’s lyrics are just really good, and you can tell the lyrics are coming for you! It’s a really good song, and the melody is just killer. I’m a big fan of that song. So yeah, “Fire Fire”!

William: What are your thoughts about lead vocalist Lacey Sturm’s departure from the band?

Pat Seals: Well… [Pauses] It’s definitely been a great challenge for us to try and continue on past the departure of Lacey. But, we’ve got a new singer named Kristen May, and I’m very excited to hear what people think of her.

I mean, she is an incredible vocalist. Just being in the room with her, you can tell this lady knows what she’s doing!

But, we all have our reservations about whether or not people will like it, but I’m more like excited, actually. I mean, I’m eager to hear what the fans like.

William: So, there are definitely plans for Flyleaf to continue on without Lacey?

Pat Seals: Most definitely. We’re working on putting together some tours, during some pre-production right now. We had a little practice today, and I think we might meet with Kristen next week and start getting to work.

William: That’s fantastic. I was going to ask, can fans expect a tour in support of the new album, and possibly an album in the future with Kristen May on vocals?

Pat Seals: [Laughs] Well, predicting the future is seldom successful for us. But, I definitely think that fans can look forward to a tour, and hopefully a CD. Who knows? We’re definitely open to whatever, but we’ll see what the future holds for us.