music
Song of the Day – Mr. Gnome: “Mind’s Gone”
Song of the Day – Motif Hive: “Close Touch”
Who Is a Band or Artist You Listen to That Might Surprise People? [QOTW, 4/6/25]
- “I listen to Kelly Clarkson. Girl can SANG!” – Alchemy Within
- “Pearly Drops. Been listening to them quite often lately.” – K.A.R.L. (Kill All Remaining Life)
- “The Zombies.” – Naked Sunday
- “I used to have a secret love for some 2000’s pop, like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Ke$ha.” – Deathmare
- “The Byrds.” – The Immaculate Crows
- “80’s/90’s country! Sawyer Brown is a fave. Other than that, I listen to a lot of girl pop with my daughter. Olivia Rodrigo is punk AF.” – Deadly Vices
- “Colbie Caillat.” – Seethe
- “Limp Bizkit. I’ll own it.” – Gillsaw
- “Kool and the Gang. Fucking love those guys, and they don’t have a single bad song!” – Robbie Ekblom, Jr.
- “Taking Back Sunday. People are really surprised to hear I like a lot of emo bands.” – Encircled Throne
Interview: Seethe
Seethe is an alternative/nu metal artist hailing from Pittsburgh. Spawning from the isolation of Covid lockdowns in 2020, this project has taken on a life of its own. With a handful of albums and EPs and an expansive catalog of singles to his name, Seethe shows no signs of slowing down.
One of the first people to let me review his music when I started my own journey, I’m surprised it has taken us this long to do an interview! We discussed his musical beginnings, inspiration, dream collaborations, and much more – and I feel like we only scratched the surface! Check it out!
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Mostly Music: So let’s talk some background first. How did you get started making music?
Seethe: Music has always been there. It’s in the blood on both my mom’s side and my dad’s side. I grew up around anything from oldies, to bluegrass, to metal, rock, and hip hop. I was air guitaring and singing with a brush as a microphone before I was even potty trained!
MM: That vast array of exposure explains a lot. Lol. Your music definitely has quite a bit of variety.
Do you have any particular band/artist that was, like, The One that made you really wanna pursue this? Or a song? I know it’s not always that specific, but…
Seethe: There are many layers to that. First, I was a guitarist that dabbled in some piano and bass, then over time, transferred to lead vocals. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jerry Cantrell made me wanna pick up and sling the ole six string. In my high school years, I was deep into acoustic pop rock with the likes of John Mayer, Secondhand Serenade, Dashboard Confessional, and Five Times August. When it came down to vocals (waaaaay early on), I hadn’t found my voice and was attempting very bad Creed/Breaking Benjamin vocals til I started actually singing and exploring my voice round 3, 2016. Phil Anselmo, Tim Williams, and Billy Keeton were very, very influential in where I was trying to go vocally as I began to explore my voice.
MM: Okay, with all that going on, how did you find your sound? I know your sound varies, but for a while, you leaned heavily into the trap metal end of things, so to speak. Was that a conscious decision, or was it more…you played around with ideas and found that that particular genre fit what you were going for?
I feel like I’m wording that badly…
Seethe: Covid honestly was really responsible for the creation of Seethe. I had begun to dabble in electronic music but never had the guts to release it. Anything I had released up to that point I had a band or a partner in crime, and I always had that comradery and support, but never enough guts to put something out solely by myself. At the start it was mainly just to make some music with an electronic edge like the “Queen of The Damned” soundtrack with the modern soundscape of the trap metal genre that had been blowing up in recent years. While a niche genre, it allowed me to develop and grow. After 4-ish years of producing and releasing trap metal tracks, I had decided it was time to start branching out and shifting my sound. That’s honestly the beauty of being a solo artist. Yes, there is more work, and it literally all falls on my shoulders, but I could/can do what I want, when I want.
MM: So, this may be a stupid question, but with the recent releases veering into a less electronic/trap-oriented direction, are you still working solo?
Seethe: Nope. If I had the equipment and better resources, I definitely would (Lord knows it would probably be cheaper if i did, given my rate of output). Fortunately, I have met many different and awesome producers along the way. Sometimes, we work together on a project from the ground up, or it’s a matter of me merely scavenging beats/instrumentals I find and lease or purchase. Some awesome producers I’ve worked with (but not limited to) – Slaughter, APXLLYXN, Exor, Gus Wallner, VIXLENCE, Last of a Dying Breed. Can’t forget Aura Abnormal, and Dead Prophet Alive.
MM: You have released four tracks so far this year. Congratulations on that, by the way. Can you give me a bit of background on the most recent single, “Oceans”?
Seethe: “Oceans” is one of the first songs in a while that wasn’t written introspectively. It’s more of an observation about the world as we see it now. All of the doom and gloom and tension that hangs in the air. REM said it best: “it’s the end of the world as we know it.”
In the recording side of things, this was a fun/challenging one to work on. Jacob Lizotte is an amazing producer/composer, and that forced me to really up my game vocally. The music not only goes hard in the paint, but it’s also very open and has a sort of ambient atmosphere to it, so I had plenty of room to paint the canvas with my craft.
MM: I wanna ask a question that’s kinda just for fun, but I love the answers I get. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Seethe: Dream collabs would be Layne Staley, Phil Anselmo, Damien Starkey, Brock Lindow, and Chad Gray.
MM: A Chad Gray collab would be SO good!!! So what is your creative process? How do you piece songs together? (I’m interested in both the writing and recording aspects, but hands down, I grasp the writing part a lot more easily. I know nothing about recording.)
Seethe: The creative process varies. It’s honestly one of my favorite things about art. I am a multi-instrumentalist, but I unfortunately don’t have a means to record anything besides vocals. I have been fortunate enough to work alongside multiple producers and composers to build songs from the ground up. Sometimes, someone will hit me with a piece of music and want me to man vocals. Other times, it’s merely me scavenging on BeatStars or YouTube, looking for a beat that catches my ear. A lot of times, the songwriting for me is very spur of the moment or if something catches my ear. You never know when inspiration is gonna strike.
Or other times I will have a song written up and it’s a matter of finding or creating the music to bring it all together. There are times I will sit on a song or idea for months, or it comes out on the spot in minutes. Collabs are always fun as well. It’s a different energy when you have someone bring you on and you are putting your craft with someone else’s vision.
MM: We could probably keep talking for ages, but I’ve already used up a lot of your time. Thank you very much for this interview. I look forward to hearing what you come up with next and perhaps having another conversation about…well, everything!
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In the time since we wrapped up our chat, Seethe has announced the release of his fifth single for 2025, “Reprieve.” The track will hit streaming services on April 26th. You can pre-save it here!
But while you’re waiting, be sure to listen to the other songs he has dropped since January – “Mandela Effect,” “IDT (Falling in Wait),” “Depths,” and “Oceans.” These four offerings grant a glimpse into the wide creative range Seethe possesses and the varied stylistic choices he makes. If you enjoy what you hear, follow him on your favorite platforms so that you never miss any Seethe music news!
The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist, Pt. 3 (Updated 3/31/25)
Here are the last of the March releases (at least the ones I’ve found). Tomorrow begins the fourth installment of The Mostly Music Playlist! Be sure to visit each part of the playlist, and remember: my top 50 will drop on New Year’s Eve!
Below are the songs that have been added since March 16th.
- Anderson Park Lane: “Ghost of Cherry Creek”
- Neon Casket: “Arrows”
- Saint V: “Diamonds”
- Die Tired: “Reel Me In”
- Michael Botte Band: “Soulfully Appreciating”
- Epic Down: “Doula’s Obsession”
- Calvaria: “The Serpent Lies Within”
- New Medicine: “Natural”
- Traverse the Abyss: “Pursuit”
- Alchemy Within: “The Call”
- Wraithlurk: “Engraved” (ft. $KIMMY)
- anMech: “Necessity”
- Beneath the Hollow: “Old Hymns”
- Lift the Curse: “Violet Violence”
- KREWX: “Aura”
- KREWX: “Enchanted”
- Oozik: “In the Darkness”
- Dal-War: “No Way Out”
- Makes My Blood Dance: “Time and a Place”
- Ded: “Until I Die” (ft. Chris Motionless)
- Point Disarray: “In My Head”
- Boze: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (Charlie Daniels cover)
- Title Holder: “Time Won’t Stop”
- Could You Not?: “Backpedal”
- The Ascendant: “Treading Water”
- Our Frankenstein: “Magnum Spire Hotel”
- Soul Sign: “Negative Thoughts” (ft. Bjorn Englen, Mark Boals, and Mike Cancino)
- Crimson Whisper: “Falling Through the Night”
- SFINX: “Magic” (ft. Left to Suffer, Aaron Gillespie, and Taylor Barber)
- Stain the Canvas: “The Light Within”
- Run the River: “Fulton Heights”
- Aesthetic Perfection: “Beautiful”
- Silent Theory: “Emptiness in You” (ft. Daedric)
- Czarina: “Fall Damage” (ft. Circuit Preacher)
- Loose Lips: “Video Games”
- Wraithlurk: “Drown” (ft. $KIMMY)
- Swallow the Sun: “MelancHoly – Holy Edit”
- Radiation Invasion: “Your Love is Darkness”
- Bury the Pines: “Pardon My French”
- Danny Worsnop: “Tell Me Why”
- Blessings of Mara: “Pink Venom”
- Beneath the Hollow: “Butter”
- Six Hours For A Lifetime: “21”
- Against the Storm: “Setting Sun”
- The Thing With Feathers: “Miniskirt”
- Awake At Last: “Be Not Afraid”
- Mr. Strange: “Mr. Strange Does Not Exist”
- Sublimenal Stimuli: “Burn Me Up” (ft. Scarlett Silhouette)
- SKYND: “Aileen Wuornos”
- A Killer’s Confession: “In Case of Emergency” (ft. J. Mann)
- Deadcode: “Come Undone”
- Effing and Blinding: “Scab”
- The Witching Hour: “Dead Inside”
- Kissing Candice: “Bitter Pill”
- Of Limbo: “Finish What Ya Started”
- Wraithlurk: “Straitjacket Sin”
- Storm Kingdom: “Upon the Wings of Despair”
- Engines of Ruin: “One More”
Interview: Chris Reza of Collide the Gemini
Collide the Gemini is a post-hardcore band hailing from El Paso, Texas. The trio consists of guitarist/vocalist Chris Reza, bassist Nate Sansom, and drummer Brian Carbajal. They have released one EP so far, 2022’s Dioscuri, but another EP is on the horizon!
I had the pleasure to chat with Chris about the band’s beginnings, their influences, the upcoming EP, and even his favorite sci-fi movies. (We also might have briefly touched on the topic of the Backstreet Boys…) Read on for more!
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Mostly Music: So I always start super basic out of the gate. How did Collide the Gemini form, and what’s the story behind the band name?
Chris Reza: Collide started out of the end of a previous band my drummer and I were in called The Roaring Twenties. Brian [drummer] and I wanted to continue pursuing music so we kept going, but we felt like the new songs and new lineup needed to be under a new name, so we decided to change it to Collide the Gemini.
The name came from my weird obsession with the word Gemini. The more I researched the story behind the Gemini and the twins, the more I felt it connected with our music. The name basically reflects what we try to do musically, colliding opposing sounds – light and dark, heavy and soft, simple and complex – and creating a balance between the two.
MM: That is one of the better stories behind a name I’ve heard, and it serves a purpose while being memorable.
So let’s go back a bit and talk about you. What inspired you to start creating music? Is that something you’ve always wanted to do, or did you have a defining moment that changed your trajectory?
CR: Well, I think art in general has always been something that I’ve wanted to do. Since I was a kid I’ve loved drawing, and growing up, I got into film and photography and graphic design. Music was just another creative outlet and one in which I could combine everything else. Even now I do a lot of our merch designs, music videos, and promos.
MM: Oh, so you’re a multi-talented creative person. I’m jealous. Lol. I want to be good – or…capable, I guess – at so many things, and I’m not. Writing is just about it.
Who would you say is your biggest musical influence?
CR: That’s a tough one. It changes all the time. I would say The Mars Volta. Mainly because they are hometown heroes of ours and also musical geniuses. But I would say we strive to sound more along the lines of a Dance Gavin Dance or Fall of Troy.
MM: On a related note, but also just for fun, is there anyone you listen to that might surprise people? (I refuse to call them “guilty pleasures,” because I don’t feel guilty about anything I listen to. Lol.)
CR: Haha, yeah, I totally agree with you! Like what you like, you know? I would say most people are surprised that I listen to hip hop. I’ve also been known to jam to some Olivia Rodrigo as well, haha!
MM: I still pull out some Backstreet Boys on occasion. (I’m old.) I went to see them in 2019 and my coworkers judged me. Lol. They were used to me listening to rock and metal. Anyway, let me get back on topic.
Y’all released “Take to the Skies” at the end of January. Can you tell me the story behind the song?
CR: Oh nice! Nah, the Backstreet Boys are awesome!
So “Take to the Skies” is a song that will be on our upcoming EP that will be out later this year. The EP is a concept record that I wrote. It’s loosely based on some of my favorite sci-fi films. “Take to the Skies” is told through the eyes of the protagonist’s wife, who must see him leave for this journey to save humanity in hopes he’ll return.
MM: And now you have caused me to debate whether to go ahead with music questions or dive into your taste in films. I can’t help it: that’s the stuff I love to know about my favorite musicians. Okay, I have to ask. Favorite sci-fi film(s)?
CR: Haha, no worries, I love talking about that stuff! For sure, the film that really inspired me to write this record was Interstellar. It’s a masterpiece! But Alien, Event Horizon, and The Thing are all in my top 5.
MM: I watched Event Horizon for the first time last year, which is odd considering what a horror buff I am. Haha. I loved it. My dad is a big sci-fi guy, but it’s all the really old films (he’s about to turn 70). I’ll have to check out Interstellar, though. I’ve never seen it.
CR: Oh, you have to watch it! It phenomenal.
MM: In regard to the EP, I like the idea of a concept album. Has your writing process been much different for this record? And (let me see if I can word this correctly) – do you think it’s been easier to write with a story to tell, or has it made the process more complex?
CR: The writing hasn’t changed much. We’ve had some kind of concept or story in mind while writing all of our previous material. I find that’s easier, at least for me, to write this way. Writing in the moment or from my personal experience can be a really good catalyst for songs, but I find that it’s sometimes hard to complete them. Whatever I felt about that topic at the time might change the next day, and I always find myself disinterested in continuing with the song. That being said, I have written about my own experiences. They’ve just been masked by a story, which makes it feel like I’m writing about someone else. If that makes sense, haha.
MM: I was thinking I could see both sides to working with a story. Like, it would be easier in a way because you have a set focus and a point to work towards, but at the same time, there might be difficulties because you’d be confined to working within certain parameters, i.e. your story. I guess that’s why I wanted to ask the question.
Piggybacking off your answer: do you think that masking your personal experiences behind a story makes them more relatable to your listeners? Maybe it’s easier for them to apply it to themselves when they don’t feel so much of the artist’s personal element? (Or maybe I’m overthinking it…)
CR: That’s a good question. I think listeners are going to relate it back to themselves regardless, whether it’s a song about a personal experience from the artist or one about space travel. At the end of the day if the song is hitting us at an emotional level that’s all that matters. We tend to find a way of connecting to it if we love it.
MM: I feel that on a spiritual level. I don’t understand how there are people out there who don’t “get” music. I always wonder if they just haven’t been fortunate enough to find that song or artist that grabs their soul and won’t let go. Lol. Not to be overly dramatic about it, but music means a lot to me.
What are Collide The Gemini’s plans for the rest of 2025? I know you said y’all are going to release the EP…
CR: Collide has a few things planned for 2025. We have our EP coming out this year titled A Spark in the Horizon. No set release date yet, but hopefully before the end of the year. We also have some plans to do some touring this year. We’re gonna do a small Texas run, hopefully this summer. Other than that, we will be dropping singles until we release the EP. So be on the look out for that!
MM: While I have you here, I’m gonna ask just a couple more questions. What’s your favorite thing about playing live?
CR: I would say connecting with fans, for sure. Seeing how our music affects them and sharing that experience. Also, as a fan of live music myself, seeing a band live and being in the moment with them is such a great experience.
MM: I think it would be so cool to experience it from both sides! Last but not least, do you have a dream tour lineup? Collide the Gemini with…?
CR: Oh God, I have too many to list, hahaha. I would love to do a tour with Hail the Sun. We’ve gotten to open up for them a few times and it’s always a good time. But maybe my dream lineup would be The Mars Volta headlining, maybe Coheed and Cambria supporting or something like that.
MM: Thank you so much for your time! And I look forward to all you guys have coming this year!
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Check out Collide the Gemini’s latest single, “Take to the Skies,” and be sure to follow their socials, as well as on your favorite streaming platforms so you don’t miss their upcoming releases or updates about the new EP!
Song of the Day – DR DR: “Ritski (Ceci N’est Pas Une Chanson)”
Song of the Day – Velositor: “On My Own [Redux]” feat. Jahred of (Hed) P.E.
If You Could Collaborate With Any Artist, Living or Dead, Who Would It Be? [QOTW, 3/17/25]
- “So hard to choose one, but I’d probably have to go with Layne Staley. His style is so unique and full of vibe and emotion. 1B would be Emily Armstrong, new Linkin Park singer. Great songwriting with Dead Sara and new LP stuff and great voice.” – Deadly Vices
- “Trent Reznor!” – Winter in May
- “Peter Spilles of Project Pitchfork! His music inspired me to start writing many years ago.” – K.A.R.L. (Kill All Remaining Life)
- “Trey Anastasio [Phish].” – Til Fauna
- “Tommy Stinson [The Replacements/Bash & Pop]. Just a great songwriter.” – naked sunday
- “Love to work with Impending Doom.” – Encircled Throne
- “I’m gonna get shit for this, but I wouldn’t be the man I am today: Marilyn Manson.” – Deathmare
- “Devin Townsend, for sure. He breaks all rules and molds.” – Gillsaw
- “Frank Black of The Pixies.” – Revolution Rabbit Deluxe
- “Coheed and Cambria.” – Overlay
- “Jonathan Davis.” – After the Apocalypse
- “Idles.” – Televised Mind
Mostly Music 