Seafoam Walls

ARTIST LINKS

RESPONSIBLE AGENT

Ian White - iwhite@outermostagency.com

BIO

Seafoam Walls is a Caribbean Jazzgaze band from Miami, FL. Jayan Bertrand, who founded the band in 2014, sings and plays guitar. Dion Kerr adds atmosphere and context with his expressive guitar playing. Josh Ewers compliments their distinctive guitar tones with infectious bass lines. Josue Vargas pulls it all together with compact drum samples.

Jayan began his journey as a musician studying metal and classic rock. His first formal lessons after a year of self-taught practice came from a family friend and talented jazz guitarist, Bemol Telfort. Those early lessons opened him up to the sounds of jazz. That naturally led him to Dion, Josh, and Josue. The versatility exhibited by the four of them can be heard in the melding of jazz, metal, classic rock, indie rock, shoegaze, math rock, hip-hop, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Of this multi-hyphenated sound, the ones that stick out the most are the Caribbean rhythms, jazzy chord progressions, and the ethereal shoegaze effects. They coined the term Caribbean Jazzgaze to simplify that description.

They released their first EP, titled R-E-F-L-E-C-T, in 2018. ROOT was the effort of several sessions at Purdy Lane Studios and was dropped the following year. Seafoam took this sound, unlike any other in Miami, and showcased it at III Points for two consecutive years alongside artists like Thundercat, Blood Orange, Tyler, the Creator, and Gorillaz; all influences of the band itself. A year away from that stage and many others led to the recording of their first LP. Just as the record was nearing its completion, a chance encounter and introduction made their debut release on Thurston Moore and Eva Prinz’s Daydream Library Series a possibility. To top it all off, they also made their first Afropunk Festival appearance the same year.

PRESS

“The beauty of Seafoam Walls is that, even as their songs adhere to clearly defined melodic and rhythmic lines, Bertrand and co. constantly rearrange and overlay them in unpredictable patterns, making shape-shifting acid-funk odysseys” - Pitchfork

“XVI, Seafoam Walls‘ debut album, is a glorious rush. Multi-colored, knotty, and bursting with hooks, the Miami outfit’s pop stylings swirl like the Florida breeze, a texturally dense sound the band have dubbed ‘Caribbean jazzgaze.’” - Bandcamp