The North East of England is a place shrouded in tradition, installing a powerful sense of who you are in its residents. Hailing from the small town of Bridlington, Jack Sedman (vocals) and Harry Draper (guitar) chose the name Seafret for their music. As well as being a pun on the guitar fret board, it’s also a local term; it applies to the rolling mists that come in off the North Sea during summer.
Meeting at an open mic night, the two had distinctly different levels of experience. Though a few years younger, Harry Draper was an experienced local musician; Jack Sedman, meanwhile, had quite literally only just discovered his voice.
Despite this, the pair instantly hit it off. “We wrote our own songs straight out of nowhere,” explains Jack Sedman. “I’d never written a song before. I loved music but had never written it. We clicked instantly. That’s how we learned to write: through playing and the chemistry between us.”
The two share a debt of gratitude to their families: Harry’s father is a noted country and bluegrass musician, while Jack’s own father comes from a punk rock background. “I think that’s where it comes from, really” the singer continues. “Harry was massively influenced by his family and I was massively influenced by mine. So when we got together he brought all that to me and I brought all that to him. We shared everything.”
Honest and captivating, Seafret’s material has a beautifully contagious feel. Writing about life as it evolves around them, the two have a rare observational eye – though young, the world is not going to pass them by.
Retaining their love of open mics, the duo appears determined to win over fans one step at a time. “You get up and if you win one person over, that’s one more person,” Jack explains. “It’s all part of it.”
Honing their craft by playing along to their parents’ John Martyn and Tom Waits records, Seafret’s youth allows them to bring something fresh, something unheard. There are shades of The Lumineers, of Hozier’s heartbroken delta strum on upcoming EP ‘Give Me Something’.
“We never set out to just record one hit,” insists Harry. “That’s why we want something with more weight. People can get a grasp on what the band is about, rather than just one song.”
Ultimately, though, the duo are inspired by what they see around them – and what they miss most about being divorced from the North, in their new home of London. “It’s the sea. I miss the sea,” the guitarist says. “When you live there you take it for granted. I never missed it before. You don’t realise what it does to you when you’re there.”
Now living and working in London, this sense of dislocation only fuels Seafret’s determination to succeed. “It gives you a hard shell,” states the singer. “You feel like you’re no one in someone else’s land - which inspires you to get on and do it.”
