Science Hill

Every once in a while a band comes along whose presence is so powerful that they change the landscape of the music industry and makes you stand up and take notice. Science Hill does just that on their debut album Moonlight Swim with a sound that they call "beach funk, an embraceable fusion of rock, funk, reggae and jazz." Jeff, Dave, Brian and Chris are four driven professional heartthrobs...oopse...I mean musicians who take you on a musical vacation to Caribbean blue waters. Funny thing is they come to us from smack dab in the middle of the country on the banks of the muddy Mississippi.

Formed in June of 2007, Science Hill hails from St. Louis, Missouri and is the brainchild of guitarist Dave Seithel and Lead vocalist Jeff Nations, former members of the band Essence Of Logic. Rounding out the group, we have drummer Chris Seithel who is a former member of Resolution and bassist Brian Blood formerly of the band Overdrawn. They unite to create a sound that is original, refreshing and simply moving. Tune in as we learn a little more about what makes Science Hill the band that takes their music to the beach.

Jai B: First of all, thank you for agreeing to talk with us today. I have listened to the whole album and it really is a great blend of various types of music, how did you come into your sound of "beach funk?"

Dave: I don't think it really happened on purpose, we just kind of fell into it. Jeff and I seem to have a tendency to write more mellow, "beachy" stuff. Not to say we don't write heavier stuff, but generally, I enjoy laying down music that is easier on the ears. We focus on the things that make life worth living, like the beach, good weather, traveling, and meeting people. That's what comes out of our music. It's only natural that our music reflects our attitude towards life. It never made sense to me that before a show, you meet a dude that seems pretty happy and friendly, and then you see him go on stage and whine about life. It makes me nauseous.

Jai B: What is it that excites you about this debut album for Science Hill, "Moonlight Swim"?

Chris: Showing it off to people. We worked really hard in the studio on this album, and it's like withholding a secret for a long time. After a while you really just wanna blurt to anyone that cares to listen. It's something that we are all very proud of.

Jai B: Is there a favorite song or one that has a lot of significant or personal meaning for you?

Dave: I'm partial to "We Could Be Swinging." I wrote the music for this one and I couldn't be happier with the final product. It's definitely my favorite song on the album. The guitar harmonies in the first chorus were done on the fly but to me they make that song. I wish I could take credit for any lyric writing, but I can't. I've tried but everything comes out like a Whitney Houston song, so I stopped. I focus on the music and let Jeff write the words. It seems to be working fine.

Jai B: How would you describe your life?

Brian: Never a dull moment! Always on the go. I am a carpenter by day (for now), a Science Hill member at night and weekends. I bought a house in Saint Louis a year ago with my fiancé, so that's in the mix too. It is amazing. I am very proud of both the band and my fiancé and our home together.

Jai B: You guys work very hard at your career, what has been your biggest success so far?

Jeff: It would have to be landing a record deal with EliteROCK Records and releasing this album. When this band got together in 2007 we said right from the start that the ultimate goal was to get signed and make a living off playing music and with each passing day it feels like this is becoming more of a reality and we're going to continue working just as hard as when we were unsigned to keep this thing going.

Jai B: Any special concert moments that stands out?

Chris: I would have to say when we got to open for DJ Kilmore and Ben Kenney of Incubus. It was just us that got to open, so we had an opportunity to hang out with some of the guys that we look up to. It was very surreal. Another memory is our album release show. The whole thing was cool. For the first time, it felt like everyone in there was there just to see us. I finally felt like we were hitting something because it was just unreal seeing so many friends, family, and fans there to support us.

Jai B: You guys seem to be enjoying quite a bit of success. What's next for Science Hill?

Jeff: Touring HARD! The next step is to get in everyone's face and let them know that we're out there. We're also focusing very hard on our radio campaign and getting people to call their local stations and request us. We're going to try to blow ourselves up as much as possible.

Jai B: What does your tour schedule look like and what are the plans for the future? Are you touring locally, regionally or nationally?

Chris: Hopefully by this time next year, we will be well underway in the national circuit.

Jai - Jai Barlow; Pizzazz Magazine

When asked how this band of wannabe beach bums describes their music, they are quick to say, “beach funk.” It's a genre of music I had never heard of before, but it doesn’t mean it can’t exist. Without giving the generic “they sound like…” just think of it as a frozen margarita blend of Jimmy Buffett, Incubus and 311 with strong influences of Steely Dan and The Police. These rebels without a cause like to drink, party and wear flip-flops as long into the winter as humanly possible. These guys have been on the music scene for several years as individuals but Science Hill has only existed for a little more than a year and they have no intention of stopping now. With the September 30th world-wide release of their debut album, Moonlight Swim, under the label EliteROCK Records, management group Lucky 7 Management (L7M) and distribution through BCD Music Group, Science Hill knows the uphill climb for success has just begun. Moonlight Swim can be found anywhere music is sold (Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, Slackers, Vintage Vinyl, etc). With a lot of the material for Moonlight Swim written by Jeff Nations and Dave Seithel on a trip to Florida, you can tell the sand between their toes really had an effect on the sound of the album. You can catch Science Hill at The Pageant on Friday November 21 for the Ticketmaster New Music Spotlight. I sat down with lead singer and guitarist Jeff Nations to discuss Science Hill’s recent success.

How long has the band been together?

Jeff: Science Hill has been together a little over a year. Dave Seithel and I conceived the idea for the band and started writing material in April '07 and then the full lineup came together in June '07 and we started working on that material as a whole.

How did you come up with name Science Hill?

Jeff: Science Hill is actually a small town in Pulaski County, Kentucky which is in central southern Kentucky. Dave and I worked for my dad's business doing maintenance on cell phone towers around the Midwest and one of the towers we worked on was in Science Hill and that was also the name of the tower site. We both worked on that tower on separate occasions and both came back saying, "That'd be a really cool band name". So when we decided we were going to put the band together we knew that Science Hill would be the name, there was never any debate.

It seems like every person in a St. Louis band came from another band. Is that case with your band? Where did you come from?

Jeff: Yes, we all came from other bands. Dave and I spent six years in Essence Of Logic, our drummer Chris Seithel (Dave's brother) played with Resolution and our new bassist Chris Barnes came from a cover band called Motherhead.

Are you for or against the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze?

Jeff: I think we are all on the same page with that game: They're great in the sense that they get young kids listening to 60s and 70s classic rock that they otherwise may have never heard before and the games get these kids interested in musical instruments. That whole aspect of the game is really cool but at some point the parents need to step in and say, "Ok let's go get you the real thing if you're that into this game." The kids spend all this time mastering this game when they could be learning the real thing. Guitar Hero and Rock Band do not even come close to simulating what it's like to actually play the instruments, which is why I personally don't like the games. If you know how to actually play guitar and play the songs it's a very frustrating game.

What television show do you consecutively agree on, is the best show on the tube today?

Jeff: I think we'd all agree on South Park. It's so ridiculous and hilarious and every week you think there's no way they could cross any more lines and then they go and do it. I think a lot of people, older folks I guess, dismiss it as toilet humor and foul language but if you watch the show at all you realize it's so much more than that. It deals with all kinds of social flaws and stupidity and tears them apart. It's a very smart, very well written television. One of the best episodes is the one where Paris Hilton comes to South Park and at the end of the episode Mr. Slave and Paris have a "whore-off" to find out which of them is a bigger whore. They just completely rip Paris Hilton to shreds in that one. I stood up and applauded at the end of that episode. No other show has the guts to make fun of people and issues the way that South Park does. This is the type of TV that people need to be watching, stuff that takes thought to write, but instead everyone's brainwashed by "reality" TV and mediocre, recycled sitcoms like Two And A Half Men. It's REALLY sad that people are so feeble-minded that they watch that bullshit. It's the same way with the music industry; people don't put any thought into what they listen to. They go, "Hey it's on the radio, I'll listen to it" and that's why talentless trash like Lil' Wayne, Fall Out Boy and Kid - Meaghan Anselm; Metromix.com

Friends Jeff Nations and Dave Seithel are the backbone of the funk-rock band, Science Hill. It is completed with the presence of the Chris,’ Dave’s brother, Chris, and bass player, Chris Barnes.

Their name, Science Hill, is interesting and original and, for the band, brings to mind an unforgettable incident, “Dave and I worked for my dad and uncle in their cellphone tower business. Every year, we’d go to these towers, cleaning them up, making sure everything's working ok. One of the towers that we went to was in Science Hill , Kentucky . We pull up to the site and it's on this guy's property. The guy, who owns the property, was getting out of his truck, as he's getting out he's got this giant shotgun thrown over his shoulder. He's probably around 70 years old. We looked at each other like, 'Let’s let this guy know who we are, why we're here?' We explained we were there to work on the telephone tower, and he's like, 'Sure, fine, open up the gate, just do what you have to do.' The whole time we’re standing there talking, he’s got huge shotgun over his shoulder. We both came back and we agreed that if the opportunity ever came up, Science Hill would be the name we’d use,” Jeff explains.

Jeff’s first teacher and inspiration was his dad. “As far back as I can remember, he'd be down in the basement jammin' on his guitar and I would go down with my toy guitar and play along and sing with him. I’ve been singing my whole life. For my 11th birthday, my Dad decided to buy me a guitar just kind of out of the blue. He said, 'Do you want to learn how to play?' and I said, 'Sure, what the hell.' That's pretty much it. From then on, I got hooked. Few years after that, started to teach myself drums, picked up the bass, and a little bit of piano, as well. My Dad and I play in a cover band together called ‘All Over the Road’. All my musical ability, I pretty much owe to my dad. I never took lessons or anything, he taught me and I learned from books and watching the pros.”

” We’ve always liked funk and jazz and reggae combination and we’ve put that together with the rock thing. We knew to go a little more mainstream with it; I decided I wasn't going to do any, y'know, rapping or anything like that. I tried to use my voice, started to sing a little bit more. We wanted to keep in that same vein; we wanted to go radio friendly. Try to keep it within the 3-4 minute range with the songs,” Jeff says.

Signed to the indie label EliteROCK Records with management through Lucky 7 Management, Science Hill is looking forward to getting out on the road, “They're going to put us on a national tour. I think with some bigger, better-known names. We'll be the support band. That's kind of a big thing for the near future. For now, we're just doing some Midwest shows. We've also been in some serious talks with 311 about touring with them on their 2009 Summer Unity Tour. If that goes through, it's gonna be huge for us.”

Writing all their own original material, their styles compliment each other, “Dave tends to write stuff that's a little more mellow. Kind of complicated with a lot of the newer stuff that we're writing since we put out our album ‘Moonlight Swim’. Lot of chords involved, lot of tempo changes, lot of different leads with guitar harmony and stuff like that. My stuff, I tend to write kind of more, it’s not necessarily faster and heavier, but my stuff is a little more simple than Dave's. We like to experiment with different genres and tempos, odd timing on the drumbeats, and stuff like that. Dave is the main songwriter with the music and I do all the lyrics myself. We bounce back and forth as we're writing new stuff.”

Science Hill is anxious to get their music heard and meet their fans, “We're really just stoked to get out on the road. Our roots are in the 70's classic rock, that kind of older stuff. Is what we mainly listen to, that's kind of where we draw the inspiration because that's when music was music. We’re just four down to earth, regular guys. We don't have big heads on our shoulders. We just basically want to meet everybody we can. We love when we get out to new towns, hanging out, sitting in the crowd listening to the bands, and meeting the people that come out to see us. We'd much rather come out and mix it up with the people that come to see us, than sitting back stage, isolating ourselves. If we come through your town, come out and say “Hi” to us cuz we love talking to folks.” - Music's Rising Stars Magazine

St. Louis band Science Hill will be brining their upbeat, "beach funk" style to cities all over the US when they kick off their Tropical Nights and Romance Tour this Friday at Cruisin' Route 66.

In the midst of getting tour buses and booking additional dates the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, Jeff Nations, talked to us about their upcoming tour, the band's positive vibes and their distinct style.

You can check out Science Hill's track "We Could Be Swinging" from their album Moonlight Swim by clicking on the Audio tab.


You guys describe your sound as "beach funk." Could you elaborate on what you mean by that and where that term came from?

It's a term that our drummer, Chris Seithel, coined once we had kind of established our style. Our music has a very beachy, feel good sound behind it. It's summertime music that makes the listener think of warm weather and the summertime and being with friends and people they love. Our style is very bouncy and very heavily influenced by a variety of funk infused bands so that's where the "funk" part of that term comes from.


What is the main goal and message behind your band and your music?

To stay positive, always have fun and love life. Our music is very bright and happy sounding and lyrically everything we write has some kind of positive message or idea behind it. We absolutely do not dwell on the negative. Not that it doesn't make for good songs but it's just not us. The four of us are happy, fun loving people so it's only natural that that is conveyed in our music. Most of our songs share a lot of our personal stories. They talk about everything from partying to nature to random drunken nights to love to friendships; regular everyday occurrences.


What bands or performers have had a major impact on your music and live shows?

There's a lot that goes into both. We all are big fans of groups like Incubus, 311, Chili Peppers, Primus and they are some of the biggest influences in terms of newer stuff because all those bands pushed boundaries and styles and were doing things that no one else had ever even thought to attempt. They still do today. On the other hand our musical roots are in 60's and 70's classic rock like Steely Dan, Genesis, CCR, The Police, Tom Petty. We all grew up on that music. So both our newer influences and classic influences are right there in the front of our heads when we're writing new stuff and it melds together for a nice mix.

Our live show focuses on stage presence and cohesiveness. We're not into theatrics or elaborate props or anything like that. We want to go on stage, jump around and just give the people something to watch and hopefully smile at. David Byrne and Talking Heads have a big impact on our stage presence. They were a band that took simple motions and movements and worked them into a live show and made it very unique. Our goal is just to get the people into the music and make them move with us.


You guys are gearing up for a nationwide tour to support your debut album Moonlight Swim; what has the process been like preparing for the tour?

HECTIC but very exciting! It's been quite a learning experience. None of us have ever made it this far in the music industry so there is all kinds of new stuff we're learning about. We've all played with bands prior to Science Hill but none of us have ever done any extensive touring aside from weekend jaunts around the Midwest. We've helped our label book most of this tour basically because we like to be involved in every aspect of the band. Really it's just a big learning experience and we're so hyped up about it we're just ready to get out there and tackle it and push Science Hill to the next level.


This is your first tour together, what do you guys expect it to be like?

Again, it's going to be a learning experience. But we're all good friends, we all went to the same high school together, we've known each other for years and years and years so we're not worried that there's going to be a ton of arguments or we're going to get sick of each other. On top of that we're all very laid back dudes that always like to keep everything we do lighthearted, we're very good at taking a bad situation and finding something about it to laugh at and that's important, otherwise you could easily lose your mind. We're very confident that this will be a successful tour and we'll come back and say, "Ok when do we get to do it again?"


Can you give us a brief history of how you all formed the band and got to this point?

Dave Seithel and I (Jeff Nations) formed a band in high school when we were 17 called Essence Of Logic. That band decided to break up in April '07 so Dave and I knew we wanted to continue to play and write together and we knew we wanted to do everything the right way from the beginning. We knew we wanted Dave's brother Chris Seithel to drum for us so he was automatically in. We knew a guy named Brian Blood who used to play bass for a group called - Melody Meiners; ToastedRav.com

For the third year running, local concert promoter Mike Tomko has assembled a cadre of local bands and given them permission to become their idols. While last year's version of An Under Cover Weekend grouped the bands by decade, this year's proceedings are more of a free-for-all. As usual, there are a few can't-miss curveballs in the mix — along with some faithful love letters to these bands' forebears.

Friday, September 4

Science Hill

In Reality: A modern-rock quartet that employs spacey, slightly psychedelic guitar lines alongside a muscular rhythm section.

Artist Covering: 311

Why This Will Work: Singer Jeff Nations can elongate his vowels just like 311's Nick Hexum, and Science Hill's laid-back grooves are heavily influenced by its Omaha-bred heroes. - Christian Schaeffer; Riverfront Times

Upon first listening to the funky reggae rock of Science Hill, images of ocean swells, beaches and palm trees might dance in your head and make their way down to your hips. That’s a pretty good transportive musical accomplishment coming from four dudes from the tropical oasis known as ... umm, St. Louis. But they’ll tell you their island influence and appreciation trumps their Midwest locale. “That’s kind of our natural environment anyways,” says vocalist/guitarist Jeff Nations. “The reggae thing just kind of feeds into that. You cannot hear reggae and not smile.” Science Hill — with Nations, Dave Seithel (guitar, backing vocals), his brother Chris (drums) and Chris Barnes (bass) — keeps the good vibes coming. The album “Moonlight Swim” contains songs radio-ready in length while focusing on bouncy grooves and musical chops in the vein of idols like 311 and Incubus, with harmonizing guitar lines, the occasional solo and a lyrical positivity that indicates “everything’s gonna be all right.” It’s a sound and message that doesn’t quite fit with the tattoo-covered riff rock heard on radio today, but that’s how these guys like it. “That’s priority number one for us is to absolutely love life and love what you’re doing,” Nations says. Science Hill will perform at 9 p.m. Nov. 17 at Hammerjacks Rock-N-Roll Sports Bar. - Blake Hannon; St. Joe Live

Nothing really says summer like the beach, and nothing says beach party quite the same way as Science Hill’s unique brand of “beach funk”- a supergenre comprised of jazz, surf, rock, and funk leanings. With their debut, Moonlight Swim, out since 2008, Science Hill, despite a scholarly-sounding namesake (who wants to do science in the summer?) are out with one mission and one mission only: to remind their listeners that life is good.

“We Could Be Swinging” is a lyrical tour-de-force for Jeff Nations. The reggae vibe invites the listener to just relax and chill out, and the group shouts of “hey!” have a great island vibe. This could be one of the greatest surf anthems Sublime never wrote, and could be on heavy rotation at any pool party.

Science Hill does not sound like they are from St. Louis, especially with tracks like the Steely Dan-esque “This Silence Kills Us All” and sleek, funky “ReJumpStartify.” Chris Seithel is an underrated drummer who does a fantastic job of keeping the album at a laid-back pace, and Dave Seithel and Chris Barnes riff on guitar and bass like no one else’s business.

“Recipe for a Good Day” is a feel good track with softer vocals but makes use of great electronic effects. “Moonlight Swim” starts with the sounds of waves rolling against the sand, and is a funkier, if not slightly darker, song on the album, reminiscent of early Incubus.

“Funky Reggae Music” is just as its name suggests, and has the feel of an anthematic beach party closer. Science Hill reminds listeners that no matter how far from the beach you are, it’s always a perfect day to have a great day.

The sunny sounds of Moonlight Swim will be blasting from my stereo all summer long.

Check out the band at http://www.myspace.com/sciencehillmusic. Thanks to Jeff Nations for the band info! - The Unsigned Find

BP: Jeff! How goes it brother?
JN: It goes, my man, it goes.

BP: Always good to talk to you. I've sort of followed you guys
for three or four years now, and EOL was one of my favorite
local groups. Before we get to Science Hill, what caused the
demise of your former group, Essence of Logic?
JN: That band had just kind of run its course and it had come to the
point where everyone was butting heads musically and had different
ideas of where the music should progress to and sound like. Plus, as
people, some of us were starting to argue with each other over band
stuff and it was just getting really difficult to work with each other and
be creative and express our ideas without someone else shooting
them down. We finally decided it best to just split and go our own ways
before things got really heated between us. But thankfully we are all
still good buddies and we will continue to work with each other on the scene.

BP: The new fusion of talent consists of guys from a few other area bands right?
JN: Correct. Science Hill is made up of myself and former Essence Of Logic guitarist Dave Seithel. On drums we have Dave's older brother Chris Seithel who used to play with Resolution. Chris also filled in on drums for Essence Of Logic on several occasions. Playing bass for us is Brian Blood. Brian played bass for Overdrawn. Overdrawn and Essence Of Logic played numerous shows together way back in the day so we've been buds with Brian for a few years.

BP: What does the band strive for, musically speaking?
JN: Musically Science Hill is all about creativity and originality and trying to do something just completely different and something that is completely our own. While we all have very similar musical influences, we all have our own stuff that we listen to on our own as well. So we're trying to incorporate all of that stuff into this music. The market is SO oversaturated with mediocre, generic, recycled rock music these days and we don't understand why bands like Nickelback and Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance continue to get signed to major labels and be so successful when there obviously is no originality or intricacy to their music. We are striving to write music that makes people think. We want people to hear us and go, "Wow, here are 4 young dudes who are playing stuff that is reminicent of Steely Dan, The Police, Talking Heads, etc. That is really different from anything I have heard lately". We want people to listen to our lyrics and think about what they mean. I write lyrics that pertain to my experiences. You know, I have never been addicted to drugs so I'm not going to write a song about that. I have never jumped out of an airplane so I'm not going to write a song about that. I try to write about subjects that you don't hear a lot of musicians write about this day and age. On top of that we want our music to make people feel good and want to get up and move. We are all very positive people and the music we're creating is very upbeat and we want people to relate to that. We want our music to make people feel good because it makes us feel good. The main goal with our tunes is to be as original and creative as possible right down to the punctuation in the lyrics. My motto with my music has always been, "Expect the unexpected".

BP: I haven't heard any of the stuff yet, honestly. Is that because I'm too lazy to find it on the internet or is anything even available yet? lol
JN: We are almost finished mixing a demo version of a song called "Stealing...My Love". We'll have that on our myspace (www.myspace.com/sciencehillmusic) VERY soon.

BP: Awesome. I love seeing you guys perform live. One of the few Midwest-area bands, IMO, who realize what stage presence is. What should one expect when seeing a Science Hill show?
JN: The same type of energy that you would expect from any one of our other bands. We believe that stage presence and energy are just as important as playing the songs the right way so you can bet your bottom dollar that we're going to be all over the stage and working the crowd and getting them involved. The crowd is just as important to the Science Hill live experience as we, the band members, are.

BP: When can we expect some more Science Hill tunes?
JN: In December we are hitting the studio to record our debut full length album, which will be released in early 2008.

BP: Any shows coming up soon you want to mention?
JN: December 13 at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, MO. This is a benefit show for the American Liver Foundation. And then we will be playing Pop's in Sauget, IL on December 23. This is for 105.7 The Point's Sunday Night Local Show which is a battle of the bands. The winner of this show moves on to the finals and then winner of that has a chance to play Pointfest 2008 along with winning some cash, studio time and some other very cool prizes so we're really stoked about this show and need our people there to show their love.

BP: - Randy Mallett; BannedPromotions.com