Story by Natalie Horner
Photo by Jenna Westover
Brent Jameson, of Jameson and the Sordid Seeds, claims he’s 20 years old. But the crinkles that appear around his eyes when he laughs belie this claim. Sean Cooksey, Sordid Seeds bassist says he’ll be “15 tomorrow,” with a sly smirk. It doesn’t take long to realize the Seeds’ dynamic, as dry witticisms and one-liners are casually lobbed between them. After a valiant effort to start a solo career in Las Vegas, lead vocalist and guitarist, Jameson, went in search of a band. With Cooksey on bass, Graham Fletcher on sax, and John Hoagland on drums, Jameson and the Sordid Seeds are complete.
Natalie Horner: How would you describe your sound?
Brent Jameson: Original.
John Hoagland: It’s a beautiful blend of reggae, rock, soul, blues. A seamless blend, really.
NH: How’d you guys get together?
BJ: Sean and I got together last year, after I got back from Montana around this time, and it was really good, so we joined up with Graham and John.
JH: I answered a Craigslist ad for a drummer, got to audition, it was lots of fun…
Sean Cooksey: It was destiny.
JH: It was destiny.
NH: How often do you play shows?
BJ: We played last year about sixty shows, and this year we’re shooting for about 150. In the next couple of months we’re going to start touring and not stop. We just got a tour van.
NH: What are some of your favorite venues to play?
BJ: The Craggy, The Top Hat, WOW Hall. We played at University of Idaho once, that was a lot of fun.
SC: We like playing festivals.
BJ: We played the Love Your Mother Earth Festival last year, that was a blast. We’re going to play a couple over here, in Eugene, soon.
Graham Fletcher: Faerieworlds, Reggae on the Mountain…
NH: Who are some of your biggest influences?
BJ: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sublime, Sam Cooke, The Black Keys, Dave Matthew’s Band.
NH: What’s your writing process like?
BJ: I have ideas and we work on them.
SC: Yeah, Brent, just brings a skeleton of a song with lyrics and chords, and then we just kind of fill in our own parts.
NH: How did you come up with your name?
BJ: Actually, it was just Jameson in Montana, because I was playing solo. We kind of just want to come out as the Sordid Seeds, but the problem is we built this fan base on Jameson and the Sordid Seeds, so it’s on everything. So we’re just going to keep it for now, I guess. But I would prefer just to be The Sordid Seeds.
NH: Why The Sordid Seeds?
BJ: Because if you hear us live, we’re low-down and nasty. Sordid means vile or negative. Our music’s not negative, but we’re low-down seeds.
NH: When do you remember becoming really interested in music?
BJ: Eight years old.
JH: Ever since I can remember. My parents always played a lot of music, I’ve always been interested in music in general. And when I was able to, I just picked up some sticks and my parents bought me a drum set. It’s been an obsession ever since.
SC: I think I’m a little different, I didn’t start playing until about four years ago. It was more of a hobby at the time, and then I started playing with people, and joined this band. It’s just a huge release, when we play live, you know? Now I’m just hooked on it, every time we play.
GF: Yeah, pretty much as early as I can remember. I started playing when I was ten…
BJ: They call [Graham] the volcano. He’s probably the best saxophone player I’ve ever played with. Doesn’t he look like a drummer, or a piano player, though?
NH: Drummer. It’s the hair. What’s your plan for Bandest of the Bands?
JH: Just to have fun, I mean, the chemistry is so good and everyone’s such phenomenal musicians. The chemistry just kind of explodes on stage, so we don’t have to do anything but show up, really, which sounds really horrible.
BJ: Yeah, just have fun.
JH: Yeah, you can see it in the performance, it’s just so much fun.
