Audible Psychedelics: The Seahorse Orchestra
Bombshell Gallery
Words: PJ Cheng
Photos: James Ferreira

While peering at Sir Robert Davis as his hands mystically straddles the pitch antenna of a Theremin, a random girl leaned over and said, "They're like wizards on acid." 

The Seahorse Orchestra arose from a "psychedelic vision quest," according to Davis, the band's frontman and cosmic centerpiece.  "I put together my dream band with people that I met while out and about," said Davis, "I knew which strangers to talk to and ask to be in the band and the right ones are still with me."  Each member looks as if they popped out of a sixties counterculture time capsule and their music only reinforces the theory that these guys might have found a gateway from past to present. 

Davis draws out the eerie power of the Theremin with seductive hand movements and delivers the words provided by Cole Bellamy, who drops in eccentric noises with or without an instrument. 
The song unfolds in narrative against Shannon Lyn's organ riffs, Eric Haase's subtle drumming and Bob Massicotti's double bass, which he plucks and bows.  The collection of psychedelic sound fuses with the vivid imagery of their lyrics like a paisley pattern and the poetry is sometimes as sarcastic as it is expressive, I believe in the violence of a kiss like I believe in the romance of bullets.

Together, the five members are a kaleidoscope but The Seahorse Orchestra spins on Davis's axis, "I’m the guru of the band in that I have the vision and say - in direction and veto power, Shannon comes up with most of the musical ideas and she, Cole and I split lyric writing pretty evenly.  Some are intended to be tight pop songs and others are meant to be delightful adventures to an ever-evolving aural paradise - but not in a crap jam-band kind of way."

With national bands like Wolfmother and The Raconteurs reviving the retro-rock genre, Davis isn't concerned with a cyclical period of sixties rock and a sudden increase in demand for polyester pants.  The rebirth may just be a reaction to what is perceived as a scene of stagnate music, "Pop music has been feces for the past twenty years and rock music has been a dreary bore.  Fashion has been ugly and art has been worse.  It makes a lot of sense that people would be interested in psychedelics and aesthetics again."

The stars have aligned themselves for Davis with the discovery his band mates and the sound, look and feel is something he always envisioned for The Seahorse Orchestra.  The challenge lies in finding their fan base who may not quite be the Californian hipsters they once were some 40 years ago.  A new generation of intellectual thinkers and listeners exist, however, the aim is not to ignite a psychedelic revolution but rather to summon the basic desire in all of us, "I’m not interested in a resurgence so much as hoping that people can muster the courage to have a really good time."
   
For more information, downloads and upcoming schedules, check out www.myspace.com/theseahorseorchestra.