Sego

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A couple of weeks ago I was able to connect with rock band, Sego, to discuss their latest music video for “Malibu Mary.” In this interview I also asked the band about their overall creative process for writing their material, as well as what fans can expect from the band on their recently announced LP called TANDANG. TANDANG will be released on streaming services on November 12th, but you can pre-save it here.

Can you describe your creative process for “MALIBU MARY”?

It started as an innocuous piano part that I recorded into my Akai reel-to-reel tape machine and then chopped up to create a staggered sample sequence to lay over a simple beat—a mostly creative exercise. I initially shelved it, thinking it might be a bit too hip-hop for Sego, but I couldn’t help revisiting it. This was probably the most aggressive vocal process I’ve used on one of our songs. I ended up whispering the chorus melody in a lower register, pitching it up, formant-shifting it down, and dousing it with delays—for those who care about vocal production. Eventually, we took it into the studio with Nate Pyfer (producer) and Finn Bjarnson (mixer), where we explored more of the textural elements of synth and guitar that brought the song to its final, moody resting place. Despite its initial waywardness, I’m glad we chased this outlier because it ended up coalescing into one of my favorites on the new album.

How does this new music compare to your previous work? What’s different or similar?

I think our previous work skews, both musically and lyrically, more pointed, direct, and angular. It had this directness, like we were trying to say something specific and maybe even mean it. The new album, TANDANG, and song, “MALIBU MARY,” feel more removed, more distant, like there’s a layer of gauze over everything. We never really plan or conceive how it will turn out. The tunes end up more or less reflecting whatever place or headspace we were in when they were conceived. So, I suppose this time, we were hanging out in a more distant, nostalgic, synth-soaked zone. Go figure.

What kind of visual style or aesthetic did you aim for in the video? Are there any specific influences or inspirations?

The song itself has this lush, almost overproduced quality, but it’s grounded by a simple, slightly off-kilter, dissonant piano part—a sort of built-in self-critique. When working with our friend/director, Julian Acosta, we decided to try to reflect those poles visually. But, as is often the case, things went sideways as soon as we started shooting. We started with these super-polished, commercial-esque shots in Roman Coppola’s office, but then we began splicing them with raw phone footage and camcorder BTS stuff we were capturing on the fly, ostensibly for our own behind-the-scenes use. What we ended up with is kind of a video about making a video, complete with meta references to the editing process and the inevitable second-guessing. So, you could interpret it as a commentary on the song’s internal conflict between beauty and self-dismissal—or you could see it as evidence of our collective inability to maintain a straight face or consistent narrative for more than a few minutes. Which, honestly, might be the truer takeaway. You can decide.

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