It transpires Alex Sebley is a former journalist himself: he is the only artist I’ve ever interviewed who has asked me questions in return. Whilst it catches me off guard slightly, it makes sense that someone involved in making the markedly indefinable music of PREGOBLIN (is it transcendent punk, neo-classical pop, offbeat indie?) asks questions, self-reflects and looks outward towards the world. Sebley was a former member of The Saudis and Fat White Family and went solo in 2019 under the name PREGOBLIN, working with Jessica Winter and Dante Traynor.
PREGOBLIN first released the single ‘Combustion’ in 2019 and were seemingly pipped by some to be the next big thing. A record label took interest, wanted to turn them into the next Scissor Sisters, and when that didn’t really work out, they were dropped. A year later Covid happened, movement was restricted and Sebley was recording songs in Winter’s uncle’s shed/home studio. Their meeting as musical partners very nearly didn’t happen due to Alex being unsure whether he would take the offer Winter extended to him of visiting her home studio but he decided to take the leap and within 30 minutes of settling into a musical environment they had already made their first demo. It felt easy and that was a good sign.
But back to the Scissor Sisters for just a minute because there have been those comparisons. Speaking to Sebley it’s bizarre to think that anyone who’d met him could have thought he would have fit that bill. Whilst PREGOBLIN are not afraid of an uplifting pop beat, they do not embody the kind of spirit that brandishes this without some level of self-awareness. The video for a previous single release ‘Love Letters’ is an amusing parody of Dave Stewart and Vanessa Paradis’ cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’. Both parties play the part of narcissistic pop idols as besotted with their own image as they are with each other, and in this sense, they are anti-heroes who sort of capture the spirit of grunge in all but music. It’s hard to picture Sebley waltzing around a stage spewing out sequins and theatrical dissent: he is by his own admission “quite shy”.
Anyone with expectations of the forthcoming album “PREGOBLIN II” as being a “fun, party” album will be disappointed but there is a cover of Daft Punk’s ‘Make Luv (I like to party)’ on there played on an acoustic guitar whilst retaining some of the original song’s auto-tune electronic vocal styling. There is also an electro outro which is, for the most part, like the hangover from last night’s blow out, like when you’ve had a song looping around your head all night and you’ve just got to get it out but when you do it sounds much more solemn than you thought it would.
There is a heaviness to many of the songs, that merges with attempts at lightheartedness. It is perhaps because of this, that some YouTube commentators have expressed their disappointment that PREGOBLIN are a “parody act now” but to brand them as solely this would be a mistake. It’s not necessarily that every song is delivered with tongue firmly in cheek, it’s that pretty much every creative artist based in Britain without a trust fund is living Hendrix’s version of Star Spangled Banner as the liberal arts dream. This combined with the British sensibility for sarcasm lends itself to sounding a bit like parody, but what if it’s not? What if it’s just modern? Sebley concedes that there is a retro sound to the music but is also quick to dispel an allegiance to postmodernism, stating that “it doesn’t teach us how to love. It teaches us nothing”.
The topic of class comes up and Sebley expresses some dismay at seeing a London he once knew transform into a place eroded and ruled by those with private wealth. Nepotism in the music industry, how even the “indie scene” isn’t really that indie. And perhaps you’re reading this thinking “well, that sure sounds bitter”. Come back to me after working in the industry for a month and see how you feel then.
We both bemoan the plethora of BBC6 artists who create music that doesn’t ever seem to go beyond an immediate flurry of hype, an Instagram account with 40k+ followers and one song, followed by a lacklustre album until they gradually fade back into the arms of a gated community. It is, really, a lack of community that’s the problem: the social fabric of the cultural scene in Britain has worn thin due to an array of factors and it’s clear that Sebley feels the impact of this. When faced with the question of whether he feels a connection to the South London music scene he struggles and offers that he doesn’t feel particularly supported by the scene, if there even is a true independent scene anymore. Perhaps this is part of the reason why he seems drawn to create situations through music that develop this.
For instance, the video for ‘Nobody Likes Me’ was shot in a Portsmouth-based care home, the label wanted a video making “quite quickly” and after going for a drink with an old school friend who worked at a care home he was encouraged to come and do something creative with the residents. Sadly, his offer was declined (it is possible that they had the more popular Elvis impersonator in that night), sold on the idea though, Sebley found another home round the corner who decided to take his offer up.
The end result is a rather strange product in which elderly residents listen to the track on a pair of headphones and offer their thoughts and opinions to the camera as the song plays in the background. It feels like it could be orchestrated but I’m assured that all the reactions are genuine. It’s the kind of thing music publicists might see and interpret as being super edgy when really it was just “a nice day”.
After being dropped by their first record label, PREGOBLIN found a new home at Strap Originals (a label led by Pete Doherty). This also led to a collaboration on the record with Doherty himself on the track ‘These Hands AKA Danny Knife’ featuring a video that looks like another nice day out, although you can tell Sebley is not particularly comfortable being in front of the camera. This track is probably the most ‘straight down the line’ song on the record, with country-style twangs and a chorus an indie disco could get behind, but as is often the theme of projects Doherty touches there is a sense of authenticity that elevates it above its apparent simplicity.
It seems that Sebley has already moved on from the songs on the new record. He says most of them are old and I sense that he already has other works in the pipeline. He speaks of a film he’s involved with but doesn’t want to say too much in case he jinxes it and about potentially introducing more heavy metal into the next album. Even if mainstream success is off the cards, whatever direction he takes it’s looking to be an interesting journey and isn’t that really the point of art in the first place?
The album “PREGOBLIN II “will be released on the 23rd of February (pre-order a copy here) and you can catch them on a mini tour at the following locations:
• Heaven, London – Wednesday, 21st February with Pip Blom
• 02 Academy2, Leicester – Saturday, 17th February with Pip Blom
• SWX, Bristol – Saturday, 24th February (all-dayer) with Anthony Szmierek, Deep Tan, DITZ, Emmeline and more
• Peddler Warehouse, Sheffield – Saturday, May 18th (all-dayer) with CMAT, The Bug Club, Porij, Home Counties and more
