We meet the guys from Sethway!

We finally caught up with the guys from Sethway; a young talented Ballymena four piece who are currently up for financing on Slicethepie.com.  So read on for fun, arguments and the most important question of all! Who gets the chicks?!?

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Piewatch – So guys, who are Sethway?

Sethway is Michael, Adz, Mikey and Ricky.  We are 4 young Ballymena lads who love to write and perform our own style of music for everyone to enjoy.

Piewatch -How did you come up with the name?

Michael: Our mate Andrew Johnston, who used to be in the band, came up with the name back when we started off as a band.  We needed a name so we could enter a “battle of the bands” competition in our home town.  It was only meant to be a temporary name but we ended up winning the competition and the name stuck.  But we won’t complain as we like it now and after all, it is unique!

Piewatch -You are a really young band, do you feel this has helped or hindered you thus far?

Ricky: Helped, definitely.  We have been together almost 3 years now and we have gone though a lot since then.  We have had a lot of time to mature and discover our sound whilst learning a lot of valuable lessons along the way.  As you say, we are still young, we are still learning and most of all, we are getting better as a band.

Piewatch -Which band member gets the most “attention”? Why is this?

Mikey: Definitely Adz. He always has to make himself be the centre of attention. No reason really, he’s just Adz.

Piewatch -Musically, who are your influences, any unexpected ones?

Adz: Ummm… Blink 182, Green Day, Elliot Minor, Boys Like Girls anything catchy you know.
Michael: There are also some unexpected ones.  For example, in one of our tracks, I gained inspiration from children’s tv theme tunes.

Piewatch -How did you find Slicethepie?

Ricky: I was just surfing the internet one day and came across it through an advertisement.  At first I had no clue what it was about but I read into it and I really liked the sound of what Slice The Pie had on offer.  It just seemed like the opportunity we needed to try and get ourselves out there into the big bad music world a bit more and it worked!  Most of the reviews are very helpful and we have taken reviewer’s opinions on board to try and make our songs even better.

Piewatch -What is your best rated track on STP? Why do you feel this is?

Adz: Last Chances is the highest rated at 7.63.  It is the track we like to think has the best lay out, best solos, and the most “epic” chorus.  To be fair it is not the best quality recording and we recorded it about a year ago when we weren’t as good at our instruments so if we were to record it again today, I’m pretty sure we could get it to sound amazing.
Ricky: I agree on that.  It is one of the tracks I feel has the most recording potential if we got into to a big studio.  There is so much going on in the song and if done properly, it could be our masterpiece.

Piewatch -What plans do you have for raising the finance?

Mikey: At every gig we will play in the future we are going to mention our slice the pie campaign to get the £15,000.  Already we have announced this at about 3 gigs and we have had some new fans sign up and invest in us! We are even in the process of organising a gig of our own to promote our participation in the showcase and to try and gain some valuable financing. We also have blogs up on all our websites so the fans can keep up to date. On top of all this we are trying to sort out a slot on Balcony TV in Dublin along with some radio publicity.

From Left to Right: Michael, Ricky, Mikey, Adz

Piewatch -If you achieved financing tomorrow what would be the first things you would buy?

Ricky:  A slap up meal for the band, new sweats and a pony… *laughs*  Naa most of it would go towards recording the album just the way we want it and whatever we have left we will put into promoting the album, advertising and a tour.

Piewatch -What would you say is your biggest achievement to date?

Mikey: To be honest, there are a lot of achievements that we are proud of. We got the chance to perform on BBC television and we have had numerous radio interviews and radio plays. We won the Ballymena Battle of the Bands this year where we won recording time at a local studio to record some new tracks.
Ricky: There were also a great number of sales for our first EP which I am particularly proud of.  These were just sold as hard copies by ourselves at gigs and in person.  It just shows how loyal our fans are and it shows how much people at our gigs enjoy our music.

Piewatch -What’s the best gig you have played?

Michael: Well there are definitely 2 that stood out the most.  We played a great gig at The Limelight in Belfast supporting a well known Northern Irish band called Steer Clear.  That was our first big gig outside of our home town and the crowd was insane.  The other one was a few weeks ago down at the bottom of Ireland in Wexford.  Again the crowd went nuts for us and really enjoyed our set.

Piewatch -Who do you currently like in the charts?

Mikey: Cheryl Cole and Alexandra Burke all the way.
Adz: Sad, sad, sad.
Ricky: I’m liking Pixie Lott… she is a very talented singer.
Mikey: Yeah, I’m sure that’s the only reason Ricky!

Piewatch -If you could have any super power what would it be?

Mikey: Bernard’s Watch, being able to stop time and all that.
Adz: That’s not a super power. I would have super speed.
Michael: At least then you wouldn’t take forever learning our songs…

Piewatch -Elvis dead or alive?

Adz: I am Elvis.

Piewatch -Any irrational phobias?

Michael:  Portaloos, lifts and tight spaces.
Ricky: Dry wood.
Mikey: Getting Tickled.
Adz: Your mothers.

Piewatch -Mcdonalds or Burger King?

Ricky: McDonalds by a mile, Michael’s dad also likes to chat up their female staff.
Michael: What the hell Ricky…

Piewatch -Any last words?

Adz: INVEST IN US OR WE WILL MOW YOU DOWN.
Ricky: Haha, he’s a tool.  But yeah, we believe we have what it takes to make one hell of an album so we just need the help of everyone who also believes in us to make this possible.  Every little helps as the saying goes and it is true.  We are grateful to everyone who has invested, who will invest and who will support us in whatever way they can.

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