jnj: Please tell me how you formed the group Seek and how the licensing deal with Dome Records came about.
Lisa: SEEK was formed 6 years ago, originally as an acoustic project… Most of our songs are based on an acoustic guitar arrangement. Freddy Luster and I started writing songs and then Billy Fields (who is my cousin) joined in. He suggested that we start playing out, since that what he loves, so we decided that we needed a band. Once our sound started to develop from a band perspective, we honed in on the perfect combination of players… while trying to keep the band relatively small. Through all of that, we naturally became a band… and operated and recorded as such.


jnj: In my opinion your lyrics to your Journey Into Day set are really in the tradition of 70ies soul music trying to examine life and love a little deeper and at the same time expressing hope for the future. Tell me something about the process of songwriting. What inspires you? Does Lisa write most of the lyrics or is it more team work?
Freddy: Lisa Terry is the voice of SEEK. Her words are what SEEK is about.
Lisa: I usually get a piece of music from Freddy or Billy, very skeletal, but enough to get me going. I tap into my thoughts and go from there. You are correct in that our songs do examine love and life and hopefully they do lend themselves to a bit of optimism… And the end of the day, it's all we have. Our music is meant to be "feel good" music. And I guess I am inspired by 70s songwriters, more so than today's artists…except for Seal. I'm inspired by him as well… The lyrics to Journey Into Day were written entirely by me except for Loving Heart, which was mostly written by Paige Lackey.


jnj: Which artists are your main influences?
Freddy: Oddly enough…a lot of UK artists. Sade, Jamiroquai, Seal, the Brand New Heavies, Everything but the Girl… as well as the Isley Brothers, Earth Wind and Fire, Carole King. We're really fans of great songs… and there are so many out there.

jnj:In my opinion 2003 has been a really tremendous year for soul music. Although most of the really good stuff is released on small labels or by the artists themselves via the internet. And on the other hand major labels keep lamenting about falling sales which doesn't surprise me since they were hardly interested in developing and nurturing new talents. What do you think of the state of the music business and especially the music released these days?
Freddy: It's a new day. The industry has changed and it's tough to survive… especially as a band. The majors aren't signing bands, as far as black music goes, so it's tough. I think the adult market is being underserved and ignored and I think some very successful artists that came out in the 90's would have a tough time getting a deal now, at least the kind of deal they got then. So you have to adjust if you're going to do this, and figure it out. The internet, in general has really helped in terms of world wide exposure and the business of music. All of our deals have been done over the internet. That's been the driving force of the change, both positively and negatively. Commercial radio, in my opinion, has generally done the industry a disservice by continuing the segregation and categorization of music… which is a contradiction since music always brought people together. But whenever "art" is commercialized, it always loses something… And that's just how it is.


jnj: What is your opinion regarding file-sharing via the internet? Do you think it's some kind of theft or do you see it more like a modern development of what people did years ago with doing tapes for friends?
Freddy: I have mixed opinions about file-sharing. I'm all for sharing a few songs, but I kind of have an issue when people download full albums, especially as an independent artist. You tend to pay very close attention to your numbers when you're independent, so it's hard to say if it is a loss of a sale or not. On the flip side maybe it helps with exposure, but if a person knows how to find your album on the net, then chances are they are somehow aware of you… I think the majors played a role in that, by putting out a lot of crap that was sold on hype and CD prices got ridiculous...As far as comparing it to tapes back in the day...that's a good argument, and maybe it is… But tapes were given to your immediate friends, the whole world did not have access to your tape collection, so I think the impact is different.


jnj: Do you plan to tour the UK/Europe to promote your new album Journey Into Day?
Freddy: I'm hoping we will be headed there in the spring.
Lisa: Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!