SEBA SAFE is the brainchild of Galway songwriter Michael D'Alton, who is currently based on Ireland’s west coast, and is set to become a force to be reckoned with in the blossoming Irish music scene.
Writing candidly and honestly on personal relationships, love, loss and change, the musician’s pertinent lyrics are wrapped in a sound that combines elements of pop, folk, indie and R’n’B.
Seba Safe’s new EP Rainy is out on June 30 and he tours the UK this July.
What are you up to right now?
I am currently living in Lahinch in the west of Ireland. Writing tunes, serving coffees and learning to surf. It’s a great place.
Summer is here, what do you have planned for the season?
My new EP Rainy is dropping this July so I’ve been busy with that. I have an Ireland/UK tour coming up and after that I’m playing a few shows around Europe. I love this EP so I’m excited about playing these songs to new faces all summer.
What are your goals for 2023?
To gig and travel as much as possible. To get better at surfing. To whittle my vast amount of songs down to a debut album sized collection. To make my own Lemon Meringue Pie.
Who are your heroes?
My parents, my brother, my sister, John Prine.
What record sends a shiver down your spine?
How the Ash Felt by All the Luck in the World.
Which musician influenced you most?
As a spotty faced 12 or 13-year-old I discovered Nirvana and the songwriting of Kurt Cobain. I think he sparked the dream for me.
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
I realise saying the ‘west of Ireland’ is a little broad but it’s all just so beautiful. Being by the sea here in Lahinch in the sunny weather it really doesn’t get much better.
What makes you angry?
I’m quite a chilled out person but I have been told by friends and family that it’s when I’m woken up anger arrives. Fury is risen in the moments between asleep and fully awake, don’t wake me up.
What is the best lesson life has taught you?
There are many versions of this lesson but they all mean the same thing. Here’s a few:
Just keep swimming
Keep on Trucking
Don’t jump ship
Keep your head up
Don’t lose faith
Life’s gonna be tough regardless of whether you try or not so you may as well try
What do you believe in?
Being sound (nice) to people has a real power to it. It affects you and everyone around you. Working in cafes for years I’ve found it takes one nice person to obliterate the bad energy of 10 customers who were acting like (insert favourite insulting word here).
I think you get what you give so being a good person is a nice place to start.
What trait do others criticise you for?
I’m terrible with my phone, I’m the one in the WhatsApp group not getting involved let alone opening the messages most times. It’s bad but I make up for it in the real world.
Where do you live and what are the best and worst things about that place?
Since the pandemic I’ve been moving around the west of Ireland.
Best bits are the scenery, nature and beaches. The pubs, the surf, the seafood. The music, the craic, the people. Worst bits - the rain, the rain, the rain.
On what occasion is it OK to lie?
I think it’s okay to lie if it’s a white one in the hopes of keeping someone’s spirit up. Especially if the situation can’t be changed even with the truth. For example you’ve just met a friend to go to a party and they’re wearing a terrible shirt, and they ask your opinion on it. You’re both running very late and don’t have time to go change it, in that scenario I like the shirt.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
The pyramids are pretty nice I guess. Conceptually speaking.
What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?
There’s a certain fast food drive-through on the way home to my hometown that I can’t avoid. If I’m running late or on my way to dinner or even not hungry, I’ll still find myself in the queue of cars awaiting my greasy fate.
That or Islands in the Stream by Dolly and Kenny.
