The Nautics

Medford surf rock quartet the Nautics plays Sam Bond’s on Sunday.
Although the four members of the band are barely in their 20s, they have been playing together for 12 years. Brothers and cousins (all with the last name Seus), they have been making music together since the youngest one was only 8.

Mike sings lead vocals and plays guitar, Paul plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals, Matt plays bass and sings backing vocals, and Joe plays the drums. They grew up listening to music by the Ventures, the Beatles and the Stray Cats, a news release says.

“When they began writing original material, the Nautics combined their roots in classic and surf rock with modern rock,” a news release says. The band’s debut release, “Black Light Doves,” came out this year.

Midwest Dilemma opens the show at 8:30 p.m. The cover is $3. - The Register Guard

More than 125 miles from the nearest beach, local quartet The Nautics found its inspiration, not in sand and swells, but in a preteen appreciation for '60s surf rock.

The Medford-born band includes cousins Mike Seus, 22, on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Joe Seus, 24, on drums, Paul Seus, 20, on lead guitar and Matt Seus, 22, on bass. The four musicians attend Oregon State University but recently decided to take a brief hiatus from school to concentrate on music and touring.

Unlike The Partridge Family or The Jackson 5, The Nautics aren't your stereotypical family band. Rather, they consider themselves to be musicians who love surf rock and happen to share the same grandparents.

"The hardest thing for most bands is keeping the band together, and for us, we don't have that problem," says Matt.

As youths, the cousins formed this inseparable brotherhood over recess.

"We were on the playground at school and we were like, 'Hey, let's make a band,' " says Matt.

Paul joined the lineup a year later.

In 1998, the cousins appeared in their first public performance, a talent show at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater, where they played The Venture's hit single "Walk, Don't Run."

Tonight, Oct. 29, exactly 12 years later, the musicians will again play at the Craterian, but this time they will be accompanied by Ventures' guitar virtuoso Nokie Edwards, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

"He's the inspiration for all we've done," says Mike. "I never would have picked up a guitar if it weren't for Nokie."

The anniversary performance is at 8 p.m. at the Craterian, 23 S. Central Ave., Medford. The Medford show wraps up The Nautics' two-month, West Coast tour in support of its 2010 album, "Black Light Doves."

The program will open with a half-hour set of The Nautics' original tunes, before Edwards comes on stage to lead them in a reminiscent set of Ventures' songs, including "Hawaii Five O," "Pipeline," "Surf Rider" and, of course, "Walk, Don't Run."

Since childhood, Mike, Joe, Paul and Matt naturally preferred the classic, surf-style rock of The Ventures, The Beatles and The Stray Cats. The Ventures' instrumental surf songs were especially attractive to the boys.

"We weren't keen on singing when we were 9 years old," says Mike.

When Edwards heard from a local friend that a young group of boys was playing his music, he graciously made a visit to the Ventures enthusiasts and listened to them perform in a family setting.

Over the years, The Nautics have developed an individual soundscape as heard in the title track of "Black Light Doves."

"We found the sound we like to make," says Mike. "When we were young, we tended to think of our songs by other groups. ... The song ("Black Light Doves") has its influences but is definitely coming from us."

The 10-track album is punctuated with Joe's splashy drum beats, Matt's propulsive bass lines, Paul's clean guitar and Mike's original lyrics. But beneath all the slides and reverberation is The Nautics' signature retro, surf sound.

Mike, the songwriter, says the band's surf anthems speak of the "difficulties of being young and finding yourself in the scape of going to parties and work and that kind of stuff."

Girls also are a major theme, because "let's be honest, girls make the world go around," says Mike.

Many of the lyrics draw from "old-school" movies, including the song "Irma," which references the 1949 film, "My Friend Irma," starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Tickets to the show cost $24 to $28 for adults and $16 for children, ages 12 and younger. For more information, call 541-779-3000 or visit www.craterian.org. - Mail Tribune (Tempo)

The Nautics are a family band from Medford, Oregon, blasting out of the northwest with a vital surf-guitar sound heavily influenced by The Ventures, The Beatles and The Stray Cats. Mike Seus (guitar/vox); Joe Seus (drums); Matt Seus (bass) and Paul Seus (lead guitar) coalesced over the course of a couple of years, but play as if destined to work together from the start. The Nautics recently released their debut album Black Light Doves, an intriguing blend of surf, classic and modern rock.

Black Light Doves opens with the title track, a catchy pop song in the 1960’s style lamenting loss. This, surprisingly, is a highly danceable number with tremendous pop sensibility. Mike Seus has a great rock voice; not necessarily the prettiest one out there but full of character and he transitions well between chest voice and falsetto voice. “Save Your Money” is a fun, danceable tune, maintaining the vibe until The Nautics roll out “Quarterlife Crisis”. Full of angst and melancholy, there is nonetheless a tongue-in-cheek quality to the unrequited love song that you can’t ignore. “The Sobbing Truth” is catchy surf-guitar rock, perhaps a continuation of the storyline from “Quarterlife Crisis”. Halfway through and The Nautics are looking strong.

And sometimes a band would be better off stopping at an EP.

The rest of the material on Black Light Doves is sufficient, but doesn’t grab the listener the way The Nautics managed on the first half of the album. “Sweetheart With The Strawberry Hair” starts the second half on a promising note; a catchy rock tune that will get stuck in your brain, but thereafter the songwriting is uninspired and mundane. It’s very clear that the Seus can play and even have a talent for writing catchy rock/pop tunes, but in this case the allure of releasing a full length album brought the inclusion of a selection of songs of uneven quality. I have no doubt that some of the less inspiring material here may work better on stage, but the second half of the album in particular just comes off flat. Nevertheless, there's enough good music here to make the album worth checking out, and to postulate a bright future for The Nautics. - Wildy’s World

Medford, Oregon-based band The Nautics may be doing themselves a disservice by calling themselves a surf/rock band. Zap the lyrics (we'll come back to that), and the shimmering guitars play nicely over some rock solid drum and bass on this song--this could easily be an early track from Echo and the Bunnymen or The Ocean Blue.

They've got the exuberance of youth and some solid chops, but the thing their music is begging for is an editorial ear for the song writing. A mentor to help trim and frame the lyrics, to find the right balance: a musical Tim Gunn. This might be the right producer for the next outing, or an opportunity to open a tour for someone more established who can spend a little quality time with them. Or they may just find it on their own.

There's a homecoming show in Medford on Friday, 10/29, at the Craterian Theater, which Leland tells me has a cool history, but I've already forgotten what it was. If you're in Southern Oregon, consider yourself alerted. - The Rebel Agenda

What's the meaning behind the band's name?
The ocean. We just wanted something that complimented our style and since we had a surfy sound we wanted a name that had an aquatic tinge to it.

How the band started??
The band began playing at a very young age, having been formed while the members were all still
attending grade school. Mike and Joe, after a few lessons, decided one recess to form a band and
asked Joe’s younger brother, Matt, to join as the bassist. One year later, the youngest member of
the group, Paul, would join at age eight.

What's the message to transmit with your music??
That good music is real music. There is nothing fake about the music that we make. We imagine it would appeal to all generations ranging from listeners of the surf era to todays modern Pop and Rock.

What's your method at the time of writing a song??
That's a secret, music is made clear to me (Mike) in ways that are hard to explain. Although, I usually draw a lot from movies, everyday life experiences and picture situations from a 3rd person perspective.

Which is your music influences??
The Ventures, The Beatles, Fountains of Wayne, The Stray Cats, but can also include modern pop to classical music from the Renaissance. In the lyrical rhythms there are even hints of hip hop influences.

What plans do you guys have for the future??
Creating more records and keep advancing as a band to make art the way that we want to make it. We just love making good art and one of our main goals to bring back a more traditional style of music, it's important for us to create music that sounds of the same quality on stage as well as in the studio. One other thing is that we all love movies and would love to either write songs for or be a part of them.

Which has been the funniest prank you guys have been or took part while on tour or after a show??
We don't really prank too much, but we did bury our Bassist in sand and then molded female features on him...

If you guys were stranded in the middle of nowhere after a show or while on tour. The help is 65 miles away from where you guys are, ¿Who would you guys send to look for help? And if while the rest wait, there's no food and the only way to feed yourself is by eating each other, ¿Who would you eat first?
We would send Mike cause he's the fastest runner, but Paul would follow up because of his amazing robot puzzle solving skills in case there were any Zelda obstacles. We would probably eat our manager first because he lives the healthiest lifestyle, Matt would be eaten last because he would be the most toxic.

Which country you guys would love to play?
America, Japan, and Ireland. Although, we wouldn't say no to checking out a new country.

With which bands you guys would love to share stage??
The Beatles, although they aren't exactly around anymore. So I guess we would love to play with The Ventures, Brian Setzer and Arctic Monkeys if they're down.

Are you guys OK, with the direction the band is going actually?
We love the way the band is going! We're the ones steering the ship how could we not like the direction? - Vents Magazine

Fitting nicely in the neighborhood with The Drums' "Let's Go Surfing" and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti's "Bright Lit Blue Sky" is this track from The Nautics--a surf rock quartet from Medford, Oregon.

The dudes are starting a short tour next Monday, working their way down from Seattle to as far south as San Diego. They're in Portland at Tonic Lounge next Thursday (Oct. 7) with Xousoux and ToUs. You've been warned. - The Rebel Agenda

The Nautics were the Featured Artist on SEE JOE ROCK in September 2010! - SEE JOE ROCK

Young Surf revivalists The Nautics sound just like they do on their CD: great. Great energy, great look, great songs. Clean cut tunes of love and hope showcase themselves during a glittering set. Indie Sparkle Pop Rock makes my eardrums pleased. They have a polished live sound compared to similar aged musicians, possibly due to the fact that they’ve played together since youth. Engaging, classic, an act to see. - Shock Treatment Management

"They have a vintage sound with a modern twist... Feel good music for the summer. It's like fresh apple pie for your ears" - Gemineye, KISS-FM

"The must have album for the summer is The Nautics' 'Black Light Doves' " - Leslie Haze, Mix 93