Interview by Adrian Hextall
‘REAL THING’ the latest single from Sean Matthew Whiteford and the House Party Band is what we loosely describe as “a banger”. There’s no other way to put in text the vibe you get from hearing this song for the first time. It’s got the same potential international impact as PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ yet carries enough rock ‘n’ roll to keep the staunchest fan of denim and leather happy… as long, of course, as the 80’s was their thing and that music with more than a dash of fun and glitter can be found in their LP collection.
We took the time to track lead singer and band founder Sean Matthew Whiteford down to find out a little bit more about the septet and how, with just two singles under their belt, they’re already providing music for film soundtracks and adding cameos as well. Before you read on though, check out the video for the sensational ‘REAL THING’ below.
SMW: Well, I worked in theatre a majority of my life up until COVID hit. I just moved into a new home where I was able to have a studio and record. I was just doing covers of songs and whatnot. And that was something that I was kind of afraid of doing, for a long time because I was afraid of YouTube trolls. But I was surprised by the overwhelming support that I did get from the covers. I even had Neil Schon (Guitarist and co-founder of Journey) reach out to me and several members of Journey have reached out to me as well because of the covers and that kind of just sort of centered me in a way. Then, once COVID was cleared out and I was able to perform again, I knew I wasn’t going to go right back to theatre. I knew I was wanted to be a front man for rock bands, I knew I was going to do the rock band thing. Now, the house party band that I have, that sort of just landed in my lap. A friend of mine, was booking for a venue asked me “would you be interested in opening for Corey Feldman?
I ended up getting a bunch of my close friends together that I had worked with in musicals, like, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Rocky Horror Show’, and more. I also had a theater company or for 15 years, so I just grabbed these these guys and we threw together this gig where we did a bunch of covers, AC/DC, Guns and Roses, all those great 80s anthems. After we did that, people just went crazy over it. It was a very positive, albeit weird experience opening for Corey Feldman, but we came away thinking we should be doing this more.
The reception we got let to a corporate gig which also landed in our lap and we ended up flying out to Hawaii to do that. It was amazing as we were just literally getting started. So we’ve been doing these gigs and then very recently I decided it was time to start writing original music. The opportunity came our way when I was hired to write a song for a movie. And then those people who made the movie came to see us live, came to see the band and they asked how we felt about the band being in the movie?
So that became the first song I’d written for the band, ‘Dead Man Dance’. The second song is then ‘REAL THING’. So we’re really just getting started in this fashion here. It’s a new direction.
The piece that attracted the movie execs, the live gig they attended, here’s a snippet.
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MGM: On the back of the performances and the film score, has traffic improved, is your music starting to reach people?
SMW: We’ve been fortunate, getting some radio play around here, which feels really good. Yeah, you know, it’s any kind of encouragement like that feels good, be it web, print, airplay, streaming, it’s always going to be cool to be on the radio. That song is called ‘Wild Child (Dead Man Dance)’. And actually, if you click on ‘REAL THING’ on Spotify, it should be the second song that plays right after it. It’s written for a film called ‘Dead Man’s Party’. That comes out later in the year.
MGM: Excellent. And you and the guys are in the film as the band as well?
SMW: then. Yeah, we make an appearance in the film singing the song and a very like ‘Oingo Boingo’ kind of fashion. [laughs]
Musically, you’re an interesting mix of rock from bands like The Darkness and Van Halen. The imagery from Justin Hawkins (and the voice at times) mixed with the guitar soling of Eddie Van Halen, it makes the band an interesting premise. There’s clearly a love of 80s in there as well?
SMW: I am enthusiastic of the 80s. It’s also a very big awakening for me though. Actually to be like, oh, all I really have to do is just be myself, realising that all these things can be combined together. I can be a fan of the 80s as well as a musician.
I collect VHS tapes, I have basically my own video store in my house but it’s like all that culture. All of that, the stuff that I used to maybe feel like I was a dork or something like that. These are the things that are actually helping me create my art, and move forward as an as an artist. Being myself instead of trying to like fit into some sort of box.
MGM: It’s one of those things that, I think we miss in modern society as well. People forget just how to have fun and you’re bringing that back. I mean, you’ve only got to watch the ‘REAL THING’ video to see, it’s fun, you know. Yes, the music’s there and that guitar solo, your guitarist plays – it absolutely shreds, but the whole thing is just great fun.
SMW: Yeah, he’s phenomenal. I’m very, very fortunate to work with such wonderful people that are down to get weird with me.
They’re all artists in their own right. One of our singers also has her own music, her own singles and everything. So like everybody is bringing their most authentic self to it. Yeah. I think it creates a really interesting cast of characters when you see this all together. It’s like everybody’s got their own thing going on here.
MGM: Speaking of looks… Your outfit I mean…. it makes you want to bring satin back into fashion again, doesn’t it?
SMW: I’m very lucky my wife is a fashion designer. Yeah it has been the ultimate collaboration (other than our child – [laughs])
MGM: Let’s talk about ‘Wild Child (Dead Man Dance)’. Written with the film in mind does it have a different flavour, to fit with the movie or is it also representative of the band?
SMW: Well, the Director had told me if you can use the words, “Dead man dance” in it, that was the key component. When writing it I immediately thought of Danny Elfman, so it’s inspired by the way he might have written it. ‘Dead Man’s Party’, being the name of the movie, but also with the name of the song, is sort of Danny Elfman inspired, but at the same time I’m realizing that that style of music is just kind of embedded in me.
I don’t think it’s different than ‘REAL THING’. It sounds like the same band you know. But it’s been challenging trying to fit on the radio playlists. We get positive feedback, but at the end of it, it’s always like this is like a little bit too fancy for what we’re looking for, or it’s a little too 80s or a little too polished, we’re looking for something darker. So where do we fit in? I’m just trying to make the music I want to make, there’s no niche for us. I thought there was but we’re working harder, carving it out ourselves.
MGM: For our readers, I’d say ‘Dance Macabre’ by Ghost is a good match, songs by Electric Callboy (when hearing the technol element), high energy tunes by Journey and more. In fact if Journey, The Darkness, Van Halen and Ghost collaborated, then ‘REAL THING’ could well be the result.
SMW: Well, right now I’m trying to find these other bands that we can become friends. with, you know, like they’ll the the next step when I would love would be to find a band that we can fits us in a way that like we could jump on tour with somebody and open for them.
If you or your friends love this like we do then start tagging bands that would be a great match on tour dates. Let’s get SMW & The House Party Band on the road ASAP!
AME & JASHA RENEE, – Vocals,
MARK GARTHWAIT, – Lead Guitar,
MARK KLETT, – Keys, Synth & Guitar,
NOEL ROBERGE, – Drums & Vocals,
GENE TAYLOR, – Bass & Vocals,
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