Photo: Frankie Cavone

With much anticipation, The Seapods(members of Ominous Seapods) are getting back together for a special night of music at Lark Hall in Albany, NY. This will be the band’s first time performing and the beautiful venue bringing “Mutants” and “North Country Freaks” from all around to get down to the incredible repertoire they have. We had the chance to talk to bassist Tom Pirozzi about the upcoming performance on February 11th to see what the fans have in store and more. Read below:

First off, we couldn’t be more excited for the upcoming show. What are you most looking forward to regarding the Lark Hall performance coming up on February 11th?

I always look forward to playing music and it’s something extra special with members of the Seapods. We have such a shared history together because at our peak we were playing 200 shows a year so there’s a certain chemistry that comes with that and once we get going we can kind of step right into it as if we never stopped. I’m also looking forward to playing at Lark Hall for the first time because I saw a show there recently and it’s a beautiful room with nice sound and a real magical vibe.

From what we hear, you guys will be going deep into the catalogue and perhaps even might play something new?!

You’ve got some secret sources, huh? Well since we built up such a big catalog of originals we always like to pull out a few that we haven’t done at any recent shows and the people who really know might not be expecting to hear them. We mix that in with some of the more familiar tunes and perhaps a couple covers. So yeah, there will be some surprises!

During the moe.pods performance in 2019, Al Shnier stated on stage that “these tunes still hold up til this day.” What makes the collection Ominious Seapods music so special?

Well I guess that’s for others to decide. Max Verna and Dana Monteith wrote the majority of the tunes and I’d like to think they’re pretty good songs. Playing all those shows together also gave us a lot of time to smooth out any rough edges and sculpt them until they really found their stride.

Looking back at the legacy of the band, what are some accomplishments that you are most proud of?

We went for it. We didn’t hold back and we gave it everything we had. Along the way we had some pretty cool experiences and met lots of amazing people. We got to play some pretty legendary venues like Red Rocks in CO, and the Wetlands in NYC, and the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco to name just a few. We made some records and performed originals in almost every state in the country as well as Canada and once in Mexico. I think the best thing of all though is that 30 plus years after the band formed and 20 years after we “broke up”, there are still some folks out there that want to hear us play.

Some of you still play in bands together, aside from that how do you all collectively keep in touch?

It tends to be me who is the instigator for these gigs. I’ll have an idea or someone will contact me who wants to hire us and I’ll send out a group text and we take it from there. At some point we tend to have a zoom call to talk about what songs we want to play and other logistics like how we can schedule a rehearsal and then from there it’s just like old times…except we argue less. Ha ha, actually we always Got along pretty well, it’s just that there’s a lot less to argue about these days.

During some of the reunion shows over the years, one thing I noticed is the dedication from the fans. How does it feel to have people believe in your guy’s music after all these years?

Whop, I didn’t read ahead and I pretty much answered this question already but it’s amazing and our fans are pretty fuckin awesome. It surprised us a lot when we sold out two nights at Cohoes Music Hall 5 years ago. We hadn’t played together in over 6 years at that point and we weren’t sure if anyone would bother to show up…but they did!

What are some younger bands from the Capital Region area that you are hyped on?

Unfortunately I don’t make it out to see as many as I should these days but I have crossed paths with some at shows I’ve played. Glass Pony are good friends of mine and I think they have a great chemistry together and really strong song writing. I’ve shared the bill with Annie in the Water and I like them a lot. I like Hilltop and I haven’t seen Laura Leigh play live yet but I keep hearing really great things about her and her band. I don’t know if she’s technically from the capital district or not… but close enough I’m sure

What other projects are you involved with this year? Can we expect anything from Raisinhead or perhaps more Seapod gigs down the line?

As far as Seapods go…there are talks going on. You know? Anything is possible. Raisinhead is a really fun band I play in along with Brian Mangini. That band has now been together for over 20 years and we all have fun and love playing together so there will be many more shows with them. I’m also just finishing up recording bass tracks on Doctor Lo Faber’s newest album along with Ted Marotta on drums and so when that is finished we will be doing some touring with him. I should also mention that Josh Himmelsbach (“Bach”) who tours and records with Lo Faber as well will be joining the Seapods for part of the night at Lark Hall on mandolin, guitar and vocals. It’s all really a big extended family!