Here’s How Jax Indie-Rockers Seagate Use Analog & Digital Gear to Achieve their Garage-y Sound

As Seagate frontman Sam Baglino shared his influences with me—Osees and Ty Segall, to name a few—I couldn’t help but notice that this local musician-of-all-trades is drawn to prolific artists. Both acts he named have, respectively, released more than a dozen records, and when considering Seagate’s own output, this influence just makes sense. Last year alone, the band released a full-length album, a collection of six analog-recorded tracks, and three singles. And it doesn’t look like their output is going to slow down anytime soon. (Read Daniel A. Brown’s review of Seagate’s late-2023 release, Tapes Vol. 1, here.)

At the ripe age of 21, Baglino is already experiencing and regarding an evolution in his sound. “It’s developed,” he says, “just because I’ve been listening to different bands and stuff over time. Different techniques.” With Josh Gualillo on drums, Luke Hoey on guitar, and Max Taylor on bass, Seagate has strayed away from their original surf-rock style and ventured into garage rock with egg punk influence. 

I spoke with Baglino about the different techniques Seagate has used to record and the gear they’re experimenting with.

Digital Recording Essentials

Soundcraft Spirit M12 Mixer

It’s a super old mixer that my dad gave me. My dad, Anthony Baglino, is a jazz musician, and he gives me a good amount of hand-me-down gear. Before I got my Focusrite 18i20 interface, I only had my 2i2. So basically what you do is—or what I did was for a lot of those songs—I ran my drums through the Soundcraft mixer out of the two outputs and then into my Focusrite. It’s kind of tough because you have to mix your drums there and they’re kind of stuck however you mix them. But that was how we mixed the drums. 

Shure SM-57 and Roland Jazz Chorus 120 Amplifier

We used an SM-57 on the amps. I had the Jazz Chorus 40, which is like the son or the little brother of the 120. That amp is awesome. And before I had that, I had the Vox AC15 twin-toned TV series amp, which they don’t even make anymore, but that’s the only tube amp I have. So if I wanted to get that sound, I used my tube amp and a Fender stack, which is [guitarist] Luke Hoey’s. 

A Quiver of Guitars

Luke has an SG that we tracked with. I tracked on a Fender Mexican Strat. It’s a 60s remodel. And a 1478 Silvertone. It sounds nice. It’s got the Bigsby bridge for tremolo, so it’s a pain in the a** to restring, but I really like the sound it makes.

Shure SM-58

I usually just double my vocals on an SM-58 and add effects. Definitely slapback on the vocals a lot. A lot of that. 

Seagate’s latest release is Pork. Stream it here.