On This Day 13/06/1997 Seahorses

On This Day 13 June 1997, alternative rock band Seahorses played Cardiff University. The band had just released their debut album Do It Yourself.

Guitarist John Squire formed the Seahorses in 1996 following his departure from the Stone Roses. He first recruited bassist Stuart Fletcher, who he saw by chance at the Fibbers venue in York where he was drinking with his guitar tech Martin Herbet. Fletcher was playing in local covers band, The Blueflies, as a last-minute replacement for the band's regular bass player who had pulled out of the gig.

Squire then auditioned two singers – Sean O'Brien, previously of Warrington band the Steamboat Band, and Chris Helme, who was spotted by a friend of Squire's guitar tech busking outside Woolworths in York. Following several auditions and the prompting of his manager, Squire eventually settled on Helme, despite being hesitant because he "closed his eyes when he sang and only folk singers do that".

While Helme was a songwriter too, Squire admitted early on that despite liking a couple of Helme's songs – including "Blinded by the Sun", which he re-arranged for the album – "Yeah, he can write the odd tune but I don't really like them and it might be a problem later on if he wants to record them with the band".

In the summer of 1996, Squire rented a cottage in Coniston, Cumbria to write and rehearse with Helme and Fletcher. Several drummers were auditioned before finally recruiting Andy Watts, who had previously gigged with Fletcher and also knew Helme.

Due to Squire's past work with the Stone Roses, the band were met with intense media interest and speculation before they had recorded or released anything. It had been rumoured that former bandmate Reni was set to join the band. It was then rumoured that a delay in recruiting a drummer was due to Squire's desire to get a drummer who, like Reni, could also sing backing vocals. However, in 2019 bassist Stuart Fletcher revealed that they had actually been working with a drummer called Mark McNeill who had to be dismissed from the band following several failed rehab visits as "he couldn’t remember anything we rehearsed".

The band name was also the subject of various conspiracy theories after the NME claimed that it was an anagram of He Hates Roses. Other alleged anagrams included The Rose Ashes and by dropping the definite article, She's A Rose. Squire responded "That's pure coincidence. I chose the name because at the time, I kept seeing them everywhere and because some people think they don't exist. They are unusual because it is the male of the species who gets pregnant." Squire then changed the band's name from The Seahorses to simply Seahorses, but this was short lived after it turned out that another band had been using the name for several years.