Music

Electronic duo dances to, builds upon a mix of influences

Dr. Seahorse, an electric duo comprised of vocalist Trevor Davis and Mark Suhonen, paid a visit to the University Center on Thursday for a concert sponsored by UH’s Student Program Board.  |  Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar

Dr. Seahorse, an electric duo comprised of vocalist Trevor Davis and Mark Suhonen, paid a visit to the University Center on Thursday for a concert sponsored by UH’s Student Program Board. | Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar

The Daily Cougar: Hey guys, let’s start off with names.

Trevor: My name is Trevor, and I am from San Diego.

Mark: My name is Mark, and I am from Colorado.

TDC: Where did you come up with the idea of the band’s name?

Trevor: (Chuckle) There was a song that I wrote pre-Dr. Seahorse and the name of the song was called Dr. Seahorse and people would never seem to forget the name of the song. So when we were thinking of band names, I just came up with that song. Then we renamed the song so it won’t be the same as the band’s.

TDC: Tell me a bit more about the tour. Are you just doing universities?

Trevor: Yeah. We have done some universities in Texas. About four or five schools so far.

TDC: I see you aren’t really in just one genre but jump around through a lot of them. What would you describe yourself as?

Trevor: Me and Mark have completely different histories. A little hip-hop here and there for us both, and some Michael Jackson.

But for me, I grew up in a gospel environment, but I would listen to Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine.

It’s not as much a style as it is emotionally being a hundred. Rock is like that and gospel is like that, so the music we make is also going to be like that.

Mark: I listened to symphonic music with my dad, but then on my own I would listen to gangster rap like NWA and Ghetto Boys.

We kind of have a definite hip-hop theme, but I also listen to a lot of electronic stuff like Björk.

Trevor: We aren’t dance electronic though, we are more indie electronic. The funny thing is, pre-Seahorse, I wouldn’t listen to electronic.

TDC: Your voice is great. Have you ever done other type of music?

Trevor: I do have my own solo stuff as Trevor Davis. This first started out as a side project and then became more serious.

I actually play guitar … but I like this way better because I get to dance and move around. I feel like my singing finally meets dance even though it’s not necessarily dance music.

Mark: It’s not dance music though. It’s hard to dance but it’s easy to move.

TDC: Do you do moonwalks during your show, since you have the whole Michael Jackson thing going on?

Trevor:  Yeah, I try to, but I always wear rubber soles so I can’t.

TDC: You have this base of music styles, but where do you see the band going?

Trevor: I would say we have been trying to get into the indie-rock scene, even though it’s a lot of electronic music that has made its way into the scene.

We are pursuing that avenue, mixed with colleges and meeting people (along) the way, like a few bands.

For example, a band we met wants us to play with Beyoncé for her birthday in New York.

Our goal is to expose ourselves to as much as possible and hope that in being ourselves something will happen.

Mark: Sometimes, with things we do, it’s hard to categorize and it’s hard to know where we are going to be going. So (people) really don’t know where to take us, so we just go with it.  We like the club scene a lot and people seem to just get it.

Trevor: Yeah, we love the scene. I am hoping for TV placement and commercial placement from one tipping point to another one.

I believe in Seahorse and I believe there is something to it — and maybe we are still fine tuning something, so I guess it’s just a matter of time.

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