“It’s been a really long time coming”: Alex Sebley on the release of ‘Pregoblin II’
With the release of his highly anticipated debut album under the moniker Pregoblin, Alex Sebley has established himself as a quintessential outsider artist of our era. Ironically titled Pregoblin II, the album encapsulates a tumultuous period for the group leader, marked by being dropped from the label initially slated to release the record, lineup changes, and the quest for a new home. Now aligned with Peter Doherty’s Strap Originals label, Sebley appears poised to forge ahead and nurture a version of Pregoblin that authentically reflects his individuality.
I recently caught up with Sebley after what seemed like a hectic day of retrieving a drum kit for Pregoblin’s upcoming live shows. We initially attempted to connect while he was on the road, and to his credit, he was punctual. However, due to a technical issue on my end, our call was interrupted. Nonetheless, Sebley graciously agreed to reschedule and resume our conversation shortly after he returned home.
Upon reconnecting with Alex Sebley, I encountered a fascinating character who spoke candidly and, despite evident fatigue after a long day, humbly accepted compliments on the new album. This response stood in stark contrast to many other artists who eagerly bask in praise. Yet, Sebley is not like other artists; he exists outside industry conventions. It has taken him this long to release the Pregoblin debut because he is driven by his own artistic vision, not the opinions of others. If he had prioritised external validation, the album would have been released long ago, likely as a product of influence from parties motivated solely by commercial interests.
Sat in front of the camera, with a Warmduscher poster hanging in the background, Sebley explained of Pregoblin II: “It’s been a really long time coming. It was meant to be out like a year ago. During the lockdown, we were with a different label. They were meant to put the album out, and it just never happened. They dropped us during the lockdown. A lot of the tracks are stuff that I was doing with Jess when we first met five years ago. I’m happy with it, to an extent. I think it’s alright.”
Sebley revealed that Jess Winter, who was once one-half of Pregoblin, is now not really in the band. While she appears on the incredibly potent single ‘Nobody Likes Me’, the pair are only tentatively working together. Her stepping back allowed him to explore his art more forensically and establish the assorted character of the project’s debut.
“It did change a bit; it’s not as poppy as it would have been because I’m not really working with Jess now,” Sebley said. “We did it by taking the stems from those sessions with Jess, and then I went in with Dante Traynor, and we finished off where we started. So, there was quite a mix of stuff, and Dante added quite a lot of his kind of thing into it. I stripped it back a bit; I wanted to make it a bit rawer, and some of the songs are chosen…”
At that moment, Sebley turned from the camera to ask his friend, Adam Harmer of Warmduscher, who had also been on the drum kit collecting odyssey, if he had any toast. A mumbled back and forth ensued, and breaking the fourth wall, the weary Pregoblin man turned back to the camera and said softly, “Sorry, Adam’s just delivering me an egg. Breakfast…my manservant…” before turning back away, muttering softly, “It’s alright man, you got a spoon and some toast? Honestly, don’t worry.”
Inadvertent comical skits aside, Sebley continued, “I’ve got quite eclectic tastes, and it is quite varied, isn’t it?” However, he says this stylistic variation was a critical issue for his former label. Expanding the point, he names the heady 2019 single ‘Combustion’ as the project’s biggest song, which he has been trying to move away from ever since to create something “more earnest”. As it is their most successful track, if streaming numbers were to quantify such a thing, he admits that, naturally, people expect everything else to be in that style. That’s what the previous label also wanted; they tasked Pregoblin with repeatedly penning the same composition.
“That just wasn’t going to happen,” he asserted. “So, in some ways, it was good that we were dropped because it meant I could actually do what I wanted and have quite an eclectic sound. As it goes on, I’ll probably do more and more rock.”
I was eager to delve into the persona of Danny Knife, the character featured in the single ‘These Hands AKA Danny Knife’, which includes a collaboration with none other than new label boss Peter Doherty. In this duet, the pair display artistic and melodic prowess with flair. The essence of 1970s glam-rock, which clearly influenced the songwriter, is evident in the portrayal of Danny Knife. This character serves as an alter-ego inspired by the fictional cool guys of the 1950s, such as Danny Zuko or the Fonz.
“I like ’50s rock ‘n’ roll and that kind of iconography,” he revealed, dispelling any immediate spiritual connection you might have drawn to the Durys and E. Smiths of the world. “The song was meant to be that feeling you have, and I had when I was little, when you’re in your bedroom, and you’re singing in your mirror, imagining hordes of adoring fans and what that must be like; this idea of wanting to be The Beatles or someone.”
Doubling down, he maintains that many teenagers dream of a life of indie rock glory. Sebley says it’s something that’s been rehashed constantly and is now so familiar to music lovers that it’s almost archetypal. Accordingly, given his deep connection to the genre, it attracted Doherty as his generation’s foremost mythologised indie rocker. Furthermore, as the album is inextricable from Sebley’s life, there’s also a salient angle to the composition.
“I thought it was a funny name for an alter ego,” he maintained. “But, as the song progresses, it doesn’t work out; he’s alone and sad and probably on drugs and jaded, so that was what I was trying to do. Then Pete Doherty came on board. It was actually Dante’s suggestion. He thought, ‘Why don’t we get Pete to sing it with you?’ And then Pete was like, ‘Yeah, it mirrors a bit of my life.’ I’d written something he could relate to, that kind of arcing story.”
Unsurprisingly, Doherty brought extra potency to the studio. “When he came in, he just hit it, he was really good,” Sebley explained. “The way he sang, he just did it in his way. I’ve got quite a dry, heavy tone; I don’t so much sing sometimes as sort of talk, and he put some real melody into it. I didn’t know Pete before, but I could see he just had it. He just nailed it. It was really nice evening. Three or four takes, and it was done.”
This was a perfect time to ask how Sebley ended up on Strap Originals. According to him, his saving grace came in the form of an unlikely source: Cai Trefor, the label’s PR whizz who had organised our interview. Remarkably, Trefor reached out to Sebley the same week after he’d been let go, purely as a fan, enquiring if he had any new music coming out. “I was like, ‘Well, no, actually, I’ve just been dropped’,” the Pregoblin mastermind recalled.
Admittedly depressed at the situation he found himself in, at the time, Sebley thought he’d likely stick the record on YouTube, and then that would be it. “He said, ‘Leave it with me; I’ll get you a deal.’ He went off and did and got me a few different offers. I was really surprised. It was really kind of him. He didn’t want anything; he just wanted to see me doing it, and it was really sweet,” he divulged.
“So that’s what happened,” Sebley says. He went to Margate to meet the label. Characteristically, he was unsure about the whole thing and if another corporate beast would be waiting for him on the other side of the table. Yet things were not how he had predicted, and he had found a verdant future in front of him, far removed from the cynical industry machinations he’d hitherto experienced. “They were really nice. It was quite different from what I’d been used to. I just thought, ‘Yeah, I can, I can do this.’ Jai is amazing, Pete’s manager. He really fought for me, really wanted me to do this and be on the label, and made it happen.”
He concludes: “I nearly didn’t sign, I nearly went somewhere else, but in the end, I did, and was better for it, really. They’ve been really supportive. It’s been really something.”
I get the sense that this is only the beginning for Pregoblin. But given Sebley’s inherent desire to follow his own path, who knows what trials and tribulations he will encounter between this point and the subsequent release, if there ever is one. You’d hope so, Pregoblin II is a masterful body of work.
