We’re living in a time where musicians and artists strive to fit themselves in a box. Where the most important thing being created isn’t the music – it’s the brand, the image, and especially the popularity. So what do you do when you’re sick of hearing songs of the past be sampled into the “music of today”?

Allow me to introduce Seto Band, the latest sound to come out of BC.

Pictured left to right: (Diego “Osvaldo” Bedoya, Bryson Rachel, Roger Seto, Me, Babak “Paradox” Rad)

Diego Bedoya, Babak Rad, and Roger Seto met in theatre school and discovered they each had a passion for music. With quite a few jam sessions here and there, the three guys decided to group up and enter a “Song of the Summer Contest” for CFOX in 2020. They created a song and practiced/recorded it at Soundhouse Studios, which is where they met the final piece of the puzzle: Bryson Rachel.

Each member stands out from the next, which works extremely well for the group. The differences in their influences helps create music that can and will appeal to everybody. Roger, 50, is an Educational Assistant who works at “an art-centric school”. Diego, 47, is a tennis coach who picked up a guitar 20 years ago and “had the itch ever since…be part of a band”. Babak, 36 is a self-proclaimed expert recorder player and has been rapping since he was 19. Bryson, 25, is a sound engineer/producer and co-owns a business called SubSocials that offers tools to musicians.

The song-writing process is completely collaborative, usually started with a guitar riff by Diego, and then built on by each member while respecting the original vision.

Now, why should we be listening to them?

Having a band create music that’s entertaining, but also exciting, is revolutionary. Often times artists are in the music industry for the wrong reason (i.e. fame, fortune, image), and once they’ve gained a following they refuse to try new things. Seto Band, which I describe as “genre-less”, is more than just music. It’s about art. The main component that should drive musicians to create, but often times doesn’t.

Seto Band already has 2 singles out: Live and Let Live, and Pusher. Both are good songs, with meaningful lyrics, and are most definitely worth listening to. They have 6 singles coming out, and many years worth of ideas and potential.

– Victoria Rowbottom