Indie folk-pop band The Sea The Sea performed to an intimate crowd at the Rose Music Hall on Feb. 18.

Husband and wife duo Chuck and Mira Costa lead the band as the main vocalists and guitarists. Cara May Gorman provides backup vocals and plays the synthesizer, and Steve Struss plays drums. They came to Columbia on tour to promote their sophomore album From the Light, which is set to be released on June 1.

Chuck and Mira Costa sat down with MOVE Magazine before the show for an exclusive Q&A. For more of the interview, check out MOVE’s website.

####MOVE: So where are you all from?####

Mira: I’m originally from West Virginia and Chuck is from New York City.

Chuck: We all live in upstate New York now, which is where all these guys are from [gesturing towards Cara and Steve].

####MOVE: How did you all meet?####

Mira: So Chuck and I met at a music festival in West Virginia. We were playing as a duo for four or five years. And then we were caretaking a house in upstate New York and we started putting our stuff there when we weren’t on the road. We met Cara because we were singing backup vocals with another musician named Sean Rowe, and we just really loved performing together. And then we were looking to expand the duo and we met Steve, so now for the last year and a half or so we’ve been performing as a four piece.

####MOVE: Are you always going to always tour with a four piece band now or is it just temporary?####

Mira: We’re doing mostly band shows, but we still do some duo shows and sometimes we’ll do trio shows. It just depends. And our new album features this four piece.

####MOVE: What’s the meaning behind your band name?####

Mira: It’s a cry of joy from an ancient Greek story. There are these soldiers who are fighting a battle inland and a lot of them didn’t make it, but those who did had to fight their way back to the coast where they were from. They crossed over a mountain and saw the ocean and knew they were safe, so someone cried “The sea! The sea!” So that felt appropriate and sort of felt the way it felt when we started making music together.

Chuck: We came out of tumultuous points of our lives when we started the band, so it felt really appropriate.

Mira: It was a cry of joy for sure.

####MOVE: How do you think you’ve grown or changed musically since the release of your debut album, _Love We Are We Love_?####

Mira: I think a lot. Playing with a band, for us, has expanded what we’re hearing. It’s expanded our sonic palette — we have different colors to paint with now. Hopefully we’re growing as people and that’s reflected in the music just with the things that we’re thinking about and feel important to us.

####MOVE: What was your inspiration behind _From the Light_?####

Mira: Interestingly, we [Mira and Chuck] got married, and we took a couple of months off to write new music. It was right around the time of the [2016 presidential] election, so we were processing a lot and feeling the divisions that were more pronounced than normal. We were feeling inspired to find these common threads of humanity and the things that connect us. We were also living out in the countryside, and there’s something about the light when you’re out in the country that is a constant presence and metaphor. So [the album] has a lot of stuff about that duality and the ups and the downs of trying to process things honestly.

####MOVE: What does your songwriting process look like?####

Mira: We don’t really have a single songwriting process.

Chuck: We usually will start separately, and sometimes it’ll be full songs where we’ll write separately or sometimes it’ll be little pieces. And we’ll bring things to each other, and we’ve found a really cool way to collaborate. It’s hard to co-write songs. I was never able to do it until I met Mira. We have a really safe space where we can critique each other and workshop stuff.

Mira: And say ideas that can be weird.

Chuck: Yeah, and so that’s kind of how we bring something to the other person and then we’ll have this raw song. And now that we have the band, we already had songs that we had previously worked through that we brought to them. Now we have a few newer ones where they were really fresh, like in _From the Light_, where these guys were able to collaborate on the arrangements and flesh them out together as a band.

Mira: And we always feel like the best songs are when you can take a snapshot of one of the best conversations, so that’s what we try to do when we’re writing — just have an idea that we can really talk about and distill.

####MOVE: How have you seen your marriage affect the songwriting process? Has it made the process any easier?####

Mira: I don’t think that it’s affected anything. I think the thing that was there before is just now official. I think we got married because it’s where our relationship just was.

Chuck: It was already working.

Mira: Yeah, yeah, we already felt that. But I think you go through those life moments and you have that shared life experience and there’s stuff that comes out of it.

####MOVE: Who are your biggest musical influences?####

Mira: It’s interesting because we listen to things that are all across the spectrum. We were just talking to someone the other day about how one of our favorite albums from last year was “Capacity” by Big Thief.

Chuck: We listen to James Blake, Frank Ocean…

Mira: Blake Mills…

Chuck: Alabama Shakes…

Mira: We like people who have a very unique sound — we like really good songwriters who are doing something interesting with filtering everything through their own specific lens.

Chuck: And we appreciate the craft of songwriters, so I think that accounts for the variety of bands that we love. We love Bob Dylan, we love Paul Simon and people who are just classic songwriters. There are contemporary people who write great songs too, like Big Thief. That’s a three line in our influences. Just really solid songwriting.

Struss: I think it’s interesting too, with the James Blake aspect. I have a huge hip-hop background, and that’s where I’ve been playing most of my life. I think that was a big draw when I started working with [Chuck and Mira]. They told me they listened to Frank Ocean and all this other stuff so I was like, “Shit, yeah man, that’s gonna be perfect.” So now our songs have 808s and snaps and stuff like that.

Chuck: Most of the music that Steve’s played is not exactly what we do. It’s a part of why we’re on tour together. It’s a very cool mix.

Mira: And then you discover people on the road who you really love. Some of the best songs we’ve heard in the last year were on our tour with Planes on Paper and Josiah Johnson from The Head and the Heart. He was playing some of the most incredible songs we’ve ever heard.

Struss: There’s so much good music out there.

Mira: Yeah, yeah.

MOVE: Now I’m curious about what everyone’s favorite Frank Ocean song is!

Chuck: Oh, that’s a tough one.

Mira: Yeah, that is a tough one… I’m gonna go with “Pink + White.”

Struss: That’s solid.

Chuck: I’ve been listening to “Provider” a lot.

Struss: Anything off _Channel Orange_ for me is just solid.

MOVE: Yeah, me too. I love _Channel Orange_.

Struss: I think that whole record is perfect.

MOVE: I think “Pyramids” is my favorite song from that record.

Struss: Yeah, that’s a really great song.

Mira: From _Blonde_, I liked “White Ferrari.” [Frank Ocean] is another artist who is super honest. It’s almost like a stream of consciousness, but it’s intentional. He also has an incredible, incredible voice… Solange is another great artist we listen to.

MOVE: Oh, yes! I was actually listening to Solange on the way here.

Mira: Yes!

Struss: She is unbelievable.

Mira: We love her.

Struss: For a lot of us, we have a producer focus when we listen to songwriters. We mentioned Blake Mills who’s done everything from the new John Legend record (which is incredible) to the Alabama Shakes record, and his own stuff, which is very in line with what we do—the folk stuff. Someone who can wear that many hats — he’s like a young Rick Rubin who can just wake up and do a Kanye record and go to bed doing a Nine Inch Nails record. That’s such a cool thing to see now, and it’s something that’s come out more and more—these producers who are just good at finding good music and bringing it out, not limited by genre.

Mira: Yeah, not genre specific.

Struss: Which I think is a thing we’re seeing a lot more in the music industry now. Genres are falling by the wayside because everyone’s a crossover artist at this point. No one’s a “just whatever” artist anymore. Everyone does six different things. Focusing on that, too, it’s just not being like “Oh, that’s not something a folk song would do.” It’s like, “Who gives a shit? Just do whatever you wanna do.” It’s nice. It’s freeing.

####MOVE: What’s the craziest thing that’s happened on tour?####

Mira: We just came from a conference in Kansas City. We were there for two nights and played 15 showcases. You showcase from evening time until around four in the morning. So that was wild.

Struss: Most bands split up and they may do three or four showcases over four days or it’s like, “You know what? Let’s just go for the moxie and do 15 in two.” [laughs] Around four o’clock this morning, we were sitting outside. We’re at the bottom of the lobby of the hotel and there’s this incredible group of people who come together in the lobby and start jamming. We walk into a guy playing harp, a guy playing tenor sax, a guy playing the mandola and a guy playing the drums.

Mira: [The guy playing the drums] was in a gold cape, and it was beautiful.

Struss: It was just the most beautiful thing.

Mira: And people were laying flowers around them.

May Gorman: We were sitting on the edge of this fountain that was surrounded by all of these plants…

Struss: Yeah, so we all just kinda sat there and zenned out for a half-hour, so that was pretty cool.

####MOVE: What’s your favorite venue that you’ve performed at?####

Mira: We can’t say Rose Music Hall because we haven’t played here yet! But every venue is like a snowflake. There’s something really beautiful about each one. I mean that.

Chuck: It’s true.

Struss: They each have something about them that draws you in.

Mira: It’s like having different friends all across the country.

Struss: Yeah, you can’t pick a favorite.

####MOVE: What do you guys do for fun outside of music? Do you have any other interests or passions?####

May Gorman: Something that we all have in common is that we love really great food. [laughs]

Mira: We love to cook, and we’re all visual artists in some way.

May Gorman: I make handmade paper, jewelry and a lot of other kinds of art.

MOVE: Do you sell it on Etsy and stuff like that?

May Gorman: I do have an Etsy, but I’m actually in the process of building my own shop at caramaygorman.com.

Mira: She makes our jewelry pieces for stage and she sells them at shows. It’s really cool. Steve makes websites and posters. Chuck does stop-motion.

####MOVE: What are your zodiac signs? Do you think you fit the characteristics for them? Why/why not?####

Mira: Totally! I’m a Pisces/Aries cusp, and I’m a triple water sign. I feel like when I meet another Pisces I’m like, “okay.” There are a lot of creative people who are Pisces, a lot of free-spirited “floaty” people.

Chuck: I’m an Aquarius. I mean, I don’t know much about it… [laughs] What do you think, Mira?

Mira: I think you’re definitely an Aquarian.

Chuck: I do feel a connection to other… Aquariuses. [sic]

Mira: Yeah, Aquarians.

Struss: I’m a cusper Aries so I feel the same vibe. I’ve been told I have a lot of the same traits.

May Gorman: Yeah, I’m a Gemini but I’m not really sure. I’ve had people be a little surprised, and then other be like “Oh yeah. That makes sense.” I don’t really know! [laughs]

MOVE: Yeah, because the stereotype for Geminis is that they’re two-faced, but…

May Gorman: I know!

Mira: It’s funny because we have a song named “Gemini,” actually, but it’s not about Cara…

May Gorman: But am I two-faced?

Mira: Maybe that’s just a part of your sign.

May Gorman: Right.

Mira: What’s interesting though is my best friend growing up was a Gemini, so I feel like there’s some sort of zodialogical compatibility.

May Gorman: Yeah!

####MOVE: What are your plans once the tour is done?####

Mira: We’ll take a week off and then we’ll do it again!

Chuck: We’re doing perpetual touring this year, where we have little breaks and then go back on the road.

####MOVE: Have you been able to go out and explore Columbia while you’ve been here?####

Mira: We just got here!

Chuck: We’re gonna go grab some food after this!

Mira: We hear there’s a great drum store here.

Struss: Which we won’t be able to go to…

MOVE: Are you guys going to be leaving immediately after the show?

Mira: We’ll stay in town and then we’ll have to leave in the morning to go to Davenport, Iowa. But this is our very first trip to Columbia. Hopefully we’ll be back this summer because of our album release!

The Sea The Sea started the show with its first new single, “Everybody.” The song has a dreamy, ethereal quality to it. Throughout the show, the band members locked eyes with each other and smiled as they sung; they are all clearly close and their music benefits from it as a result. All three vocalists work well with each other. Gorman and Mira’s harmonies are transcending and angelic, while Chuck and Mira’s voices melt together and blend into one unified voice.

The band played a mix of songs from its debut album and its upcoming album. It also performed a wonderful cover of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine,” visibly letting the music overtake them and rocking out on stage as if they were in their bedrooms and no one was watching.

The highlight of the night was when a fan asked The Sea The Sea to perform an acoustic piece. The band gladly agreed and brought its equipment out onto the floor. The audience got up close and surrounded the band as it performed a cover of “Keep It There” by The Weepies. They explained that they learned the song after someone stole their phones and wallets. It was a great conclusion to a marvelous night of music and a testament to The Sea The Sea’s kindness.

The Sea The Sea’s latest single “Good for Something” is out on Spotify now. The band plans to release a new single each month until June to promote its album.

_This interview has been edited for clarity._

_Edited by Brooke Collier | bcollier@themaneater.com_