Jay Cox is the lead singer of the Sea Navy. In October, the band released a full length packed full of energetic, heartfelt, basement pop called Oh These Troubled Times. In addition to being catchy and textured, their second album includes a song inspired by the mnemonic to remember the fates of the six wives of Henry the Eighth. If you haven’t already purchased it [luckyhorse], get a preview by downloading a few tracks [myspace] because tomorrow, they play a show at the Crocodile with +/- and Welcome [ticketweb] and it will be better if you’re ready to sing along.

Over the past couple days, Jay took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions over e-mail. In it, he talks about some key differences between Seattle and Boston, our hopeless transit situation, the challenges of western geography, and the power of the Capitol Hill Block party to bring people together.

(Josh:) You moved here from Boston a few years ago, right? What made you decide to pack up and head west?

(Jay:) Mostly the move was a change of pace. I was in Boston for 10 years and a lot of close friends had moved away. Plus the band I was in (the Ivory Coast [polyvinyl]) was coming to an end. My fiancée, who grew up in Massachusetts, was also ready to live someplace else. We came out here to visit her parents and we took a trip to Orcas Island and that was all the convincing I needed.

The Boston to Seattle via I-90 happened in the summer of 2003. What we didn’t know was that our cross country drive was also the same time as the 100th Anniversary of the Sturgis Rally. Insane! Thankfully our white Ford Taurus with a Sonic Youth bumper sticker did not stick out at all.

Did you ever expect that you’d move to another town where politicians would be so eager to dig a tunnel to hide unsightly highways? Any advice for the viaduct replacement from a survivor of the Big Dig?

More importantly I didn’t know I would be moving into a city that had no subway. I can not tell you how much I miss the Red line in Boston. Driving in Boston was already a nightmare and the Big Dig just made it a million times worse. They use to have a billboard that read something like “Rome wasn’t built in a day. If it was we would have hired them instead.” I always thought that was really funny. I think they should put the Big Dig in the History text books so the next generation learns a lesson. After the Monorail got voted down I have given up all hope for transportation improvements in Seattle.

How long did you spend bandless before forming the Sea Navy? How did you meet Stuart? Were you actively looking to start a new band?
The Sea Navy existed [tsn] in Boston as a side project to The Ivory Coast. I recorded an album (Breathing In The Old World) right before I left Boston in the hopes of using it to find people to play with in Seattle. I had a plan when we moved here that I wouldn’t play any music until we had a place to live and a steady stream of income. After that was established I had the itch to play music again. My first show in Seattle was 13 February 2005 opening for Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at Neumo’s. I didn’t have a band so I used a CD-R of pre-recorded drum tracks (which is an idea I got from Sebadoh). I played a bunch of shows with the same setup until the Capitol Hill Block Party in 2005 where I was introduced to Andrew Rudd who was playing with Aqueduct. He was looking to play more music so we got together and start writing a bunch of songs. I recruited TW Walsh (who I knew from back in Boston) to play bass and then I somehow convinced him to record the album. Exit stage left TW Walsh/Enter stage right Stuart Fletcher. I knew Stuart from back in the day when he played in DC band the Sorts. But I was re-introduced to him in Seattle via our mutual friends in Karate.

How does the Seattle music scene compare to Boston’s?

I have to say I was surprised by the strength of the all ages scene in Seattle. It may have changed since I left but usually the only consistent all ages shows were punk shows.

There seem to be more places for bands who are starting out to play in Seattle. The only big difference I can see is that I think Boston is the only city that can sustain a seven night stand of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The funny thing is that the Crocodile is very much like the Seattle equivalent of the Boston club the Middle East.

One of the things that made the Boston scene great was the you could be in a band and go out for a couple days and play in a number of states like New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island. Whereas if you are the same band in Seattle you could spend the same amount of time just driving to California. That also means that bands from neighboring cities are constantly coming up to Boston to play. Bands like Radio 4 and Ted Leo played Boston so much I can see how some people thought they were Boston bands. Overall both cities are supportive and nurturing places for musicians as you can see by all the great bands that both cities have given birth to.

The Postal Service got into trouble with the U.S.P.S. (of rain, winover their name. Have you guys run into anything similar with the U.S. Navy? Any confusing mix-ups during SeaFair or e-mails from wannabe sailors looking to be recruited?

No word from the Army or the Coast Guard yet. The only strange thing is that Ted Leo once asked if the name of the band had anything to do with The Sea Organization which is the Church of Scientology’s version of the Navy.

Wow. I had no idea that they’d taken to the high seas. Thanks for the interview and have a great show tomorrow!

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