The Family Crest
In our longest interview to date, we are joined by Liam McCormick and John Seeterlin of The Family Crest. We hear what it is like to be an independent musician who believes in building community, recording in very unusual spaces, and what the “extended family” of The Family Crest means. Liam also gives a striking performance!
The brainchild of composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Liam McCormick, orchestral indie band The Family Crest was started as a recording project with co-founder John Seeterlin (bass) as a final release before bowing out of the industry. Instead of leaving music, they were inspired by their peers to set out to reinvent how a band could be created, starting The Family Crest with an audacious and bold vision of cultivating a musical community. “We always liked making music with people – getting a bunch of people together and singing. So we put ads everywhere,” says McCormick. “We posted on Craigslist, distributed flyers, and emailed old friends from school.” The outcome was greater than the original duo imagined, with over 80 people credited on the first recording the band produced and over 500 musicians credited throughout their catalog.
The Family Crest has released three full-length albums and three EPs, including their critically-acclaimed breakout LP, Beneath the Brine. Most recently, the band has been releasing pieces of their current musical concept album series, The War, with the latest addition to the series, The War: Act II being released in May of 2022.
Resources and Information Discussed
The Family Crest
The Family Crest Music
