Saetia should not be confused with Cayo Saetía.
| Saetia | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | New York City, New York, United States |
| Associated Acts: | Hot Cross Off Minor Interpol |
| Current Members: | Billy Werner Adam Marino Colin Bartoldus Steve Roche Tom Schlatter |
| Past Members: | Greg Drudy Matt Smith Alex Madara Jamie Behar[1] |
Saetia (pronounced SAY-shuh) is a New York City-based screamo band. While relatively unknown during their initial existence, the band is now seen as one of the most critically lauded bands of the late-1990s screamo scene. Stewart Mason of AllMusic described their music as an "essential document" for fans of screamo.[2]
Saetia initially formed in February 1997 when each of its members were attending New York University. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track "Saeta", from his album Sketches of Spain. The band had numerous members throughout its existence, with frequent changes in membership. The band's first bass player, Alex Madara, was affected by a severe allergic reaction which placed him into a coma for eight days, finally resulting in his death on December 14, 1998.[3]
Their drummer, Greg Drudy, was the original drummer of the band Interpol prior to their current popularity. He operated the record label Level Plane, which was initially started so Saetia could release a 7-inch single to sell at shows.[4] Other members of the band continued their musical careers in numerous outfits, some of them joining screamo bands such as Off Minor, Hot Cross and The Fiction, as well as the bands and Instruction.[5] [6]
The group would eventually break up in October 1999. Saetia's final, posthumous single, "Eronel" (also a title of a Thelonious Monk composition) was released under the Witching Hour label in 2000. The single contains three songs recorded by Steve Roche and mixed by Pat Kenneally. In 2001, Level Plane issued A Retrospective, a discography album that compiles every recording the band has made, including recordings taken from one of the last shows the band played at ABC No Rio.
In 2016, Secret Voice, the label of Touché Amoré vocalist Jeremy Bolm, released Collected, a two-disc, 180 gram vinyl set that includes every studio recording by the group.[7] [3] The tracks from the ABC No Rio also saw their own release in the form of a cassette titled Live At ABC No Rio Spring 1999, which was also released in 2016 through Secret Voice.[8]
In April 2022, Saetia, consisting of Billy Werner, Jamie Behar, Adam Marino, Colin Bartoldus, and Steve Roche, announced via Instagram that they rehearsed for the first time in 24 years.[9] [10] In November 2022, they played live at four locations in New York and Pennsylvania.[11]
| Year | Album Details | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Demo
| Includes two tracks (Venus and Bacchus, One Dying Wish) that would later re-appear on the band's 1997 self-titled 7". | |
| 1997 | Saetia
| 1,000 copies pressed, multiple different sleeve variations exist | |
| 1999 | Eronel
| 1,000 copies packaged in standard sleeves, 100 hand-numbered copies packaged in a "paperback" manilla envelope, 10 hand-numbered copies packaged in a manila envelope with a picture of the band stuck on it, and 25 copies packaged in special "gravestone" sleeves that were sold as part of the Witching Hour Subscription Series. | |
| 2016 | Live At ABC No Rio Spring 1999
| Features tracks previously released on A Retrospective. Unknown number of copies pressed, all copies purple. |
| Year | Album Details | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | A Retrospective
| Features entire recorded discography and live tracks recorded at a show at ABC No Rio in the spring of 1999 | |
| 2016 | Collected
| Pressed on 180 gram black vinyl. Includes the band's entire studio discography |