The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
News and Interviews

Listen to Looch: The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard

The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard
The Seeds: Pushin' Too HardCourtesy GNP Crescendo

by Mary Lucia

July 09, 2019

The Seeds were a Los Angeles band in the mid-1960's whose early records laid the foundation for garage and psychedelic rock, which became hugely influential to punk and modern rock.

Film director and GNP Crescendo Records head Neil Norman was there for their whole story. As a young boy, Neil watched as his father Gene built a record label and took chances on up-and-coming roster of acts. One of those bands was The Seeds. When Gene Norman got a demo from The Seeds, who had already been rejected by Capitol, Columbia and Elektra, he said "I think I hear something, what do you think, Neil?" And 12 year old Neil said "Yeah Dad, go for it!" As young Neil watched The Seeds grow and the music business surround them, he learned how to operate in the business himself.

Decades later, Neil Norman has created a story about The Seeds that incorporates band and audience footage and incredible first-person interviews (Check out the Iggy Pop quote!) to tell the story from beginning-to-end. He stopped by The Current studio to talk with Mary Lucia about the ins-and-outs of documentary filmmaking, The Seeds' early years, and lead singer Sky Saxon's wandering path to Hawaii ... and beyond.

The documentary The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard, which is showing Wednesday, July 10 at The Trylon Cinema.

The movie is accompanied by a major overhaul of The Seeds' catalog and the original soundtrack on GNP Crescendo.

The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard Official Site

The Seeds: Pushin' Too Hard - IMDB
July 10, 7 p.m. Trylon Cinema Event Info