Sebastopol

Sebastopol is an English alternative rock band originating from London. The band consists of Nick Powell (lead vocals and bass guitar), Phil Richards (guitars) and Tom Standage (drums). Formation The band formed in 2010 following an incident the previous year when Powell found himself marooned in the North Atlantic while making a television documentary. That experience and what Powell described as "the consequent feeling of helplessness" prompted him to write a collection of songs based around the lyrical themes of being lost, and, specifically, lost at sea. After signing to Warm Fuzz Records, these songs were recorded and became the debut album Hello All Stations, This Is Zero which was produced by Richards and released in 2012. Band Name The band's name "Sebastopol" reportedly comes from the open D guitar tuning used by Richards on all Sebastopol recordings which is traditionally called "sebastopol" after the traditional song "The Siege of Sebastopol" composed in that tuning by the nineteenth-century artist and composer Henry Worrall. Hello All Stations, This Is Zero The band's first album Hello All Stations, This Is Zero was released in September 2012. It was well-received by reviewers, with one commenting that it would be "cited by singers and songwriters for years to come." Comparisons have been drawn with The Police, with a commentator noting the "space in the sound", the high quality of the songwriting, and the fact that Sebastopol has a power trio configuration.