On Thursdays Del Osei-Owusu sits down with an artist on the FOTN radar and gets them to tell their origin story. This week, Seth Tabatznik is in the hotseat and he brought homemade gluten free banana cookies.

Hello Seth, how are you?

I’m great, thank you for asking.

Congratulations on the release of Flow River Flow — how does it feel?

I’m really excited to have it out in the world, and to feel its message gently rippling out. This song took me nearly a year to put together — as long as my whole previous album — and it really sets the tone for my third album, also called Flow River Flow, which officially comes out in February next year.

What’s the story behind the song?

It’s really the story of my life over the last decade: moving to South Africa, losing my mum, going through some serious health issues connected to hear passing. It comes from a vulnerable place: I thought I knew who I was, and I had to humble myself into not knowing, into real vulnerability and surrender. Coming through that, I ended up in a completely new chapter; healthier, freer, clearer, and with music playing a role in my life that it never had before.

You’ve said this song took you as long to write and record as your whole album — what were the easiest and most difficult parts of the process?

I wanted to collaborate more on this one and really lift my game, so I brought in a friend, Sean Else, who is an incredible storyteller and musician based in the Western Cape. I asked him to help me with the song and lets just say he gave me a lot of homework with a focus on being more vulnerable in the lyrics. Nick Mulvey, who’d been supporting my creative journey, also gave me great musical guidance along the way. We finished this song completely before touching anything else on the album, so it could set the tone and become the flagship track. The easy part was listening and responding to the questions I was asked. The hard part was the rewriting, and honestly just the time it took as I generally like things to move fast.

You’re a London-born, South African-based singer-songwriter — how did it all begin for you?

I’ve played music my whole life, but I’ve always thought of myself as a fireside musician and occasionally in ceremonies. A few years ago I got sick and had to step back from a lot of my work commitments, and that opened up space for music. That’s when I really started putting time and energy into it. I’d written songs in the past but they never left the womb of my computer. It was only once I had the space and time that I decided to share them with the world, which opened a channel to write more.

What did you listen to growing up?

A lot of sixties folk: the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Tracy Chapman, Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, and others from that era.

Was there a particular artist that set you off on your journey?

Not really one particular artist, but my sister ran a music venue in Camden called the Green Note, and from about eighteen I spent a lot of time there listening to folk music and watching other artists. It planted something in me and I always felt I wanted to do that myself, I just never made the time until my health forced me to.

It seems that nature and the world inspire you — what’s the most unlikely thing that’s caused you to write a song?

Most people write about love and loss, and for me it was really sparked by being lost. But if I’m honest, the more unlikely thing is nature and consciousness— you don’t hear many artists singing about it outside the medicine music world. Bringing that energy into a folk-indie sound is a big part of what excites me about what I do.

You have an album coming out — what’s your favourite track from it?

The newest song I’ve written is called Watching Over Me, and it’s a love song to an oak tree in my back yard. You’d never know that’s what it’s about unless you heard the story behind it, but for some reason I just love singing it and can’t get it out my head.

What are you listening to at the moment?

It varies a lot, but mostly independent folk and indie music — I curate playlists, so I get sent a wide range of submissions in that genre.

What are you looking forward to doing in the next 12 months?

Playing more shows, getting more music out into the world, spending time with my kids, and watching a few conscious land-based projects I’m involved in grow and evolve.