Seedless, an Orange County, CA favorite among reggae-rock fans, have announced that lead singer & guitarist, Casey Sullivan, in addition to bassist, Grant Rivera, will be leaving the group as the remaining members will continue on despite the change in line-up.
Seedless has built much of their success off the strength of their live shows, in addition to their only standing album, Twisted Roots; a 16 track record that was released back in 2010. Since then, no other physical releases have been dished, just various singles over the years in the form of “Baby Don’t Go,” “Bullet,” “Heart of a Warrior,” and “Friends”.
Baby Don’t Go…
When I asked Casey the reason for his decision to leave, or if there are any plans to stay connected with the group, he acknowledged that: “It has been an amazing 
journey and at this point I have other business and personal endeavors that I will be pursuing. I would love to help with writing and recording when and where the band sees fit. I have a passion for creating music that will never go away, and you never know what the future will have in store. All love.”
With Casey and Grant leaving the group, this leaves Seedless with the current line-up of Matthew Liufau on vocals, Joe Bakhos on rhythm guitar, Shay Pino on drums and Anthony Wells on keys.
Justin Iannelli of Ease Up has been filling in on bass for Seedless since November and while he’s not an active member, there’s talk that he could be the solution to replace Grant permanently.
Now with Matthew Liufau being the sole vocalist of the group, here’s what he told The Pier on whether they will bring in a new singer: “We don’t plan on bringing in a new vocalist at all. We think that we have a unified sound with one lead singer and we are eager to make more music with this new situation we have found our selves in.”
Keeping the name Seedless…
The biggest question when bands replace or lose singers, is whether or not they will keep the band name or seize opportunity to re-brand themselves under a new moniker. In this case, Liufau plans to continue using the name Seedless, despite Casey’s departure:
“We all worked really hard to brand the Seedless band to make it what it is today. We aren’t starting a new band either, we just lost a couple original members of the group. There are still 3 of the original 5 members in the band and we feel real comfortable rocking the Seedless name as we have the past 10 years.”
Rebelution is an example of a group finding success despite losing a singer. Rebelution was originally a 5-piece with singer Matt Velasquez who left Rebelution shortly after they released their debut album Courage To Grow back in 2007. At the time, one of Rebelution’s most celebrated tracks off their debut record was “Ordinary Girl”; sung by Velasquez. Rebelution parted ways with performing the song when Matt left and in no way did it compromise Rebelution’s momentum or potential.
With Casey moving on, there’s a good amount of songs with his inclusion that has led to the difficult decision of Seedless parting ways with songs such as “Banana Tree,” “Rise Up,” and “Reggae Party”.
“Our goal is to salvage what we can, but also focus on making new songs,” explains Liufau as Seedless will continue performing old favorites such as “Twisted Love,” “Baby Don’t Go,” and “In Time”. “Those (songs) have always been popular, and there are more that we can do and I’m sure we will keep on working at them to see what else we can move forward with.”
Personally, I’d like to wish Casey Sullivan and Grant Rivera the best of luck in their future endeavors, but not before thanking them for their contribution to some great music with the record Twisted Roots and the ensuing singles. I look forward to what the future holds for Seedless.
Moving Forward…
We’ll have more information to share on the future of Seedless when their plans for new music is something they are ready to address. Until then, you can download their cover of Beres Hammond’s “They Gonna Talk” inside our MP3 Massive for FREE by clicking HERE!
Related Links:
Seedless MP3 Massive (FREE MP3s)
Seedless Website
Seedless Facebook
Article By: Mike Patti
Photos By: Cameron Schuyler & Taylor Lane
Watch: Seedless – “Baby Don’t Go”