Gulf Coast metal band SevVven recently reached a milestone, releasing a full-length album called Don’t Panic. This band, which is a part of Ms. Pepper Gomez’s Wake Up! Music Rocks record label as well as booking and management agency Full Circle Entertainment, has worked very hard on the album and is so proud of how it turned out. It’s a collection of 13 songs that showcase the clean and hard vocals along with the mix of heavy yet melodic music this band is known for.
Before getting into my review of the album, I’d like to share some background on the band. SevVven’s members include: Josh Valdivieso (lead vocals); Ant Jones (guitar); Jessie Hoda (guitar); Chris “Katt” Lee (drums); and Jody Linnell (bass). The band literally started out on the internet in 2020. At the time, Josh was living in Kansas City, Missouri and Ant was in Lafayette, Louisiana. They connected on a website called BandLab, where Josh recorded vocals over a song that Ant posted. Eventually, Josh moved down South so they could be closer to one another and really “do the band thing”.
Jessie Hoda joined in spring of 2022, getting connected through the band’s former drummer. Ironically, it was Jessie who found the current SevVven drummer, Katt Lee, who joined in July 2022. They knew each other through Katt’s former band, and when that broke up, Katt was a perfect fit to fill SevVven’s drummer vacancy. Finally, rounding out the awesome lineup is bassist Jody Linnell, who joined in November 2023. Jody is the founding member and guitarist of another popular Louisiana metal band, Transient. Not only is Jody a great friend to the members of SevVven, but he’s also a very talented musician, which made him a fantastic addition.
Both Ant and Josh were kind enough to answer questions I had about SevVven and Don’t Panic. One thing I was interested in knowing was the story behind the band name, SevVven. Ant told me the band had three founding members originally: Joey C on drums, Josh on vocals, and Ant on instrumentals. Each “V” represented each member of the band in the beginning. Unfortunately, life got in the way for Joey, and he had to bow out of the band, but they kept the spelling the same.
The process of creating SevVven’s music is a collaborative effort that the whole band is involved in. Ant writes the instrumentation and sends it to the rest of the band to give their input and add whatever they want to the tracks. Jessie Hoda adds what Ant called some “spice” here and there. Katt Lee also contributes to the drum parts. Josh writes the lyrics. Jessie and Josh sometimes come up with melodies together, or Josh records a scratch vocal and sends it to the band’s group chat. Ant said that, considering the locations of the band members are now spread apart from Louisiana to Texas, creating music together is really a “neat” process.
The majority of the lyrics for SevVven’s songs are written by Josh, with Jessie and producer Myles Clayborne also contributing. Josh records lyrics over the music that gets sent to the group and asks for everyone’s input. He and Jessie work on the melodies and lyrics together, or Josh comes up with it on his own. Ant used “Awakened” as an example. He said when Josh sent the band his rough take on that song, Ant was blown away by the melody of the vocals. He said it was perfect and fit together so well with the song. They actually pushed the release of that song ahead of other tracks they were working on for the album because it’s so great.
The legendary Ted Jensen of Sterling Sound was the Mastering Engineer for the song “Don’t Panic”, while Myles Clayborne of Vigilante Productions did the mixing for that song as well as all the mixing and mastering for the rest of the tracks on the Don’t Panic album. Jessie Hoda “kicked it up a notch”, as Ant said, adding his touches to the final tracks. They gave Myles a lot of “free rein” so he could add elements to the tracks that he thought would work, and Ant said he did a fantastic job.
The making of the album was a total team effort by the entire band. They all contributed to every aspect of the project, both musically and beyond. This also includes their entire team, Myles and Ted, Wake Up! Music Rocks, and Full Circle Entertainment. Ant shared that it’s so nice to finally have the finished product completed so they can start scheduling shows around it and get ready to do some runs in 2025. From what the band started out as, just him and Josh connecting on the internet, to what it has evolved into now, including the talented lineup as well as the maturation of their music, it is incredible and rewarding.
I asked Josh about his process for writing song lyrics. He told me Ant creates the title from what he feels when he’s writing the music. Josh listens to the track with the title in mind and starts writing. There’s been a rare case where he changed the title but most of the time he kept the title Ant gave the song. Josh told me he writes about past events he’s lived through. His lyrics are based on a lot of sadness and struggles, but projected in a way that listeners who are going through the same things can understand and know they’re not alone. Josh says he is a huge advocate for mental health and he wants everyone to believe there is a light at the end of whatever tunnel they’re in.
There are so many great songs on the Don’t Panic album it was hard to choose which ones to highlight for this article. I asked Josh for insight on the ones I decided to include.
“Don’t Panic”
Josh says he watched the docuseries “Chernobyl” on Max and he absolutely loved it. The craziness people endured from that event was so ridiculous to the point that he felt compelled to write a song about it. He wrote and recorded lyrics for the song, but then Myles Clayborne reworked it to the point that Josh had to rewrite everything, and Josh believes it turned out much better than the first version.
“Do Not Resuscitate”
Josh said he doesn’t think anyone would guess the story behind this song. He had a bird named Blue who was very precious, and Josh loved him very much. After owning him for a short period of time he had to put Blue down due to an accident, and it was really depressing. Josh is a huge lover of all kinds of animals and Blue’s passing made him very sad A few days after he passed away, Josh wrote the lyrics for “Do Not Resuscitate” with Blue in mind. Josh acknowledged that, much like all of SevVven’s songs, this one can mean different things to listeners, which is why he loves writing music – everyone can get their own interpretation from the songs that will hopefully help them with whatever they’re going through.
“Sea Of Regrets”
This song is about being a prisoner in your own mind and always having self-doubt. Josh admitted he struggled a lot in his twenties with negative self-talk and depression, and he knows others have suffered or are suffering from this as well. This song is a way for him to let everyone know that they are not alone and that there is someone out there who understands their struggles.
“Where Do I Go”
Josh wrote this song about feeling lost and hopeless about where you’re at in your life. He himself has felt lost at times throughout his life, but he never gave up. He knows it can feel impossible when you’re going through it, but he said he’s living proof that it WILL get better and you shouldn’t ever give up.
“Enter The Unknown”
Josh shared that he went through a divorce back in 2021 after being with his ex-wife since 2007. Being alone after being with someone for that long can be scary and daunting. The title is based on just that – trying to move on to the next chapter of life and but not actually knowing what the next step should be.
“Mother”
Josh said that as soon as he listened to the instrumentals for this track, he knew exactly where he wanted to take it. That doesn’t happen too often, but when it does it’s truly magical for him because the emotions he feels in his soul get recorded exactly the way he wants them to. This song is specifically about his mother, Brenda, and how he watched her go through many struggles while she raised her children. He is extremely close to his mom and is very grateful for everything she’s done for him, so this song was a way to say thank you. Having Brenda in the music video was a very beautiful experience for both of them, and Josh could not have been happier with how it came out.
“Wasteland”
This is a song about knowing what’s best for yourself and not becoming a victim of someone who will try to bring you down. It’s easy to be blinded by someone due to love or friendship, but you need to make sure to always trust your gut.
“Addicted”
This song is about being stuck in a rut and not being able to get out of it. Negative self-talk, depression, and self-doubt all contribute to being stuck to the point that you become addicted to the pain and the “woe is me” mentality.
Ant admitted to me that completing the album was definitely a difficult process. He said he’s a very impatient person, and it felt like finishing the album took FOREVER. But in reality, it only took about a year. Between the band members’ schedules and Myles’ commitments to his own bands and producing, it was hard at times to get together to work on things and get them done. They stuck with it despite the obstacles, though, and hearing the finished product now, it makes Ant so proud of what the band as a whole as well as individually has accomplished. Completing this album is an item on his “bucket list” that he is so glad to have checked it off.
SevVven has several shows coming up:
Friday 10/18 at The Pit at EPIC in Scott, Louisiana with POET the Band, NDGO, and Double Knockout
Friday 10/25 at 19th Hole Grill & Bar in Spring, Texas with Darkness Of Tomorrow, Time Capsule, and Hollow
Friday 11/29 at The Basin Music Hall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with Westcreek and THEM GUYS
Also, the band was just added to the lineup of The Sound 228 Winter Storm festival Saturday, November 16th, at The Juke Joint in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. They will be part of an awesome lineup which also includes Post Profit, Messer, New Dilemma, and THEM GUYS.
Make sure to follow SevVven on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!
PHOTO CREDIT: Gene Broome of Spade Image
“Don’t Panic” Full Album Track Listing
Don’t Panic
Awakened
Do Not Resuscitate
Cannibals
Sea Of Regrets
Cold
Where Do I Go
Enter The Unknown
Mother
Paint The Sky
Shed Your Skin
Wasteland
Addicted
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