Andy Watts

The Seahorses
L-R: Stuart Fletcher, John Squire, Chris Helme, and Andy Watts
Background information
Origin	York, England
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, progressive rock
Years active	1996–1999
Labels	Geffen
Associated acts	The Stone Roses, The Yards, Rick Witter & The Dukes, The Shining
Past members	John Squire Stuart Fletcher Chris Helme Andy Watts Mal Scott Toby Drummond Mark Heaney

The Seahorses were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire, following his departure from The Stone Roses.

The band released their debut album, Do It Yourself in 1997, and began work on a follow up, before splitting up due to musical differences during recording sessions in January 1999.

Forming the Seahorses in 1996 following his departure from The Stone Roses, Squire first recruited bassist Stuart Fletcher who he saw by chance at the Fibbers venue in York where he was drinking with his guitar tech Martin Herbet. Fletcher was playing in local covers band, The Blueflies, as a last minute replacement for the band's regular bass player who had pulled out of the gig. He then auditioned two singers – Sean O'Brien, previously of Warrington band "The Steamboat Band", and Chris Helme, who was spotted by a friend of Squire's guitar tech busking outside Woolworths in York. Following several auditions and the prompting of his manager, Squire eventually settled on Helme, despite being hesitant because he "closed his eyes when he sang and only folk singers do that". And whilst Helme was a songwriter himself, Squire admitted early on that despite liking a couple of songs including "Blinded by the Sun" which he radically re-arranged for the album, "Yeah, he can write the odd tune but I don't really like them and it might be a problem later on if he wants to record them with the band".

In the summer of 1996, Squire rented a cottage in Coniston, Cumbria to write and rehearse with Helme and Fletcher. Several drummers were auditioned before finally recruiting Andy Watts, who had previously gigged with Fletcher and also knew Helme. The delay in recruiting a drummer was due to Squire's desire to get a drummer who, like Reni, could also sing backing vocals. It had previously been rumoured that Reni was set to join the band.

Just weeks after Watts joined, the band played secret warm up gigs in Buckley, Greenock and Lancaster, before heading to North Hollywood to record with David Bowie and T. Rex producer Tony Visconti.