Seb Rochford

Seb Rochford
Sebastian Rochford performing in October 2008
Background information
Born	Aberdeen, Scotland
Genres	Jazz, experimental, folk
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Drums
Associated acts	Polar Bear, Babyshambles, Carl Barat, Basquiat Strings, Menlo Park

Sebastian "Seb" Rochford is a Scottish drummer and bandleader who spans many musical genres. Rochford leads British band Polar Bear.

He was born in Aberdeen and has a large family of two brothers and seven sisters. His father, Gerard Rochford, is an accomplished poet in the north east of Scotland. He is married to Matana Roberts.

Rochford has played drums for Polar Bear, Acoustic Ladyland, Basquiat Strings, Oriole, Menlo Park, Ingrid Laubrock Quintet, Bojan Zulfikarpasic's Tetraband, and Sons of Kemet. He worked extensively with Joanna MacGregor and Andy Sheppard and leads the band Fulborn Teversham and has an improvising duo with Leafcutter John. He also has a solo project called Room of Katinas.

He has drummed for Pete Doherty, with his band Babyshambles, in the early days of the band, and has continued to make guest appearances with them. He drummed on the first Babyshambles release, a limited edition single "Babyshambles", released on the High Society label.

In 2008, he drummed on the David Byrne and Brian Eno album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. He has worked with Corrine Bailey Rae and Herbie Hancock. He drummed on five songs on Carl Barat's solo album released on 4 October 2010. In 2011, he drummed on Brian Eno and Rick Holland's album Drums Between the Bells. Rochford produced and co-wrote a four-track EP with UK hip hop MC Mikill Pane, The Guinness & Blackcurrant EP, which was released independently on 24 October 2011. Rochford has collaborated with American theremin player Pamelia Kurstin. He played live with Brett Anderson on Later Live... With Jools Holland on 1 November 2011. In 2014, he played on Paolo Nutini's album Caustic Love. In 2016, he toured with Patti Smith.