Meet Sean Zearfoss | Drummer, Small Reactions

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sean Zearfoss and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks is a huge piece of how we approach making music. Art is supposed to be challenging and it’s supposed to elicit a response — we’d rather the audience hate a song instead of feeling indifferent to it. (Obviously, we’d most hope they love it, but that is up to them!) Small Reactions isn’t necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel as a pop band, but we do want to create something that reflects who we are. We like noise, drone, left-field sounds. Because those sounds are “anti-pop,” pairing them with a pop format seems counter-intuitive. We reside in a ever-changing space to create what we do. When we play live, we like to take the most risks. Songs are never played the same way twice and we routinely don’t know where we’ll end up. We sometimes land face-first because existing in the present is inherently risky. But it’s just more fun that way.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Small Reactions has been a band for quite some time. We’ll call it 2010 since that was our first 7″, but we started before that. I’ll not say more since evidence of our early days still floats around the Internet and I’d rather not turn you on to it. It was bad. We moved to Atlanta in 2009 and started a DIY space called The Cottage. It had a studio, a DIY space, and lots and lots of bands coming through. I’d often be upstairs working on grad school projects to the sound of bands downstairs. Small Reactions would often play shows in the basement on those same nights. From there, we pressed our records, recorded our music in-house, hired our own PR firms, and booked our own tours. We were DIY in every aspect of our band. It wasn’t easy, but always rewarding. When things go well, it’s your work on the line. When it goes poorly, it’s the same. We’ve had plenty of good and bad times with our only ourselves to blame. We’re thankful to have label now because a good group project is a lot more fun than working alone. Along the way, we’ve learned to trust ourselves, but know when to seek outside help. As long as those folks work as hard as you do (and ours do!) most things are possible.

TL;DR Don’t let anyone do for you what you can do yourself. Know what you can’t do yourself.


Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take the friend to East Atlanta Village. We’d hit Argosy for food and The EARL for drinks and a show. Gaja is across the street for Korean tacos and Joe’s is just down the block for coffee and pastries. Emerald City Bagels is also there! East Atlanta Village is my absolute favorite neighborhood for food, art, and nightlife. We’d also go to Lullwater Park and maybe Piedmont Park as well. Shoot the ‘Hooch if the weather is warm!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to give a shoutout to Ben Etter. We brought a half-finished record to him a few years ago with little direction forward. He helped us pick up the pieces by finishing the recordings, mixing, and producing the record. He’s got a great ear for what works, and, more importantly, what doesn’t. Most crucially, he understood our jibberish when telling him what our record needed to sound like—like Television, but “different.” In many ways, New Age Soul is as much his record as it is ours.

Website: www.smallreactions.com

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