A Dirty Dozen with JAY LAMM from CEA SERIN – August 2025

According to a recent press release: “CEA SERIN is where progressive metal collides with cinematic storytelling, unrelenting intensity, and haunting beauty. Blending virtuosic musicianship with evocative lyricism, the band weaves complex rhythms, soaring melodies, and atmospheric textures into songs that feel as introspective as they are explosive. Founded by Jay Lamm, CEA SERIN began as a personal vision—an outlet to push beyond the boundaries of metal into something more cerebral and emotionally resonant. What started in the underground evolved into a cult phenomenon, praised for its fearless experimentation and powerful live performances. With a sound rooted in progressive metal but pulling from melodic death, new age, classical, and electronic influences, CEA SERIN defies easy categorization. CEA SERIN are proud to announce their new album The World Outside, due out on September 12th via Generation Prog Records. To celebrate the announcement, the band has launched their new single, “All the Light That Shines,” alongside a music video, available below.” We get Jay to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

The World Outside is an album I’ve been toiling over, thinking about, tortured by, and obsessed with for years now.  I hinted at it in the linear notes of our second album which came out 11 years ago, and many of the songs for this third album were already completed years before that.  So, I’ve been living with every detail of this album in my head for so long and it’s quite a thrill to finally have it being released as a physical product.  It’s truly something I’m the most proud of and would be quite alright with it being carved into my gravestone as the one thing I should be remembered for. All that being said, it is a dense recording with lots going on.  Every song is over ten minutes and consists of layers upon layers of details.  I don’t think it’s possible to get a visceral understanding of the album in one pass. And, listening to it on headphones is very different than listening to it in your car.  One of the things I was most concerned with during the mixing process of this album was not competing in the “loudness wars” and actually crafting a listening experience that was dynamic.  I wanted the quiet parts to be soft and the loud parts to be heavy.  That, in itself, brings forth a lot of challenges in doing justice to all the instruments.  There’s a lot going on with the keyboards and bass guitar that will certainly get missed with the first initial listen.  There are also bits of “chatter” that are nearly unintelligible but purposely so. I remember hearing—years ago I heard this—that there was this theory that if a listener of music can fully grasp every detail of an album, they’ll lose all interest in it.  I don’t necessarily believe that, but it is an idea I’ve had in the back of my mind when working on something musical: to make it dense with discoveries waiting to be found years later. As far as these hidden nuggets is concerned, I do include a lot of “chatter” into the recordings.  Basically, what I do is take text, quotes, conversations that have meaning to me and convert them from text to speech.  I then use that speech recording to layer upon itself with other text-to-speech recordings to create a sort of brain noise.  Like, when your brain can’t shut off and is constantly rambling.  It’s that effect.  However, the ramblings and chatter do have a certain meaning if you can make out what is being said.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My desire to become a musician can go back to around 1987.  That’s when Evil Dead 2 first came out. It was the scene where the character Ash was playing piano in the cabin while his girlfriend was dancing behind him.  It was such a cool song and Evil Dead 2 was such a cool movie.  I wanted to fight demons and be as cool as Ash from the Evil Dead movies. So, step one was learning how to play piano.  That would put me learning piano at around age 12, I believe.  Not long after that, I got into bands like Megadeth and Babylon A.D. and just became attracted to the bass guitar.  At that point I kind of put the desire to fight Kandarian demons aside to focus solely on become a good musician. It was listening to Megadeth’s “In My Darkest Hour” when I was able to hear the bass guitar, what it was doing, and its role in how it made the band sound heavier that I first started to understand the role of the bass.  To me, the bass guitar seemed like the outsider of the band, the misunderstood misfit of sorts. Bassist, Janek Gwizdala, once said that musicians are sonically attracted to the instrument they feel best represents them. For me, that was the bass guitar.  But it wasn’t long after taking my first batch of lessons that I also wanted to learn how to sing, play drums, play guitar, etc. etc. But really, it all began with the Evil Dead 2 and wanting to not only fight off demons with a chainsaw and shotgun, but also to be able to play beautiful piano for my gifted dancer girlfriend while on a cabin getaway in some haunted woods.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

What really guided my musical taste was not wanting to like and listen to what everyone else was liking and listening to.  If the kids in school were all listening to country music then I wanted to listen to metal.  If all my friends were listening to Faster Pussycat and Warrant then I wanted to listen to Skid Row and Cacophony.  If they all started to get into Metallica and Mötley Crüe then I wanted to start listening to Morbid Angel and Yanni. I just found everything to be valid and interesting.  The way I saw it was if I didn’t like death metal than it wasn’t death metal’s fault, it was my fault.  Thousands upon thousands of people liked death metal, so what was I missing? But there was one musical artist that did the most in steering me in a certain direction that I would end up working towards for years to come.  That would definitely be Yanni.  In particular, his live albums Live at the Acropolis and Tribute had a huge impact on me. I really enjoyed the combination of styles and cultural influences in his music.  Particularly, the parts brought upon and expanded upon by the individual musicians from around the world.  Their solos all had their own flare and personality and added to the overall feel of the song.  I think you add my big Yanni influence and then throw in my taste for the early years of Dream Theater and mix in the tempo and riff style of At The Gates and you’ve got the current sound of Cea Serin.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

That would really be determined by the type of song.  I would love to have Roy Khan sing on one of my songs.  And that’s something to say because I’m the only one I want to hear singing my lyrics.  But Roy Khan is my favorite singer and would just love to hear him on one of my songs. Since I’ve been doing and dealing with a lot of guest soloists now to fill in my lead guitar sections, it opens up a who’s-who list of all the players I’d love to have solo on one of my tracks.  Besides the ones I’ve already worked with, I’d love to have the solo work of Per Nilsson from Scar Symmetry.  I’ve always loved the solos of Alex Skolnik, too.  It also goes without saying that Marty Friedman and John Petrucci would be fantastic to have in my rolodex.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

My absolute favorite thing to do has always been reading.  I’m a voracious reader and constantly read several books at a time. I’ll have my one main fiction book and then I’ll balance that out with my science book and whatever non-fiction topic of the day I want to learn about.  I’m currently trying to read every Stephen King book in order of publication because I want to crack the code of what makes him so ubiquitous throughout the culture and over several generations.  I’ve come upon some ideas and things I’ve noticed that he does that other authors don’t do.  So, it’s an entertaining experience as well as a learning experience. When I put that fiction book down for the day and set it aside, I find myself going through a number of astronomy books because in my daily life I teach astronomy and create planetarium shows.  So, I’m always trying to get as well-read and thorough on that subject as possible.  And when I put that aside I’m trying to better myself in going through a series of books on self-improvement.  This means I have a curated selection of books meant to help me understand physical health, personal responsibility, gain knowledge about personal finance, as well as gain perspective on nature and man’s place in it. So, right now, I’m reading through Walden by Henry David Thoreau.  Before that, a book on stock markets, and after this will be a book on how to negotiate and deal with people in my professional life.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I’ve always described Cea Serin as “mercurial metal.”  Not because I want to distance myself from “progressive metal,” I just think progressive metal has—or should have—a distinct sound and of expectations.  These days, “prog metal” is extremely diverse in its categorizations.  I don’t necessarily think a big fan of Rush or Dream Theater would be into Cea Serin.  So, for me, I like to put more of an emphasis on the “mercurial” side of what we are, i.e. an ever-changing blend of styles. Over the years I’ve learned to lean into or accept my position as a “progressive metal” musician, but I typically tell people that Cea Serin is a cross between the prog of Dream Theater, the tempo and riffs of At The Gates, and the song structure and ambiance of Yanni. I don’t think I’ve ever come across anything really cringe worthy in comparisons drawn towards us.  Sometimes people will list bands that we might sound like that I’m not particularly in agreement with.  But, to each their own.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

At this point, the band lives all over the place so we don’t really hang out anymore.  But there have certainly been times in the past where we had some extended time together. However, whenever we hang out it’s usually pretty mission oriented.  Like, we’re either recording, traveling, or practicing.  I don’t drink but I do cook; however, when the band is around, we’re usually ordering take-out so we can stay focused on what we’re doing. I kinda miss the days of hanging out with band members.  Those days are kinda gone now.  Even when I toured with Cirque Dreams along with Keith (former Cea Serin guitarist) we didn’t hang out much. I practiced a lot in the hotel room or mainly went off on my own.  I think when you spend so much time together, whenever you get a chance to sort of get away and get some quality alone time with yourself for some peace and quiet, you take those opportunities when you can get them.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

The last time I was starstruck was when I met James Randi. If you don’t know who James Randi was (he passed away in 2020), he was a magician and scientific skeptic.  If you remember back when Houdini was winding down his magician career, he was also doing a lot of psychic debunking.  Like, when people were making claims of actually having psychic powers, he would expose their tricks.  It’s one thing to be an entertaining magician, it’s another to actually claim you have the ability to speak to the dead and take people’s money for it. So, James Randi spent a lot of time exposing hucksters and frauds who claimed to have actual magical powers.  This went beyond the carnival acts and into televangelists and stuff like that. I intentionally try not to meet any musician I like because I don’t want to be disappointed but would rather compartmentalize them as just these musicians-over-there and keep them over there. However, back-in-the-day I was heavily into the Skeptic society which involved scientific investigations into claims of the paranormal and extraordinary. Basically, let’s say there’s some claim about a statue bleeding from the eyes, there would be an investigation into the statue, the blood, and the people surrounding the statue’s placement.  Eventually, they’d find out the blood was actually cow’s blood from some butcher shop up the street and this would lead to the conclusion that the whole thing was a hoax.  The point is offering a reasonable explanation into a rather extraordinary claim. Anyway, James Randi was big in this movement and I had read his books, seen his lectures, just learned a lot about him and what he did to further scientific inquiry.  I met him at a skeptic’s convention and got him to sign one of his books for me but I didn’t have the nerve to ask for a photograph.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I think the answer to that question would probably be the same answer any artist would give, be they a painter, writer, actor, musician, etc.  That the best thing about being an artist is that you’re making something cool that other people also think is cool, and that thing you thought was just so cool has now become a part of someone else’s life for years to come. I remember getting an email from someone saying they made this long trip through Europe and listened to the first Cea Serin album over and over again there and back.  I emailed back telling him that he made my year.  It was so cool to know that detail of someone’s experience.  That person will remember that trip and remember they listened to this one album on repeat the whole way.  So, it’s incredibly fulfilling to know that you’ve made something that has had such a positive impact on people’s lives. Aside from being a musician, I still work hard at being a writer and photographer.  On my downtime from writing and recording music I still work at these other things and find great enjoyment out of all that.  In fact, next year I plan on releasing another album under a different band name and after that I plan on devoting most of my time to getting back into writing.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

You know, it’s funny that you ask that now because the one question I always wanted to get was one I just answered here.  That would be “who do I most want to work with.”  And the reason why I’ve always wanted to be asked this is because I’ve always hoped that it might one day find its way into the ear of those people I’m most interested in working with.  I’ve always wanted my opportunities to open up more to gain access to musicians whose attentions might be hard to reach. For example, I tried pretty hard to get in touch with some musicians that are outside the world of metal and just couldn’t gain any ground.  For my next album I want to have a variety of solos from not just guitarists but from soloists with an expertise in trumpet, violin, hammered dulcimer, etc. So, it’d be great one day to just have a way or resource where I can more readily reach some of these people. But I’ve always wanted to be asked about who I wanted to work with so I could name-drop Roy Khan, Marty Friedman, and Per Nilsson. But the question I’m most tired of gettin, without a doubt, hands down, “what does your band’s name mean.”  It’s in almost every single interview.  I’m not complaining. I’m glad they’re interested, but I’ve just answered that question dozens upon dozens of times over the years, both personally and in print. Aside from that, for some reason I always get asked what my opinion is on the definition of “progressive metal.”  I don’t know what makes me the Mariam-Webster of prog metal but I just get asked that all the time.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Absolutely, without a doubt the biggest misstep for me over the years has been my inability to initiate change when it’s most needed.  Specifically in the case of knowing when I should have moved on from what has been holding me back and delaying albums over the years. There was a ten-year gap between the first and second album and an eleven-year gap between the second and third album.  I can chalk this up specifically to me waiting around for my guitarist-at-that-time to get his act together and record.  Instead of accepting that it was never going to happen and just moved on without him, I waited and waited because I didn’t want to do it without him. Getting him to record was worse than pulling teeth.  Ultimately, I had to bite the bullet and record all the rhythm guitars myself and outsource the lead guitars to other people.  I should’ve done that a long time ago. It was a huge misstep because such a long break between albums really screwed up any momentum we ever had. People think we broke up and got back together.  Nope.  I’ve been thinking about these songs and these albums every day of my life.  Now I’m just going to do as much of everything myself as I possibly can.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I would honestly like to go back and be a part of the recording process of Lord Bane’s Age of Elegance album.  Not just to see how it was recorded—because there are musical parts I still don’t know how they performed—but to try and get the album’s mix to be…different. I mean, the album is what it is but I sure would like the vocals to be louder and the mastering to be a bit louder as well.  There are so many people that love that album, but everyone complains about the mix. I think the mix is okay and it’s definitely an album with dynamics but when you put that album on in your car you’ve got to really crank it up to the max to have it sound as effective as other albums might also sound in your car.  And the vocals are just phenomenal but buried in the mix.

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Category: Interviews