Inside the Virtual Stage: Exclusive Interview with Seen IT

Seen IT is one of those virtual bands that really makes VR feel alive. Sam and Matt, the two guys behind it, started jamming back in 2021, messing around with silly songs before finding their real sound – stuff that actually hits you in the chest. Tracks like “Cafe in the Rain” and “Left Alone” have pulled in a solid crowd, and their hand-painted album art just makes everything feel that much more personal.

They juggle day jobs, late-night demos, and VR gigs where they play live through avatars, throw up an IRL camera so you can see the real humans sweating it out, and chat with fans from all over the world. It’s raw, it’s fun, and it’s way more connected than your average stage show.

Now they’re bringing that energy to Somnium Space, and we’re stoked to sit down with them. In this interview, Sam and Matt open up about how they got started, what keeps them going in VR, the little tech tricks that save their shows, and why they think virtual bands are about to blow up even bigger.

Seen IT is set to light up Somnium Space on February 13, 2026, at 8:30 PM during Somnium Space’s epic Spotlight Sessions & Open Mic event, alongside Bleu Major. Expect their signature mix of powerful, emotional original tracks delivered live through immersive avatars, complete with that real-time IRL camera feed showing Sam and Matt rocking out in the studio. It’s the perfect chance to experience their human-touch VR energy, so grab your headset and join the global crowd for what promises to be a memorable night!

Whether you’ve been a Witness from day one or you’re just curious what the fuss is about, pull up a sea. This one’s worth your time. Welcome to the interview.

Image from https://seenitband.com/

Somnium Times: Can you walk us through how Seen It came together as a band? What sparked the initial jams that led to forming this duo?

Seen IT: Seen IT began in 2021, a few months after Sam and I started making music together for the first time. We initially leaned into goofy, playful songs, just having fun and experimenting. For a while, we even considered becoming a comedy band because we loved creating weird, funny music together.

That direction shifted once we started writing songs with more depth and meaning. We released “Anchor” as a test run to figure out how we wanted to put music out into the world, and soon after followed it with “Cafe in the Rain”, which has since become our most popular track.

Somnium Times: Your music seems to span different styles. How do you approach songwriting to keep things fresh and avoid sticking to one genre?

Seen IT: Sam and I approach songwriting from many angles, pulling from a wide range of influences like synthwave, ’80s rock, indie rock, and alternative. That mix gives us the freedom to explore different sounds and themes throughout our music.

Most of our songs are built from the ground up, starting with the instrumentation – drums, synth chords, or guitar riffs – before shaping melodies and lyrics around that core.

While we move fluidly between styles, the goal never changes: to create music that resonates and hits emotionally.

Our latest release, Left Alone, started with Matt creating a demo at 1 a.m. while completely worn out. We often work on demos both together and separately, and when this one was shared with Sam, we immediately began developing it further. The emotional weight of the song and its potential made it clear it could become our next single.

While we move fluidly between styles, the goal never changes: to create music that resonates and hits emotionally. Some tracks come together in just a few days, while others take weeks or even months, depending on the depth of the composition and the challenges involved in mixing and mastering the final details. The songs that come together quickly are usually our “lightning in a bottle” moments – when everything clicks naturally and the path forward reveals itself on its own.

Somnium Times: Your album covers consistently showcase striking artwork. Could you walk us through the creation process for these visuals? Do they typically come as an afterthought once the music is done, or are they woven into the initial stages of composing a new track?

Seen IT: Sam and Matt usually talk through the themes and storytelling of a new song before moving into the artwork. Once a demo is put together, Sam begins creating rough sketches to explore ideas for the album artwork and overall composition. From there, those concepts are brought to the canvas – often while listening to the demo – to make sure the emotions of the painting align with the vibe of the song. Most of the artwork is created using acrylic paint on a 12×12 canvas.

On rarer occasions, the process works in reverse, with a painting coming first and inspiring a new song. One example is “Adore You,” which began as a painting Sam created during a moment of inspiration. The artwork depicts a person admiring koi fish in a pond and realizing how much larger the world is than themselves. While the image doesn’t directly tell a love story, it captures the broader theme of adoration that ultimately shaped the song. The goosebumps and “A-Ha” moment for us is when we get to play the finalized song while looking at the finished artwork. Brings much joy to us.

Image from https://seenitband.com/

Somnium Times: As a two-piece band balancing day jobs, what’s been the biggest hurdle in creating and releasing your original tracks?

Seen IT: Our biggest challenge is knowing when a song is truly finished. We have no shortage of ideas or tracks we’re excited about, but many of them haven’t reached the level of polish we hold ourselves to. It’s easy to overwork a song – constantly tweaking parts, redoing sections, and chasing the possibility of something better.

We know this is a struggle shared by a lot of bands. There’s always that temptation to make one more change. At the same time, those revisions can sometimes lead to a breakthrough moment that elevates the song completely. In the end, we believe working through these challenges is worth it, because it pushes each track to become the best version of itself.

What makes Virtual Reality so special for performances is the ability to connect with so many different types of people. We have fans literally all around the world, and it’s amazing to talk and hang out with people whose experiences are shaped by where they live.

Somnium Times: VR platforms like VRChat have been key for you. How did you first get into performing live in virtual spaces, and what makes those shows unique compared to traditional gigs?

Seen IT: Matt didn’t get into VRChat until 2021, even though he had been a fan of virtual reality since picking up his first Vive headset in 2016. Early on, he was mostly focused on VR games like Skyrim VR and the wave of demos coming out at the time, and he didn’t really see the potential of social VR platforms. Even when VRChat gained popularity through memes, he tried it but still didn’t fully grasp what could be done in a virtual space.

That all changed when a friend encouraged him to give VRChat another chance. Matt found himself in a DJ world watching a live set and initially thought it was just a prerecorded mix or a YouTube stream. But when the DJ started interacting with the crowd in real time, it clicked – this was a new way to perform and connect with an audience. That experience drew him deeper into the VR DJ scene and inspired the idea that Seen IT could bring its own unique style to virtual performances.

What makes Virtual Reality so special for performances is the ability to connect with so many different types of people. We have fans literally all around the world, and it’s amazing to talk and hang out with people whose experiences are shaped by where they live. Another thing we love is the chance to witness pure creativity. There are so many talented people in the VR space that it constantly pushes us to see what we can do as artists. We’re always blown away by world creators, club venues, DJs, bands, and other artists, and their ability to push the limits of what’s possible in the virtual space.

VR performances are unlike traditional gigs – they’re immersive, interactive experiences. The combination of audience engagement, imaginative worlds, and limitless creative possibilities makes every set feel alive in a way a traditional stage can’t. We know it’s only going to get better, and as more people enter VR over time, they’ll discover the same creativity and connection that keeps us inspired in this space.

Image from https://seenitband.com/

Somnium Times: For your VR performances, what kind of setup do you use for real-time music and avatar interactions? Any tips on overcoming common tech issues?

Seen IT: Our current setup uses FL Studio and OBS. We stream FL Studio into OBS and sync our movements using passthrough, which we enable with our Quest 3s. Our avatars have been a major work in progress – every time we think we’ve reached the limit of what we can do, like guitar and bass interactions, another creator comes along with something new that helps us level up as VR musicians.

One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is to always test before the show. Doing a quick run-through beforehand can save a lot of headaches. And here’s a simple but lifesaving tip: always restart your PC (not shut it down, just restart). That alone has solved about 80% of potential issues before they even become a problem.

Somnium Times: VR allows for global, interactive audiences. Can you share how fan feedback has shaped your evolution?

Seen IT: One of the biggest changes we made early on was adding an IRL camera that shows us performing live in our studio during shows. When we started, the idea was to be purely a VR band, and at first, we didn’t think anyone would want to see us in real life at all. But one time we decided to show ourselves, and the response was incredible – people loved it. In fact, some viewers came back for the next show and were disappointed when we didn’t show the camera.

That’s when we realized we could be a Virtual Reality band while still showing that we’re human. The IRL camera captures all the micro-movements and human elements that make us Seen IT, adding another layer to the experience. It’s something VR hasn’t fully been able to express yet, but as the technology continues to improve, we believe it will eventually feel just as real as being there in person.

Somnium Times: We’re excited you will perform in Somnium Space! How did this come about and what do you know about the platform?

Seen IT: We were actually approached by Meloz to perform our live show in the Venue: EuroFunk VR alongside Japanese bands like Messcore and CROWK. After that, we started hearing about other VR platforms such as Resonite and Somnium. We’re always looking toward the future of Virtual Reality, so it’s exciting to see other companies pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the VR space.

Somnium Times: What can fans expect from your performance in Somnium Space? Why should they join the event?

Seen IT: They can expect a Live performance that is interactive and full of great powerful, emotional music. We bring a human touch to our avatar performances with a live camera of our studio. We interact with fans face to face and on the big screen.

Somnium Times: Looking ahead, where do you envision virtual bands like Seen IT in the next few years, and how might Somnium contribute to that growth?

Seen IT: We see virtual bands rapidly growing in popularity, in ways that are starting to push traditional IRL performances to rethink how they engage audiences. There’s something really exciting happening with VR bands – an energy and potential that many people haven’t fully realized yet. We believe platforms like Somnium, Resonite and VRChat offer a new way to experience this kind of entertainment, helping to expand and grow Virtual Reality as a whole. It’s inspiring to see everyone in the VR community coming
together to make the space bigger, better, and more creative every day.

Somnium Times: Finally, if people want to connect with you and dive deeper into the world of Seen IT, where should they go?

Seen IT: Fans can visit our website, seenitband.com, and sign up as a free member – or a Witness, which is what we call our fans. There, they’ll find more content about what we’re working on and get deeper updates on the future of Seen IT. They can also check out our Linktree for all of our important links and platforms: https://linktr.ee/seenit.

Somnium Times: Thanks so much, Sam and Matt, for taking the time to chat with us here at Somnium Times. It was a genuine pleasure hearing about your journey, from those early goofy jams to building something so real and connecting with fans all over the world through VR. We’re genuinely excited to see you bring that energy to Somnium Space on February 13 and we can’t wait to catch the show.

Image from https://seenitband.com/

All media in this article from https://seenitband.com/

About Somnium Space

Somnium Space, the company behind the VR1, also runs a blockchain-based virtual reality platform that allows users to create, experience, and monetize content and applications. The platform is committed to building a decentralized and immersive VR world that offers users a unique and engaging experience.

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