A Conversation with Synth Wave Icon Com Truise
His thoughts on new music, social media, and a nostalgia for tangible cultural artifacts
“If I started the [Com Truise] project today, I’m not sure it would have made it...”
– Com Truise
On a recent warm South Florida afternoon, Networked Culture sat down with Seth Haley, the New York-born synthwave legend known as Com Truise, to discuss his music, his process, and the weight of social media on the modern creator. Haley posits that today’s oversaturated digital landscape makes it nearly impossible for artists—even those as talented and original as him—to stand out and make their presence known.
It is a frightening thought: the idea that music from a genre synonymous with early “internet culture” might have been lost forever, silenced by soul-crushing algorithms. If that is the case, how many talented artists are we missing out on right now? Could the “next” Com Truise be buried under the noise?
Listening to Haley speak with calm clarity and thoughtful intent, it becomes clear that his analog sound is much more than just an aesthetic—it’s a lifestyle. In a world where more than 60,000 AI-generated songs populate Spotify every day, Seth wants to slow down, “to go in reverse.” Ironically, this dizzying digital pace has made his project more relevant than ever.
As part of the last generation to remember answering machines, dial-up, and other relics of the analog era, Seth grew up with rave flyers and card games like Magic: The Gathering. With a background in graphic design, his affinity for those flyers makes sense; he appreciated that they let the music speak for itself. To that point, he doesn’t feel the Com Truise project is about him—it’s about the music.
Consequently, Seth refuses to trade that artistic integrity for a vapid promotional TikTok video. In fact, he quipped that the pressure to create self-focused content literally “makes me nauseous,” squarely rejecting the notion that a musician must also be a marketer, a content creator, and everything else besides an artist. The modern music business pressures artists and managers to leave nothing to the imagination. Gone are the days of the “rave flyer” mystique. Today’s musicians face an unprecedented demand for constant high-profile visibility and personal exposure. This demand is exhausting and inherently conflicts with the fundamental idea of allowing the art to simply speak for itself.
To that end, social media is no longer truly “social”—it has become a platform for media consumption. This runs counter to Seth’s intention to be an artist who creates primarily to share his work. In the current moment, social media platforms are designed for profit by fostering a manufactured “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO). They prey on our desire for inclusion while we, the users, become the product. In this ecosystem, Seth’s desire to “move in reverse” is truly a foreign concept. The digital world demands we document our presence simply to prove we were there, stripping the experience of any real meaning. “How can you really be present somewhere if you are only there for a pic for the ‘gram to prove it?” Haley asks.
For Seth, FOMO isn’t about missing the main stage at a mega-festival. It’s missing out on a rare vinyl. It’s the loss of the tangible: Magic cards, a physical sketchbook, or a beloved old comic book. Seth is decidedly embracing the physical, analog world and refusing to succumb to digital pressure. One thing is abundantly clear: Seth Haley is doubling down. He’s not releasing singles to feed the algorithm. He’s not posting selfies. He’s going in reverse. He’s doing what the algorithm hates most—taking his creative, artistic time. And best of all, that is exactly where inspiration, and the new music, awaits.
