My name is Sean Padilla, and I make music under the name “The Cocker Spaniels." The name comes from a conversation I overheard as a child, during which my female cousins ranted about how all men are “dogs.” I thought to myself, "If I'm going to be a dog, I might as well be a cute one."

C.Spaniels began in 1994 as a recording project involving me, Alex Wing and Jon Koza. We all sang, wrote songs and played multiple instruments. Despite being the worst musician, I was the most prolific songwriter, so I ended up dominating the project. Unfortunately, when I moved from my birthplace of Brooklyn, NY to Beaumont, TX in 1996, I could no longer write or record regularly with Alex and Jon. C.Spaniels has been a solo operation ever since, but I keep the name as a tribute to Alex and Jon, who were my best friends at the time, and the first peers to truly believe in my music.

My musical influences can be summarized as follows: the hip-hop of the late 1980s and early 1990s convinced me to tell my story through music; the Beatles convinced me to do it specifically through rock and roll; Jimi Hendrix convinced me that it was cool for a Black man to do so; Prince convinced me to do it on my own; Pavement convinced me that I didn't have to do it perfectly; and Guided by Voices convinced me to do it with whatever means I had available. My Bloody Valentine, Oval and J Dilla taught me the joy of manipulating sound. Last but not least, John and Alice Coltrane added a spiritual dimension to the process.

From 1994 to 2000, I recorded seven albums' worth of material on a cassette multi-track. This material chronicles my life from middle school to college in graphic, uncomfortable, and occasionally immature detail. These recordings stayed within my small circle of friends until 1998, when I gained Internet access and discovered “cassette culture.” I traded cassettes and CDRs of my music with any DIY 'zines or band I found interesting. Through this network I developed a small but worldwide fan base without ever courting the traditional music industry. It was bewildering to hear my music played on the BBC at a time when I was getting booed off stage at high school talent shows for not sounding like Usher.

In 2004, I self-released Withstand the Whatnot, a compilation of songs I recorded during my last three years as a college student. It was my first professionally mastered and pressed CD. It received mostly positive reviews in many publications, and sold steadily until it went out of print in 2007. I booked two national tours to support it, and got the attention of numerous bands I admire: the Forms, Capillary Action, volcano! & TV on the Radio were among them.

Unfortunately, things went haywire for me shortly thereafter. My multi-track stopped working, leaving me unable to record; my car then broke down, leaving me also unable to tour. Familial, spiritual and romantic crises weakened my mind and broke my heart. Underemployment made the task of rebuilding my life even more arduous. Through it all, I kept writing and performing; I even toured the West Coast in 2009 with one of my mother's old cars. I also came up with a few side hustles, most notably a patronage system and a mail-order cookie business, to help raise the money I needed to record and release another album.

Sometimes You've Gotta Fight to Get a Bit of Peace is the result of all of that work. Every element of that album demonstrated significant improvement in my craft. I became a better singer, musician, writer and performer than ever. I used better recording equipment, invited more guests to sing and play with me, and solicited outside help to mix, master and distribute the album. It was released by Hornbuckle Records in the summer of 2010, and I'm still immensely proud of it!

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I was able to buy a van shortly after the album's release. I then went on a five-week tour of the Midwest, the East Coast and the Deep South during the fall. If that wasn't enough, I also fused my patronage system and my mail-order cookie business together under the umbrella of the Gratitude Sessions!

Unfortunately, history repeated itself in 2011: the equipment that I used to record Sometimes You've Gotta Fight... broke down. Fortunately, my van remained intact, so I spent most of the year performing local and regional shows, and saving money to buy new instruments and recording gear.

In 2012, I plan to turn this website into a comprehensive archive of my musical activities; to fully rebuild my home studio so that I can continue my Gratitude Sessions series and record the next C.Spaniels album; to form a backing band for live performances; and, last but not least, to book another national tour!

I don't care about hipness, fame or money, though I wouldn't turn down any of it. I just want to be able to keep making music. I love doing it, and it helps people other than myself in ways that reveal themselves to me daily. I'll keep doing it without anyone's support if I have to, but I can do it more efficiently with YOUR support.