Formed in 1996, The Seahorses leaned more towards guitar-driven music than the dancehall rock of Stone Roses. For the band, Squire chose three artists unknown by the music community. First to join was the bassist Stuart Fletcher. Next was the lead vocalist Chris Helme, whom Squire had spotted busking. The final addition was drummer Andy Watts, who also provided backing vocals.
Their first album, Do it Yourself, was produced by Tony Visconti, for Geffen Records in June 1997, and received varied reviews. One of the songs on the album, "Love Me and Leave Me", was co-written with Liam Gallagher of Oasis, with whom the Seahorses toured in 1997.
During the production of their second album, it was announced that drummer Andy Watts was leaving the group to spend more time with his family. In an interview in 2002, he recounted that, rather than leaving, he was fired by the group's accountant at the behest of Squire. Watts was slated to be replaced by Mark Heany, however, The Seahorses then announce, surprisingly, that they are disbanding; the NME is the first to report this on the 27th February 1999. Squire was interview on radio after recording his 2nd solo album, suggesting that the breakdown of the band was due to singer/acoustic guitarist Chris Helme wanting to run a solo career alongside the Seahorses, which was understandingly something that Squire was uncomfortable with. So Helme went his own way, thinking he could make it on his own, but after five minutes of gigging, he was told otherwise. He would later hook back up with Seahorses bassist, Stu Fletecher and along with Ex-Shed Seven Paul Banks they formed The Yards.
The Seahorses 2nd studio album was never official released. It was scheduled for Summer 1999 release. The songs were apparently all written but the band split before the album was mastered and the tracklisting decided. The album had a working title of either 'Minus Blue' or 'Motorcade' The most common reason for the band splitting was that Chris Helme wanted to run a solo project alongside The Seahorses, as he has done with his current project, The Yards.
The name The Seahorses is often times claimed to be an anagram of the phrase he hates roses. Squire, however, has claimed in interviews that the band was named after a large fiberglass seahorse which Squire bumped his head against while leaving a pub on the very day he announced his departure from The Stone Roses.
