Seether formed in South Africa in 1999 under the name Saron Gas, and consisted of frontman vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart, and drummer Dave Cohoe. The band released their first album, Fragile, in 2000, and eventually caught the attention of American record label Wind-Up Records, who signed them to a record deal to begin releasing music in North America. Upon signing to the label, they were told they needed to change their name due to its similarity to the chemical sarin gas, and they switched their name to Seether.

They have 8 albums under their belt, including the most recent Poison the Parish.

Seether has undergone several lineup changes over the years, with vocalist/guitarist Shaun Morgan and bassist Dale Stewart remaining constant.

It has been 6 years since the band last performed in South africa and now they will be returning to perform one show in Johannesburg on the 20th of May 2018.

How does it feel to be coming back to South Africa?
Dale:
“It feels great – I wish we could come back more and play more. It feels like it is so few and far between, to come home and play. I’m excited and from what I hear the ticket sales are looking good. People are keen to see us. It’s nice to know that they haven’t forgotten about us.”

Everyone is incredibly excited and it is great to hear that you haven’t lost your accent.
Dale:
“Ja! My American accent is really bad. I do think it has changed a little especially when I am there. A lot of people think it sounds Australian, which is weird to me. I have people asking me all the time.”

It’s incredible what you guys have achieved. I meet so many bands who dream of international success and you guys managed to achieve it – it must be quite surreal to look back on this time and on how much you have achieved?
Dale:
“It’s pretty crazy when I look back and when I do come home and visit, I like to come home at least once a year. It puts it into perspective and takes me back to that time when we were just a garage band, slugging away in South Africa trying to book gigs, trying to play in festivals… So much time has passed and we have been to so many places since then, we feel blessed. I know it is not something that happens every day, and it is a one in a million shot that we got given this opportunity. We definitely count our blessings.”

A lot of it is hard work and talent as well.
Dale:
“Thank you. That is absolutely right. A lot of people ask me for advice on success. I don’t think there is an answer and I don’t think there is any one answer – all you can tell people is do what we’ve done; keep touring, keep playing, keep booking gigs and shows, hit the road, get out there, go play for people, that’s the key. That is how we made our plans. Hopefully if you put on a good show they’ll support you. Some bands might have a radio hit on the radio. We’ve had a fair amount of love on radio, which is a massive help, but you do have to get out there and work, and you have to sacrifice a lot to do this; relationships, sanity… a normal life. It is very difficult to have a normal life or relationship or family doing this. It’s hard and it’s not for everyone that’s why a lot of people do give up on it.
You need to be willing to give up things and sacrifice things and dedicate your life to doing this. That is really what it takes.”

The growth of your song writing has been tremendous – the success of each album surpasses the previous one; looking back to 2000 up until your latest release, ‘Poison the Parish’.
‘Holding onto Strings better left to Fray’, is for me the album that really cemented you guys in the International market. The accolades you received for it were tremendous, and even you said it was you best album.
Dale:
“Yeah, it is still one of my favourites. There was something about that album – I don’t know if it was Brendan O’Brien or working with him, but that in itself was wow. He wanted to work with us, he has worked with Pearl Jam and AC/DC, so that in itself was a compliment. I really do think we learned a lot from him as well. Every one you work with leaves a bit of an impression on you or your song writing and your process, and I think he did have a big influence. I definitely have a soft spot for that album, and I love the title as well. It sums the album up perfectly.”

You’ve toured with so many incredible bands, you have all these accolades – is there a moment that really stand out for you?
Dale:
“There are a bunch – it happens every now and again. I’ll just be on stage randomly and I will look out at the people and it just hits you. Then you run through all your memories and you have this reflective moment on stage and those are pretty cool. You never know when it will hit. One that stood out for me, was when we did Cokefest and we played Centurion Park, and opening for Metallica. It was crazy, I grew up just down the street from Centurion Park and we used to walk there and watch Cricket as lighties, so it really was my old stomping ground, on stage, with 50 000 people going nuts. I’ll look over and there is Lars and James from Metallica sitting on the side of the stage watching. These are my childhood heroes, in my home town, my parents were on the other side of the stage, other family as well. It was this incredible moment. It was insane. Who gets to do this? This is one moment that still sticks out in my mind.”

Let’s talk about Poison the Parish – it is so relevant and so insightful. Going back to my earlier statement where a lot of youngsters all want to be famous and don’t really understand the work that goes into this success. We are living in a fame hungry society.
Dale:
“That is a lot of what Shaun is talking about. People just want to be famous for the sake of being famous. It isn’t a case of wanting to be known for my art or I want to contribute something to the world. People just want their face on stuff, they want to be Kim Kardashian. It’s this weird world in which we live, where we can make Youtube videos and become rich and famous. Or you can just be disgusting human beings and on that basis people just want to watch you. I feel that our technology has out paced our ability to evolve with it. It has happened so quickly. We live in a completely different world and I don’t think people are quite ready for it. I think that is why there is a spike in suicides and mass shootings, because before bullying used to be only at school but now you get home and now it’s on Facebook and every where else. Everywhere you look there are these weird unrealistic images of beauty; Instagram girls with photo shopped pictures. I think it definitely has a knock on people’s self esteem and I think it is causing major social problems. As great as the internet is and as positive as it can be, I think there are negative effects too. We are probably going to look back in 30 years time and remember when it just started and how many people abused it. Hopefully we will look back and find a better way to regulate things, especially for kids looking to find their identity.”

There is no sense of self worth because if your worth is because of a video, then you don’t really feel that you’ve achieved anything.
Dale:
“It’s not like painting a picture or doing something with your hands. I am from a different time and the technology is taking over, and it is the evolution of the species, but I think there is a lot of merit to the validation point. There is a lot of good in doing something with your hands, in building something, making something, cooking, making a meal, you feel good, it’s fulfilling. I feel like that is being lost. More and more people spend more and more time doing less and less. I am guilty as well, I spend way too much time on Youtube. I do try to watch more intellectual stuff if I can. It’s the world we live in. It’s crazy how quickly it changed. It wasn’t like this ten years ago. It’s a different world now and it happened in a blink of an eye. 10 years from now, what is technology going to look like. It is a fascinating time to be a live. There is no way to predict which way it will go.”

Are there any South African bands that have caught your attention?
Dale:
“Honestly I am completely out of the scene. I don’t really know what is going on. When I do come home to visit it is strictly family time. I don’t really get to go out to gigs. That is what is cool about coming back now in this capacity, we will get to see some opening bands and get to be more involved in the scene. It’s going to be cool to get more involved in the scene. I am really looking forward to playing.”

 

 

For more information about the event, go to: http://www.bsharpentertainment.co.za/seether-in-sa/