| Seether | ||||
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 As you power through your day and push on to get the job done, music always seems to help you drive through the muck. Going through the routine of drive, work, drive and then bed, day in and day out, I find myself transported at times when I hear a song and can't help but look like the village idiot as I am singing my lil heart out. You have seen me at stop lights, making a quick turn, and even barreling down the highway. Nothing makes me transform into that idiot more than the sweet southern sound of Seether. Those southern boys can really put some twang in the guitar string and bring that Dixie rock sound to any of their songs. However with all this being said, I am not liking them to the bands from down south but applying it strictly to their own roots out of South Africa. Yeah interestingly enough, the accent you hear at the merch booth, while shaking their hands, is one of most of us in the Good Ole USA rarely hear. I got to crack up at it recently when I interviewed Dale and here is how it went;
Rio-- You guys are riding high on the success of the new album "holding onto strings better left to Fray", the single "Country Song" has blown up, so tell me how the album is being accepted by the fans. Dale--It's been great, really the best response we have had so far. Bigger than any of the previous albums. Country song has really taken a life of its own. As soon as we start to play it the crowd really gets into it and sing every word. It's amazing, really. SW--It seems that this album is a little different than any previous Seether production. Do you want to tell us about this album? Dale--We really concentrated on growing and evolving with this album. We pushed ourselves and our creativeness to have a great product but yet still stay within the Seether framework. We do play these songs every night and we wanted to make sure that we could keep it interesting. We were able to touch the heavy songs, the lighter songs, and everything in between. After we came up with many ideas, we sat down and came up with a list of our favorites then that dictated what the album would end up sounding like. SW--Now speaking of favorites, I will say my favorite song is "Rose", it has everything that I would want. The vocals are clean, riffs are dynamic. So what's your favorite off this album? Dale--My favorite, well it actually changes. My favorite right now is the song called "tonight". I just love it you know. It’s a feel good song, if you want to call it that. It's just a fun song t play and the crowds really seem to love it as much. I am sure it will change in the next couple of weeks. SW-- With the success that this album is reaching, Seether is all over the radio. Are you noticing the change and how do you keep yourselves grounded? If you weren't there before this album, you guys are certainly there now. Dale--Yeah it is really weird now. My girlfriend lives in Ohio (yeah the girl who says her boyfriend is in Seether..well she isn't telling a lie) and when I am up there I hear it all the time. The excitement never goes away no matter how many times you hear your song on the radio. I think we have always been able to stay grounded. We have been doing this a very long time and we have never taken ourselves too seriously. We are just regular guys, well as regular as you can be, you know. The weird thing is that before you were just a small fish in a big pond and now the role is reversed. We seem to be a big fish in a tiny pond. If this was to happen overnight I am not sure how it would have turned out, but for us we have been here for a while and the gradual climb has kept us hard working and grateful. SW--We see many bands that have that quick success and act in a way that they believe that rockstars should act. I have also witnessed some bands with longevity have some nice talks about how to treat the stardom and the fans. Dale--We believe that there is always the importance of paying your dues. There is value to playing in your garage or playing little clubs for your friends. Going through the stages and taking those steps necessary are hugely important. The gear in the back of your pick up truck, then the van and trailer, and on to the tour bus. These are steps that need to be taken. Instant success is very dangerous to a young band. You really appreciate things when you get to the tour bus stage. I remember being back in South Africa in 2000 going from show to show in the back of an old pickup. Packing the gear in and having to trade who sat in the cab. Four of us could not fit inside so someone was always going to get rained on. Those were some really great days. Not knowing if we were going to have enough money to eat, or would we have to buy gas to get to the gig. And I feel that is what made the importance of what and where we are today, so impactful to us. Our first tour I don’t even think we ate anything. SW--Many American fans believe you guys to be a southern band. Do you run into this on tour that some fans are naïve to the fact that you are not from the southern states? Dale--We do run into this a great deal. They usually notice that it isn’t a southern accent long after the conversation has started. Its' kind of fun to mess around with the fans a little. SW--Taking a look at your upcoming dates and there is only 1 date back in South Africa. How do you guys see the going home? Dale--It's always special since we don’t get to go back very often. I will take the time to see some family and spend time with my parents. It's just always a good thing when you can spend a few days back at home. I haven’t been there in a couple of years. SW--Are there still times when Seether stops, looks around, and says " I can't believe we are doing this"? Dale-- Hell yeah, of course. Mostly when we are playing with a very ruckus crowd, you know. Its sobering to look out and see them all singing back at you. I mean these are our songs and they all know it. Its hard hitting you know. SW-- We all know your songs "Fake it" and "Broken", now do you ever go out and catch live local bands or even karaoke singers doing your songs? Dale-- Yeah from time to time we will be out and see a band cover one of our songs. Its cool to see it you know. There are those that do it so well that it amazes me. Its like, man I need to do it that way because it sounds so much better than me playing it. Then there are times when they just murder it. And I cringe a bit. But I think it affects my girlfriend more. I enjoy seeing someone else's take on how I play the song. The good thing about our music is that it's not rocket science. Its just fun music to play. SW--Shaun had the red hair and had a gang of fans following his lead with the red hair. Are you jealous that you didn’t think of it first. Dale--No way I would look terrible with red hair. There was this one kid that, well Shaun didn’t have it red that long, and he was like where is Shaun's red hair? Why isn’t his hair red? I was like well it's just not and the kid couldn’t grasp it. It was very weird. This kid was crushed. SW--yeah..How do you sleep knowing you tore this child's world apart. Who would have thought that Seether was so heartless. HAHAHA Dale, I want to thank you for spending some time with us here at Shockwave and we wish you all the best going forward. Dale--Thank you guys and we hope to see you out on the road soon. And Hollie Rider, I just want to say hello and looking forward to seeing you at our next show in Baltimore. SW-- Seether, just a group of good ole country boys from down south. Playing music the only way they know how, hard and full of emotion. Rock on fellas. If you are not a fan, well you should be lashed 40 times less 1. Now as for me, I give them a solid endorsement as one of the best bands to see live. So get ready to go out to the show and don’t forget to dye your hair red. Shaun and Dale love it. |
