Seether: 20 years of stoking the fire
Because there will always be a reason to rebel
You can still call Seether many things. Loud. Intense. Enduring.
Just don’t call them classic rock just yet.
Guitarist Corey Lowery is quick to brush off the label during a recent chat ahead of the band’s Nov. 11 date at St. Catharines’ Meridian Centre with Stone Temple Pilots. To him, what he defines as ‘classic rock’ does not apply to many of the post-grunge groups, even if — like these two bands — they’ve been around for decades.
“It’s a whole different thing,” he explains.
“Classic rock is really not classic any more. When I think of classic rock, I’ll always go back to my parents’ (era) … Bad Company, The Beatles, Zeppelin. That’s classic rock to me.
“After the internet came in, there’s bands that have been out for a long time and are they going to be considered classic rock? They’re still putting out music. There’s so much great music out there. I think you’re very fortunate to still be able to be relevant in anything. Still write and have hit songs.
“Classic rock bands have stopped writing music. They have the hits that they live off of, and I don’t consider Seether one of those bands yet. I think there’s a lot more in the tank.”
The South African band certainly added to its tank by bringing Lowery aboard earlier this year. Originally asked to fill in while Seether supported Nickelback for a U.K./European tour, he was their new guitarist by the time it ended.
The transition wasn’t difficult. Lowery, a former member of Dark New Day and Stuck Mojo, had known the band for years and seen them play “a thousand times.” He knew the songs, and he knew the legacy. Since emerging in 1999 with a sound paying obvious homage to Nirvana, Seether has been one of the most successful mainstream rock bands of the past 20 years.
While comfortable, he says he was still “super nervous” before his first show with them.
“It’s the waiting, you know. It’s like, ‘OK, today’s the first show.’ The first show was huge — we were opening up for Nickelback in some arena. It’s a nervous feeling, but as soon as you hit the first note, it’s like, ‘OK, I’m home.’
“Where I feel comfortable is the stage, so let’s have fun now. You’re kind of getting in your own head, like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m jamming with Seether!’”
Singer Shaun Morgan and bassist Dale Stewart are the band’s only original members, and it’s Morgan’s songwriting that Lowery has long admired. The band hit its commercial peak
with 2011’s “Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray” — it hit No. 2 in the U.S. and No. 3 in Canada — but Lowery is also a huge fan of the band’s latest, “Poison the Parish” from last year.
“Listen, Shaun’s done a great job throughout the years,” he says. “He’s one of the most sincere writers that’s out there. It’s hard to be yourself, and he really
writes about what’s happening emotionally with him and puts it out there. I’ve always admired that.
“I think the last record is one of my favourite records, because he produced it. You can hear a lot of that sincerity, that rawness. Trying to get your vision across can be hard working with producers.”
Lowery also knows the “super cool” Stone Temple Pilots, who Seether co-headlines with for 15 Canadian dates starting Oct. 23. He expects plenty of them to be sold out, further disputing claims that rock is down and out.
As long as there are things to be angry about, he says, rock isn’t going anywhere.
“It’s dead to who? To me it’s just a bunch of fake news. Rock is a rebellion art, and there’s always going to be a little rebellion in everybody.
“As long as we live, there’s always something to rebel against. Just life in general, good and bad.”