Featured Artist: Seether’s Shaun Morgan Looks Up to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deftones

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Seether Not Going Country with ‘Country Song’

“Country Song,” the new Southern-tinged track by neo-grunge band Seether, is No. 1 on the active rock chart, and this isn’t a milestone for the South African trio. Shaun Morgan and his band have racked up plenty of rock staples since their 2002 debut in “Gasoline,” “Remedy,” “Broken,” “Fake It,” “Fine Again,” “Truth” and more.

Seether took a full year to write and record their new album, “Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray,” which dropped May 17. But this is what comes from taking their time: 12 tracks built mainly from strong rock-combo parts, practiced and perfected with a keen attention to musically and passionate detail.

Lead songwriter and vocalist Shaun Morgan told Gibson.com the guys took their time on the album and “really concentrated on making the songs better than the ones on our last album.”

“Musically, we tried some new things and expanded our horizons, because I feel like you have to keep growing as a band,” he added. “If you don’t, then you just stagnate and become one of those bands that gets boring because you’re doing the same thing all the time.”

As for the ‘Country Song,’ the title isn’t at all an indicator Seether is going country.

“What I like is that the verse is kind of country sounding, but then it just explodes into a hard rock song, out of nowhere,” he said. “The combination, I think, is really interesting, and that’s why it’s called, “Country Song,” because we were recording in Nashville and the verses have that feel. It’s not a country record, but it sounded country in that riff. It was actually the working title and tongue-and-cheek, but we decided to keep it.

“It was really just us having a little fun with the title.”

When asked for his top rock albums, Morgan rattled off an ecelctic bunch: “…I would definitely say ‘Nevermind’ would be in there. Probably Deftones; their new album [‘Diamond Eyes’ ] I love. I think it’s an incredible album. But pretty much any Deftones album could be in my collection. I love Portishead’s ‘Dummy.’ Brand New’s Daisy. Just for variety, I have to throw in a Chili Peppers album. I grew up listening to the Peppers, so ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ would fit in there, as well.”

Watch Seether’s Video for ‘County Song’

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.