Seether's John Humphrey: 'We're a Live Band' - Uproar Festival Chat

Seether’s John Humphrey: ‘We’re a Live Band’ – Uproar Festival Chat

Story by Anne Erickson

Drummer of South African rock band says playing live is ‘in the moment’

Seether drummer John Humphrey always felt called to the drum skins. “I begged my dad for a drum set at 13, and I started loving music from weirdly early age,” he told Audio Ink Radio. “I was 3 or 4 and literally loving music, and even though my mom was the Beatles generation, I liked Elvis. For some odd reason, I love old ‘50s records. Of course, later on, I discovered classic rock like Kiss, Aerosmith and AC/DC.”

Now, Humphrey and his post-grunge rock band Seether have reigned the rock charts for over a decade, scoring sometimes angst-y, sometimes heartfelt nuggets and touring the world with their assortment of hits.

Seether are currently on the main stage of the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, playing alongside bosom buddies Sevendust, 3 Days Grace, Bullet for My Valentine, Art of Dying, Avenged Sevenfold, Escape the Fate and more. The tour goes through Oct. 14 in Mountain View, Calif.

What’s Humphrey most enjoying about the tour? “For me at this point, it’s playing live that I really like,” he said. “We spent all last year in the studio writing and recording the album, and playing live is a very different.”

“It’s in the moment. It’s what playing music all about, at least for me,” he added. “It’s about the audience being right there. The music business has its craziness, but that 75 minutes or hour you’re on stage, you can control. That’s what Seether loves doing. We’re a touring band. We’re a live band. It’s the show. I really love playing live and being on tour.”

As for the set, Humphrey promises a mix of the old and new. “Right now, the set kind of it goes chronologically. We start out with some older stuff like “Fine Again” and “Gasoline,” and we work our way through to Finding Beauty [in Negative Spaces]. We’ve been playing “Country Song,” and we have a new single which we’ll be playing off the album called, “Tonight.” Then there’s “Remedy” and “Fake It,” and we always throw in a cover to have fun. We’ve been very fortunate to have success with Seether, and we have a lot of singles, so the singles alone could fill up an hour.”

Photo credit: Clay Patrick McBride.

Watch Seether’s Music Video for, ‘Country Song’:

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.

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