ROCK MUSIC Seether pours emotions into songs

Despite heavy touring, the band is keeping a positive outlook on its musical future.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Shaun Morgan appropriately called his band Seether. While he purposely leaves his lyrics open for interpretation, they nonetheless seethe with the anger and frustration developed from his parents' divorce, being shunned by relatives on both sides of his family, spending time in military school, and forming a rock band in his native South Africa, which leans toward traditional sounds meshed with slick pop culture.
Many of the songs that make up "Disclaimer," the group's debut, expose the emotional scars from his first 23 years of life. On the final track, "Broken," the musical tone is lighter and his attitude displays someone who has found a degree of serenity after getting marked up by the obstacles in life.
"You're supposed to go up and down with the songs and get different emotions out of them. Right at the end, give this sigh of relief. It does indicate that we don't necessarily box ourselves in," Morgan said during a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "I've always loved albums where it's really intense, and out of left field there comes this really mellow song in the middle of it."
Morgan and his band mates -- bassist Dale Stewart, guitarist Pat Callahan and drummer John Humphrey -- begin another trek across the U.S. on Friday. The trio plays Monday night at The Cellar in Struthers.
Busy time
The band has given nearly 400 performances in the past 18 months, but Morgan said he'd rather be busy than bored.
"Some days, we've done three or four shows a day. We did the one at night, which is the full one hour. During the day you go to radio stations and play three songs for each one in front of the listeners. It's been really, really tough. With a bit of work, we earn everything we get rather than have a whole bunch of media shove you down teenagers' throats."
Morgan started playing out at 12 years old, but due to circumstances overwhelming him, at one point he considered taking his own life. Instead, he picked up his guitar and has only looked back on that moment as inspiration for his material and a turning point to move him forward in his young life.
Asked if performing such gut-wrenching material becomes a difficult visit to his past, he responded, "If you write the songs for the wrong reason, then it's going to get really old, really quickly. They're always going to have some kind of meaning. I've been playing some of these songs for eight years now. All the bands I've been in, we've played the songs. Take 'Fine Again' [the album's first single]. We play this song every day for the past year-and-a-half, sometimes twice or three times a day. It doesn't mean anything if it wasn't personal."
Their sound
Musically, Seether has been compared to such acts as Nirvana and the post-grunge movement that incorporated the distorted guitars from that scene into heavy metal. Morgan has heard the comments and comparisons again and again, but does not get too defensive when the subject comes up.
"We've never set out to sound like anything. We would never try to sound like any band or try to mimic someone. Some of the things that we've been compared to I don't see, but maybe that's because people just mention us as a Nirvana clone right away. You could listen to the album and know it's not the same."
Neither is Morgan's outlook on life, which has changed due to leaving his native Johannesburg, seeing other parts of the world, dealing with new situations and becoming two years older.
"I'm just writing about different things to an extent now. You look beyond your values and your world. You look more toward what's happening in the social environment as well.
"What affects me a lot now is just the conformity that's going on. No one's striving to be themselves anymore, with media telling kids to become someone or want to be someone. There's nothing gearing kids to being individuals and trying to find their own identity. It's kind of sad."
Appreciation
After headlining dates and a series of opening slots for Staind, Korn, 3 Doors Down and Disturbed, Morgan admits that all the time spent away from home has taught him not to take his chosen occupation for granted. While his face may be front-and-center in press photos, it's not due to him seeking stardom. His desire is for the songs to speak to listeners with the band image remaining secondary.
"The main thing for us has always been to remain humble about what we do. There are thousands of kids that would kill to be where we are. Because of that, we've got to appreciate what we do. It's been really, really difficult, but I think we've pumped up the fan base, which is really strong and really loyal. I guess, you learn every day what you don't know."