As Flaming Wrekage’s brutal fourth album tickles your earholes, you know this is something special. …
Long the voice for the broken, Seether have been advocates for change, purpose and mental health awareness since their formation in 1999.
To a soundtrack of hard rock and hard grit, Seether have been an act of rebel brilliance and unabashed authenticity who play loud and bring back the importance of having something to say–and given the sad state affairs we currently see our world in, the South African rockers have plenty to say.
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There’s no person better qualified to deliver an honest sermon about the world than frontman Shaun Morgan. His brushes with personal tragedy amount to more sorrow and heartbreak than one person should have to endure in their life, and he unashamedly channels it all into loud and relatable music that delivers an atmospheric crunch that sees the message delivered.
In an interview ahead of Seether’s Australian tour in May in support of their righteous new album Poison The Parish, a release whose sound takes the listener back to the days of 2007’s Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces, Morgan was asked one question, a question that was intended to address the sociopolitical disparity in music we’ve seen in the last year or two, including Seether’s, that attempts to address global issues. That question was as follows–what is Morgan’s opinion on all these sociopolitical platforms being taken within music and how effective is music being in making the change that people so sorely want to see in the world?
The fact we can’t speak our minds anymore is certainly, in a public setting, a tragedy.
[ Shaun Morgan ]
What followed was a statement of unadulterated passion, fury, and disbelief from Morgan, a statement kids these days might say came from being “triggered”. His views on guns, gender, social media and civilisation are valid, open, honest and not without cause. Morgan’s message is one perhaps the world needs right now, and one, though lengthy, we should contemplate. For nearly half an hour, from one question, Morgan got what he was arguing for—someone to listen.
“I think the problem with music in general is pop music is seriously vapid and it doesn’t have much to offer. However, that’s changing, and it’s shifting more towards rock music having a lot less to offer. I think that in the 90’s and certainly the early 00’s rock music had an honest angst to it. An emo band had dramatic poetry as lyrics, but that was something that meant something to people. I don’t know how many people can identify with stuff like VIPs and strip clubs, or pants around your knees kind of stuff. I just don’t know that that’s what people are looking for. I think there’s a time and place for that.
“We live in a time where people are really, really on edge. I mean, we live in a horrendous politically correct era where you can’t say anything without offending somebody, or everybody, which is ridiculous. The fact we can’t speak our minds anymore is certainly, in a public setting, a tragedy. At least for me I have music as a medium and I have lyrics where I can say stuff and the people who hear it become a bit more selective.
The main thing the world is ignoring is that there’s this massive problem that’s been created by Facebook and Google and all these people—they spy on us and they treat us like numbers, and they treat us like products.
[ Shaun Morgan ]
“The sociopolitical stuff, I mean, people don’t really care. You look at something like the shooting in Vegas and nobody talks about it anymore. We don’t have any answers and it’s just been sort of swept under the rug. The night club shooting, that was also swept under the rug pretty quickly. [The] only one that hasn’t been is the Parkland High School one. That’s a really big anti-gun platform people can jump right on top of [to] support this insane idea that you can actually rid the world of guns, which is insane.
“And everybody has lost hold of the fact that mental illness is becoming more and more prevalent and it’s becoming an epidemic—kids [are even] younger and killing themselves.
“The main thing the world is ignoring is that there’s this massive problem that’s been created by Facebook and Google and all these people—they spy on us and they treat us like numbers, and they treat us like products. They are indoctrinating our youth and our children to believe that your only worth as a human being comes from a little thumb, or a little like that somebody sends you, and if you don’t have those, you’re useless, you don’t belong in this world, and therefore, you know, what are you even doing here?
“Then you have the online bullying which often results in suicide very often and is extremely cowardly because you’d never do that in real life. There’s really never been any people that have been held accountable for that kind of behaviour. It’s all mental illness. It’s because we don’t really have families anymore, we don’t have societies anymore, we don’t have neighbours anymore.
“We’ve become drones who stare into these little computers in our hands. Not unwillingly, but willingly, [we] hand ourselves over to the corporations that use us as a revenue stream. And I know it now sounds topical, because [at] this time Facebook is being held accountable for some of these things. I’ve been saying that for years, it’s disgusting that we’ve taken away the humanity of people.
“My whole thing always is, if somebody comes up to me and says there’s a certain way they feel and they don’t feel like they want to be used, the answer is the fact we speak for people. I don’t say we can change somebody’s mind if someone’s going to commit suicide, that’s pretty much on them. My point is that we should offer an alternative and say, “Hey, you wanna talk about it? What should I do? How can I help?’ You know what I’m saying? There’s less and less of that. It’s easy to see that in YouTube videos of people beating the crap out of each other. Nobody helps and… Nobody jumps in to help and stop the fight, everybody goes to get the footage to get the likes on YouTube to get their ad revenue.
“So again, the mindless drones we’ve all become, or certainly what our youth has become, and then give them an opportunity like a school shooting—now suddenly they’re all experts in guns, and gun policy, and they know what’s up, because they’re 17 years old, and suddenly have been given their soap box across all forms of media, and now we’re all supposed to bow to their will?
“Everyone is taking [things] upon themselves, and themselves only. So what we’re creating is, selfish, robotic, drone-like human beings, that their only goal is to be famous and get on Instagram and take pictures of their asses, yet millions of people are following them, and try to make some money. It’s tragic. They’re forcing you to it.
“There needs to be a change but we can’t force people to have empathy, sympathy, for other people. Literally all out there for themselves. What can you do? You know what I mean? Society, if nothing changes, is doomed. And it’s a self-inflicted wound.
It’s difficult to change the way the world is now, because how do you teach people that are already so arrogant about themselves and their opinions are so important, how do you teach them that they’re not?
[ Shaun Morgan ]
“Teenagers put down their cell phones for a week and say ‘Wow, I feel so much better!’ Facebook admitted openly that they created something they knew was addictive, and knew it was detrimental to people’s mental health, but did it anyways [and] they’re all billionaires now. Human beings, we’re commodities, we’re expendable commodities to be used so that some other person can get a big fat bank account. I mean, it’s just the way the world runs. The fact that I’m saying these things is actually hurting my soul. Using hashtags and all this crap that just… The more creative you get with your hashtags and the more you have at the end of a show, or a tweet, or a post, the more… Oh my god, makes me just ill to think about…
“It’s difficult to change the way the world is now, because how do you teach people that are already so arrogant about themselves and their opinions are so important, how do you teach them that they’re not? How do you teach people that because they feel a certain way, it may not be what someone else feels, but you can live your life and it doesn’t affect other people negatively, or the way they live their lives doesn’t affect you negatively, then surely everybody should get along just fine. I’m cool with anybody’s opinions, if I agree with them or not. As long as they’re not trying to force them on me, or enforce ridiculous rules and lay legislation on either person because they disagree with it. I do my own thing and I exist in this world whether I like it or not.
“There’s power in silence. If you just stop to listen to somebody else instead of getting hysterical and trying to out-scream them because you feel the louder you talk the less you hear them, that maybe it’s going to get beaten into their skull somehow, it’s just ridiculous. It’s kind of like, when you’re a kid in school and you choose to be diplomatic instead of getting into a fist fight. Fist fights are easy and for some people it’s fun, but it ultimately, it’s vulgar. There are other times when if you just sit back and you exchange words and ideas, and maybe you reach a consensus or you reach compromise and everyone moves on with their lives and you know, you can at least go about your days and say you’ve avoided a punch to the face.
Politically, this culture is going to cause a downfall of civilization.
[ Shaun Morgan ]
“I think too often people feel their opinions are just so important and I think that there’s not enough humility anymore. I’m seeing more and more examples of hard left wing indoctrination and there’s no other way that’s the right way. I do understand that if you have the idea that you are something else, it’s really cool to be something else. Fine. Then be that something else. But do not dare get mad at me because I didn’t ask you what your pronoun is. That’s not my responsibility. It’s you and your fantasy that you’re an alien, or that you’re a “they” or a “them” or a “z”, or whatever the hell your words of your choice is. It’s not my responsibility to pander to your little fantasy.
“Everybody wants you to pander to them, and the solution is only the way that makes their little feelings not be hurt. And I’m sorry, the real world is a painful place. Reality is that our feelings get hurt, our emotions get hurt, and disappointment runs rampant through your life.
“You have to work for happiness and satisfaction. You have to work for anything in life that means something. It doesn’t just come to you. And to force other people to bend against your rule, just because that’s how you feel and your little feelings are so fragile, ultimately, that’s also a load of shit. That’s just another manipulative way to have other people do what you want to do so you can get that sort of “Yeah, cool, got them. I’m superior”. It’s an amazing thing that’s happening in the world. So again, I have no problem with anybody identifying, jeez, you can be … what’s to stop me from saying I’m an old Asian woman. Or people are saying that they’re different races, or … it’s getting insane.
“They can’t question you because that’s now punishable in certain states. It’s become more than a misdemeanour, it’s become an offense, where you can actually get jail time in some cities for saying the wrong pronouns. Which again, is insane. Politically, this culture is going to cause a downfall of civilization, and that may sound dramatic, but I feel that… I don’t understand why everything has become gray and it doesn’t make any sense to me. But, if that’s the way you feel, I will sit back and listen. Whether or not I agree with you, it doesn’t matter, because you can go about your business and I can go about mine, and chances are we won’t affect each other’s lives negatively or positively.
“So that’s the way it should be, but nobody listens. Nobody…
“I guess this is sort of ranty way of saying silence is important.”
SEETHER Poison The Parish World Tour:
Wednesday May 23, Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW (18+)
Friday May 25, The Forum, Melbourne VIC (18+)
Saturday May 26, Eatons Hill, Brisbane QLD (All Ages)
Monday May 28, Isaac Theatre, Christchurch NZ (All Ages)
Wednesday May 30, Shed 6, Wellington NZ (All Ages)
Thursday May 31, Great Hall, Auckland (All Ages)
