Seether

UPROAR Week Kicks Off with Seether Drummer John Humphrey
by Anne Schultz

In just four days, the Rockstar Energy UPROAR Festival will begin in Clarkston at DTE Music Theater on Friday, August 15 where Seether will join the five week tour with Godsmack, Skillet, Pop Evil, Escape the Fate and many more. This will be the band’s second appearance with the tour since its inception back in 2010. The band’s sixth studio album Isolate and Medicate was just released last month, debuting #4 on the Billboard’s Top Album chart and producing the band’s 12th #1 hit.

Over the last 15 years, Seether has created such an extensive amount music. It seems like after so many albums, that it’d be challenging to keep coming up with new material that doesn’t sound “too much the same.” When asked whether or not the band makes a calculated effort to differentiate the sound from one album to the next, drummer John Humphrey said “It honestly kind of takes shape on its own.” He stated how musically they’ve evolved over the years as well as lyrically. “Situations change as we get older. We become better musicians, better song writers, and become better at our craft. You try and put out the best album each time.”

Back in the 90’s, Humphrey experienced success with his previous band, The Nixons. He joined them before the band released Halo in 1994. The next year, Foma was released and produced “Sister” and other hits that propelled the band forward. So much so, that John had the opportunity to tour heavily with some of the biggest rock bands such as KISS, Soul Asylum, Radiohead, and Slash’s Snakepit. A few years later, the band was dropped from the label. Looking back on that down time in between the fall of The Nixons to rise of Seether, he says, “I’ve been with the band now for 11 years. I definitely know what it is like to go from the van to the bus and then back to the van again. That’s the reality of how quickly it can all go away. Being younger, I took things for granted. I didn’t understand how the business worked. That band was full of learning experiences. Rock Business 101 with The Nixons. I learned and experienced a lot and it has helped me prepare for my experience with Seether.”

The majority of Humphrey’s career with the band has been as a trio with lead vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan and bassist Dale Stewart. This is year the band has picked up lead guitarist/backup vocalist, Bryan Wickmann who used to be a guitar tech for the band. Wickmann was also a former Art Director at Schecter Guitar Research and has been involved with the Seether’s album graphics and design in some shape or form since 2011. “He has been a part of the family for several years now and certainly has been a wonderful fit. Probably the best fit.”

On stage, you can count on Humphrey to deliver a hard hitting performance every time. “For the most part my gig is to be solid and I pride myself on that. With that though, I have a drum solo I can go off and have a lot of fun on.” He further added, “I feel that the drum parts are musical, as odd as that may sound. I feel like people are used to hearing the drum parts from the songs and that they are key to setting up different parts in the song.” A good example might be one of Humphrey’s drum parts on the new album in the song “Crash.” “I really enjoy the second verse where I come in after the initial intro and begin the second verse. There is a sort of tom thing in there that I kind of developed. It was kind of musical and added to the song. It’s kind of an interesting groove in that it wasn’t your usual 2-4 block beat.”

For those of you who are interested in gear, John is touring with Crush drums which marks a departure from his ddrum and Ludwigs of the past. “I was watching Crush for a while and was just waiting for the right time to see what was going on with them.” Sabian symbols have been a part of Humphrey’s kit for many years along with Vic Firth sticks and Evans drum heads.

The band has played in Michigan too many times to count but not to remember. “Michigan has been good to us. Detroit has given us lots of good shows. Flint Machine Shop…we played there a lot when we were starting out. It was one of the first places in the country where we had two sold out shows back to back. It was great. Had a lot of fun and great memories there.”

What can we expect from the band in upcoming months? They will be touring in the States until mid/late September, hit Canada and then Europe through December. Australia is slated for the beginning of 2015. As for Humphrey, he has been asked to participate in a few side projects such as playing in a “super group” if you will, which would feature band members from a variety of other well known bands. He also has been approached to teach a master class at a music academy back in his home state, Oklahoma.

Although there is no confirmation on whether he will take on these projects or not, he says, “I think it would be fun [to teach]. I’ve done clinics before, I love talking to kids just starting out. Surprisingly, it’s not really many drum questions. They want to know about the business side of things or what it’s like in the studio. I thought it’d be more technical [questions] but it’s really more about my life. I am definitely very appreciative that in this time and at this age to be in a successful rock band being able to do what I love.”

 

For more information about Seether, visit their website at http://www.seether.com
For more information about the UPROAR Festival, visit the website at http://www.rockstaruproar.com