Mark Jeremy Seymour (born 26 July 1956) is an Australian musician and vocalist. He was the
frontman
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
and songwriter of
rock band
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...
from 1981 until 1998. Seymour has carved a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in 1997 and winning an
ARIA Award
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
Mark Jeremy Seymour was born on 26 July 1956 in Benalla to Frank and Paula Seymour. He has two older sisters, Hilary and Helen, and a younger brother, Nick (born 1958) – later bass guitarist for
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later ban ...
. His mother encouraged all four children to learn musical instruments and sing. He initially learned piano but switched to guitar as a teenager. Seymour and his family moved to Melbourne in 1972. He graduated from
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
in 1978 and was qualified to teach. He later lived in the St Kilda area.
Career
1980: The Jetsonnes
By 1980 Seymour, on lead guitar, was a member of The Jetsonnes, a post-punk pop group formed in Melbourne, with John Archer on bass guitar; Doug Falconer on drums; Margot O'Neill on lead vocals; and Ray Tosti-Gueira on guitar.
Clinton Walker
Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He is known for his books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), ''Buried Country'' (2000; also a film and soundtrack album), ''History is Made a ...
described the group as "lighter, bouncier (rather than funkier) and more infectious than other like-minded bands such as
Models
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
". They issued a double A-sided single, "Newspaper"/"Miniskirts in Moscow". The Jetsonnes, Models, and International Exiles were "the first bands to rise out of Melbourne's hothouse punk, new wave explosion playing an exuberant brand of neo-pop".
1981–1998: Hunters and Collectors
In 1981, Seymour formed
Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...
from the remnants of The Jetsonnes with Archer, Falconer, and Tosti-Gueira. According to musicologist,
Ian McFarlane
Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
As a journalist ...
, this was "a far more radical and unremitting concept" and Seymour, with his "blue labourer's singlet, bulging biceps, introspective angst and impassioned vocals" became the "thinking woman's sex symbol".
Between 1981 and 1998, The Hunters and Collectors released nine studio albums, and were inducted into the
ARIA Hall of Fame
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
in 2005.
In 1992, Seymour released his debut single, "Hey Boys" with Paul Kelly from the '' Garbo (soundtrack)''. The song peaked at number 71 on the ARIA Charts.
Seymour wrote the Hunters and Collector's song "
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
", which although not intended to be about sport, has been widely used in television broadcasts of
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
matches, especially the AFL Grand Final. It was also used by the Queensland cricket team in the years leading up to its first
Sheffield Shield
The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...
win in 1995. Seymour has performed at several AFL Grand Finals.
1997–2010: Solo career
In May 1997, whilst still officially part of Hunters and Collectors, Seymour released his first solo single, "
Last Ditch Cabaret
"Last Ditch Cabaret" is a song written and performed by Australian singer-songwriter, Mark Seymour. The song was released in May 1997 as the lead single from his debut studio album, ''King Without a Clue''. The song peaked at number 85 on the ARI ...
". The song peaked at number 85 on the ARIA Charts. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1997, the song earned him two nominations; Best Male Artist and Breakthrough Single. "The Ghost Of Vainglory" and "Home Again" followed and Seymour released his debut studio album '' King Without a Clue'' in September 1997. The album peaked at number 53 on the ARIA charts and earned Seymour another nomination for Best Male Artist at the
ARIA Music Awards of 1998
The 12th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 20 October 1998 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. Presenters, including Democrats deputy l ...
.
In March 2001, Seymour released his second studio album, '' One Eyed Man'', which peaked at number 61 on the ARIA Charts and won Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2001.
In April 2004, Seymour released '' Embedded''. The album did not chart. In September 2005, Seymour released '' Daytime & the Dark'', an album, featuring acoustic versions of mostly Hunters and Collectors songs. The album peaked at number 99 on the ARIA Charts. In September 2007, Seymour released ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', a second album of acoustic versions of mostly Hunters and Collectors songs.
2011–present: Mark Seymour & The Undertow
In 2011, Seymour formed and began recording and with a band again. The band, titled ''Mark Seymour & The Undertow'' released '' Undertow'' in May 2011.
In 2013, Mark Seymour & The Undertow released ''Seventh Heaven Club'', an album which paid homage to love songs, featuring tracks by Bob Dylan, Dave Dobbyn, Otis Redding, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Lucinda Williams.
Mark Seymour & The Undertow released the album ''Roll Back The Stone'' on March 24, 2015. It was recorded live at Melbourne's Bakehouse Studios and featured 24 tracks from Seymour's back catalogue from 1985-2017 reinterpreted by The Undertow.
In 2020, Seymour announced the release of his tenth studio album (and fourth as Mark Seymour & The Undertow), titled ''Slow Dawn''.
Personal life
Seymour married his wife Jo in 1994; they have two daughters Eva and Hannah.
Both of Seymour's parents and his two sisters were teachers, so following on from their careers Seymour became a teacher for about ten weeks but decided to focus on becoming a musician.
In 2008, Seymour released the memoir, ''Thirteen Tonne Theory'', which was published by
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.
Seymour suffered an Achilles injury when he was 23 and has accumulated scar tissue on both knees.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of
Australian music
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...
. Seymour has won one award from five nominations.
, -
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1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, rowspan="2", "
Last Ditch Cabaret
"Last Ditch Cabaret" is a song written and performed by Australian singer-songwriter, Mark Seymour. The song was released in May 1997 as the lead single from his debut studio album, ''King Without a Clue''. The song peaked at number 85 on the ARI ...
"
, Best Male Artist
,
, -
, ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – single
,
, -
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, '' Undertow''
, Best Adult Contemporary Album
,
, -
References
;General
* Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality.
;Specific