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If you've heard the Evanescence single, “Call Me When You're Sober,” then you already know some of Seether's story. If not, it goes something like this .....

After releasing a trio of albums between 2002 and 2005, with each one debuting better than its predecessor, Seether lead singer Shaun Morgan went into rehab for alcohol and drugs in 2006 after splitting with girlfriend/Evanescence singer Amy Lee. Now out of rehab, Morgan and his two bandmates — Dale Steward and John Humphrey — are touring to support the band's latest album, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces.

That includes a date at Freeman Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 24, with Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin. Before the tour rolled into San Antonio, Stewart talked to 210SA about his South African upbringing, Morgan's battles with addiction and Lee taking Morgan's story public with “Call Me When You're Sober.”
 

What are the main differences between South Africa and the U.S.?

The culture is very different, but at the same time, there are a lot of influences from America and a lot of European influence (in South Africa). Even though we grew up in a different place, I still watched American TV shows, listened to American music and stuff like that.

Did you feel that to truly experience major success, you had to come to the U.S.?

Yeah. We kind of hit a point, a kind of plateau, where we'd done all the festivals and toured (South Africa) a couple of times. We released an album, and basically the only thing we could do from there was repeat the process. We couldn't really go anywhere from there, so the natural thing was to go overseas where there's a bigger market, a bigger rock scene.

Your recent single, “Fake It,” was the band's first No. 1 single. Why do you think that song hit the charts like it did?

It was a song we all liked, but it was never a song we thought would be a single, so it was kind of a surprise. When it started doing so well, I think it definitely raised the profile of the band. It's strange, because everything seems a little different this time around. We've released a lot of albums and done a lot of touring, but this time around there seems to be more buzz around. It's pretty exciting.

I read in a recent interview where you said rock is underground again. What did you mean by that?

I think it's sort of not in the mainstream as much, unless you're talking about weird emo bands or stuff like that. Straightforward rock bands, although there still seems to be a good following, and tours are selling really well, as far as TV and stuff like that, what's popular now is hip-hop and pop. Emo bands are in there, but there doesn't seem to be a place for rock music. It would be cool if there was a channel dedicated to rock or something.

That used to be MTV.

Yeah (laughs), it would be cool to have a TV station that actually played music. That would be a start.

Do you find it strange that the respective lead singles from Seether's and Evanescence's latest albums appeared to deal with each other's lead singers?

I don't think “Fake It” was directed at anyone or Amy. If anything, that would be a song (from the new album) called “Breakdown,” which might be a single at some point. People want there to be a comeback song or whatever, but after “Call Me When You're Sober,” people read a lot of stuff into it. Shaun didn't write about her really at all, except for maybe one song.

What were your thoughts when you first heard “Call Me When You're Sober”?

It was pretty blatant, and I find it to be in poor taste. It was one of those things where she felt how she wanted to deal with the whole thing, and everyone reacts differently. As a result of that, Shaun decided he didn't want to do the same thing and that he'd rather take the high road and not comment on it.

Were you concerned about the future of the band when Shaun went to rehab?

I don't think the existence of the band was ever in question because we all feel that the band is the No. 1 thing for us and the most important thing to us. We are willing to stand behind Shaun 100 percent and give him the time and do whatever it takes to get him healthy. ..... We're like family, and we stand behind one another.

CLINT HALE | 210SA