The past fourteen months have been quite remarkable for South African rockers Seether, and quite busy as well.  During this time, the band has toured relentlessly in support of their 2011 release Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray which has produced three number one singles and now a potential fourth.  Bassist, Dale Stewart, talked about the group’s success over the past year, being out on the road, and a timetable (or lack thereof) for Seether’s next release.

Recently, Seether wrapped up a North American tour with Nickelback and Bush.  While playing shows can certainly be a grind, Stewart explained this was not the case for this particular tour.

“It’s been a good tour and it’s been a lot of fun.  We’re good friends with those guys; we’ve actually known the Nickelback guys for years and it’s cool playing big rooms…we’ve only been playing about forty five minutes a night so it’s been sort of a cushy tour if you will but it’s definitely been good.  We’re kind of a hard touring band and we’re used to doing five or even six shows a week playing grungy clubs and getting sweaty, but this tour is actually kind of relaxing.”

Although their latest tour just concluded, Seether won’t be taking much of a break.  On September 2nd, the band will be kicking off the Triple Threat Tour with supporting acts Sick Puppies and Kyng.  Currently, the tour is scheduled to continue until late October but additional shows could be confirmed shortly.  

“We wanted to do something a little different but still cool; immediately we thought, we’re a three piece so let’s find a couple other three piece bands to go out on tour with.  It’s something we really wanted to happen and fortunately the bands we asked were available to do it…I don’t know the Kyng guys but we love the band, and we’ve been friends with the Sick Puppies for years.  I think it’s going to be another one of those tours where it’s kind of like a party; everyone’s friends and having a good time, kind of like rock and roll band camp almost.”

Despite the fact Kyng may not have the same type of widespread notoriety as Seether or even the Sick Puppies, Stewart expressed a great amount of admiration and respect for the group, who have been revered in the past for their intensive live shows.

“I think it’s great.  Those guys are an awesome band and have a great sound.  I think they’re going to be a good fit on the tour.  The only thing though is I’ve seen so many live videos on YouTube and those guys throw down and really go for it so we’re going to have our work cut out for us to justify being the headliner.  But it’s cool to have good bands opening up where you really feel pressure to put on a good show because the opening bands are so great…it’s fun for us and I think it just makes for a better show for everyone.”

Although Holding Onto Strings… has now been out for over a year, the band doesn’t have any current plans to begin writing new material for their next album.  While many artists talk about how they’re constantly writing when out on the road, Stewart and the guys of Seether take a much different approach.

“It’s a funny thing when you’re out on the road and touring everyday.  It’s almost as though you don’t have the inspiration on a day off or some free time to grab a guitar and write something.  That’s really something we leave for after the tour; we prefer to take a little bit of break, maybe get a couple of weeks and really just remove ourselves from everything.  Then you just feel it; you crave playing and that’s really when the best creative stuff happens.”

Regardless of when Seether does choose to begin writing again, it is certain that their next effort will be highly anticipated after the success of this last album.  “Country Song,” “Tonight,” and “No Resolution” have all reached the number one spot on the U.S. Active Rock Chart, and there is hope the album’s fourth single, “Here and Now,” can do the same. 

“I like the song a lot, it’s one of my favorites on the album and also one of the first songs we recorded for the album.  I’m keen to see how it does over a year and what people think about it.  But it’s sometimes hard to tell as a band member what songs are going to do well or what songs will be accepted by people.  As a band you kind of have a bias…I hope it does well; the first three singles did better than we expected and if we could ever have a fourth number one then that would be amazing.”