We caught up with Dale from Seether to talk about the history of the band, how they choose their singles, the bands new album 'Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces', their short UK tour, festivals for the summer

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview.First of all can you give us a brief history of the band for the people who have never heard of you?
We started out in South Africa at the end of 1999. We started out playing some small clubs in and around town and eventually got a record deal through a small indie label in South Africa called Musketeer records. We then send the album we recorded to a few international labels around the world and got picked up by Windup records in New York. We moved over to the States In the beginning of '02 to record our first international release. We have been touring and recording ever since.

How did you come up with the band name Seether?
We took it from a Veruca Salt song...

What are your influences and whom would you say contributed to your current musical style?
There are too many to mention but i think some of the main ones are Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Deftones, Tool, Sevendust, pantera, AC DC The list goes on and on...

You are currently on tour in America with Flyleaf, how are the shows going down?
The tour has been great! Mostly sold out shows and we're good friends with the Flyleaf clan so we have a good time...

Are you fans of Flyleafs music?
I love the band, I can't wait for the new album to come out.

You are playing a few festival shows this summer such as Germany's Rock Am Ring and the English Download festival at Donnington Park, are you looking forward to playing one festival more than the others?
I'm really looking forward to playing Donnington, it's the one festival we have never played and one of the biggest in Europe so that's the big one for me.

Will you have chance to stick around and watch any of the bands at the festivals or will it be a case of playing your set and heading off to your next show due to your current hectic touring schedule?
Fortunately we will be able to stick around and watch the rest of the bands. That is the best part of playing festivals for me, we're all fans of music so being able to be a part of a huge show like that is awesome..

You are playing two small shows in the UK before Download festival, one in Portsmouth and the other in London, are you looking forward to getting back to the UK to play some shows?
I'm am looking forward to playing in the UK again. We haven't been over there in a while. I like the people, the food and there are always tons of ex South Africans going crazy at the shows so that's always fun.

Can we expect a full UK Seether tour in the near future?
Absolutely, We're just getting started on this touring cycle for the new album so I predict lots and lots of touring in our future.

Your current album 'Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces' has been out in American since October 2007, how come it's taken 8 months longer for the album to be released in the UK?
I was actually not aware of that, I'm not sure why.

Are you excited to finally be getting 'Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces' released in the UK in June?
Definitely, the UK has always been really good to us and supported our previous albums really well so it's about time.

The artwork for 'Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces' is the best artwork you have featured on your releases so far, who came up with the ideas and final design?
The band came up with the idea for the artwork, the artist who created the art is a guy by the name of David Ho. We found him online and instantly loved his work, we contacted him and he agreed to let us use his work on the album.

'Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces' has already sold 400,000 copies in America, were you expecting such good sales?
We are very happy with the sales so far. When you release a new album you kinda have to expect the worst but hope for the best, so far we've been pretty lucky on this one.

Your next single is 'Rise Above This', how do you go about choosing what tracks to release as singles?
When choosing singles we rely on the record company and management a lot, us as the band have certain biases toward certain songs so I think it's better if a third party can objectively choose a single. And that's what they do for a living, we just like to play

Are there any bands from South Africa that you would recommend checking out?
There are many good bands in South Africa. Perez, 16 stitch, Scarlet box I recommend checking any of those out.

Do you prefer being on the road touring or in the studio recording?
They are both cool in different ways. Being in studio is fun to watch the songs come together over the course of a few weeks but for me nothing compares to the instant gratification of playing a song live and having people go nuts.

Do you have any funny stories from being on tour?
Every day on the road is a funny story. Put a bunch of idiots on a tour bus, add beer and there you go.

If you could play with any band past or present, who would it be and why?
Pantera, I have always been the biggest fan of the band but growing up in South Africa never got to see them play live. RIP Dime, we love you.

What is the most memorable gig you have played and why?
Centurion Park, South Africa opening for Metallica. There were about 50 000 people and they went crazy for our set. This was the first time we'd been home in a while and my parents were there watching, it was awesome!

What do you think of the current music scene?
I think it's in pretty bad shape but it seems to be getting a bit better. Downloading has really killed the record industry and it's impossible to sell albums anymore. As a band who constantly has your product stolen you hope that who ever is doing this will come to a show and buy a t-shirt or something, that's how you keep your head above water.

What advice what you give to a new band starting off?
I would warn someone who wants to do this seriously that it is a lot of work, nothing comes easy and it's a full time gig. It has to come first and I'm sorry to say you need to put it before everyone else to succeed. If your willing to sacrifice everything it is the best job ever.

Where do you hope to see Seether in 5 years time?
Still recording, touring and doing what we do. I've been doing this my entire adult life and wouldn't know what to do otherwise.

Okay, one final random question; if you had a choice, what animal would you be out of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
Giraffe for sure, I want to be able to reach the succulent leaves on the very tops of the trees and giraffes are also more seldom targets of lion attacks.

Thanks for your time, is there a message you would like to give to your fans reading this?
Don't smoke meth...

Interview by Trigger