Mark Jeremy Seymour is an Australian musician and vocalist. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock bandHunters & Collectors from 1981 until 1998. Seymour has carved a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in 1997 and winning an ARIA Award in 2001 for One Eyed Man in the category of Best Adult Contemporary Album.
Early years
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 – later bass guitarist for Crowded House. 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 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 described the group as "lighter, bouncier and more infectious than other like-minded bands such as Models". 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".
In 1981, Seymour formed Hunters & Collectors from the remnants of The Jetsonnes with Archer, Falconer, and Tosti-Gueira. According to musicologist, Ian McFarlane, 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 2005. In 1992, Seymour released his debut single, "Hey Boys" with Paul Kelly from the Garbo . The song peaked at number 71 on the ARIA Charts.
1997–2010: Solo career
In May 1997, whilst still officially part of Hunters and Collectors, Seymour released his first solo single, "Last Ditch Cabaret". 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 albumKing 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. 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, a second album of acoustic versions of mostly Hunters and Collectors songs. In 2008, Seymour released the memoir, Thirteen Tonne Theory, which was published by Penguin Books, detailing his experiences with Hunters and Collectors.
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 homageto love songs, featuring tracks by Bob Dylan, Dave Dobbyn, Otis Redding, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Lucinda Williams. In 2020, Seymour announced the release of his tenth studio album, titled Slow Dawn.
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Seymour has won one award from five nominations.
Personal life
Seymour married his wife Jo in 1994; they have two daughters Eva and Hannah. Seymour wrote the Hunters and Collector's song "Holy Grail", which although not intended to be about sport, became synonymous with the AFL Grand Final and adopted by Network Ten for broadcasts of AFL matches, and also with Queensland's first Sheffield Shield cricket win in 1995. Seymour has performed at several AFL Grand Finals.
