Shaun Morgan is an angry man. The frontman for hard-rock group Seether has written songs with titles like "F--k It," "Needles" and "Driven Under." He's talked about his fractured upbringing in South Africa with a strict Christian mother, divorced parents, and near-suicide. He's also achieved success in America, thanks to Seether's U.S. debut Disclaimer, and singles "Fine Again" and "Gasoline." He's toured the country and the world with a rotating lineup of backing musicians, building up a solid fan base. He's been in the media spotlight thanks to his relationship with Evanescence singer Amy Lee.
And he's still angry.
"To write happy music doesn't make any sense," he says, when asked if he's mellowed any, putting together songs for the follow-up to Disclaimer. He and his bandmates have spent some time in L.A., working up new music before heading back out on tour. They'll reconvene with producer Bob Marlette (Saliva, Spineshank) early next year to finish the record. "We'll write stuff about things that make us angry or frustrated or make us unhappy," he says. "And there's always something that does that."
So what is Morgan, top-selling recording artist, boyfriend of the hottest woman in rock, upset about? "I got divorced and I don't see my little kid anymore," he says. Anything else? "The television media is telling kids what to do, and how to dress, and who to act like, and that sucks because there's not one thing pushing them in the direction of being themselves."
But what about rock music? How's that doing? "It's not that I hate music. I'm desperately trying to find something that I like. There's nothing that's coming out now that I like anymore."
Do you like pop-punk? "I think right now it's being dominated by pop-punk, which is basically the new boy bands. If you're from Canada, and you play punk, you're in."
How about screamo? "This screamo crap sucks."
Radiohead? "Radiohead was cool at one point."
Fellow hard-rockers, like, say, Puddle of Mudd? "The new Puddle of Mudd sounds like they're trying to be Nirvana really badly. I think the first Puddle of Mudd album was cool, or coolish. And the second one comes out, and I bought it, because it's one of the few rock bands that's doing really well. And I'm just really disappointed, because it's just like, 'How much money can we make now?'"
At least he still likes his own band. He's excited about the new material, which he describes as "a little bit more complex, musically. Hopefully, we've started going places where before we'd be like, 'No, that's not like us.' We've decided that there's not really anything we can't play. Anything we want to do, we'll do."
And with all that crappy rock out there, Morgan is prepared to blow people away with the next Seether record. "I think if anything, on our next album, we'll try and make it as noncommercial as possible," he says. "Melodic, but in the sense of the way Tool is. Tool doesn't go out to be commercial, but they're just really good. Not that we can compare ourselves to Tool, but in that vein of not intending to get songs played on the radio. Making an album that's just so heavy that they can't put a ballad on it."
So: He's the guy dating the prettiest girl in school. He's going to make a noncommercial album that will be a huge hit. He's angry, but having a great time. "It's not really a pressure thing for us," he says about the new record. "It's just we get to have fun and make whatever album we want to make." With that kind of life, how could anyone stay mad?