Legend: Mark Seymour will perform some of his Hunters and Collectors hits on Geelong’s waterfront next month.
Erin Pearson
LEGENDARY Australian band Hunters and Collectors became a “bubble” for front man Mark Seymour.
Now out on the road as a solo artist, Seymour told the Independent he still relished the opportunity to immerse himself in the real world after almost two decades fronting Hunters and Collectors.
The singer-songwriter formed the chart-topping band in 1980 with a bunch of university friends before they split in 1998.
“I think Hunters and Collectors ended up in a bubble. We didn’t realise there was a world out beyond the boundary of what the band was,” he said.
“My view is whatever you decide to do have to be excited about it, you only live once.”
Seymour said he only occasionally “reflected” on his success with Hunters and Collectors, preferring to concentrate on his future in music.
Seymour grew up in country Victoria with deeply religious Catholic parents.
After graduating from Melbourne University in 1978 he worked as a schoolteacher before feeling the bite of the music bug, and formed Hunters and Collectors.
He went on to write hits for the band such as Throw You Arms Around Me and Holy Grail during an era of “big changes”.
“I was sitting around with some old school friends the other day and talking about how people’s jobs change four or five times in a lifetime,” he said.
“My parents had the same jobs all their lives, their generation back then did that, but when I made the decision to become a singer I never looked far ahead.
“When I finished school had no idea what I wanted to do, so I became a teacher, then something clicked. That was the beauty of being young.”
Seymour was “excited” about his future, with a new record due for release in May and an Irish collaboration toward the end of this year.
“Hunters and Collectors was a rolling show with just two or three shows a year and in the meantime I just sat around,” he said.
“Now I go out and look for work. It’s much more hands-on.”
Seymour said his new “tight, little four-piece band” was “old school”, preferring to keep things “simple”.
Seymour said Geelong fans could expect an eclectic mix of Hunters and Collectors classics and new songs from his solo career.
Seymour will perform at Waterfront Cafe on February 13.
