MARK Seymour was faced with a choice seven years ago of whether to retire with the rest of the highly successful Australian band The Hunters and Collectors or risk his good name by pursuing a solo career.
Seymour said that at first he wasn't sure if he'd moved his career in the right direction.
``Every performer that starts their solo career has some demons to overcome,'' Seymour said.
``For me it was realising that I won't be playing to such big crowds or getting as much air time on commercial radio as I did when I was with the Hunters and Collectors.
``At first it was quite a big attack on the ego but I settled in to doing a few gigs at venues in Melbourne and got used to performing solo.'' Seven years later, the singer/son gwriter told TE the risk was worth taking because he was still singing and able to pull a reasonable crowd.
``I'm pretty lucky, most people know me from the Hunters and Collectors, so I pull a reasonable crowd,'' Seymour said.
``When you're singing solo you find out more things about you're voice and what you're able to do with it.
``The different voice levels give me a bit more range in what I can sing.'' Seymour said his reasons for going solo were also compounded by his success with the Hunters and Collectors.
``The Hunters and Collectors really didn't have any success until 1989 when the commercial radio stations picked up on our song When The River Runs Dry ,'' Seymour said.
``The main reason for our success is because we toured heavily, word started getting around and the commercial stations then picked up on our music.
``After that we had so much success, it really became too easy.
``There were no more challenges for the Hunters and Collectors a solo career seemed like my next greatest challenge.'' Seymour will play with ex- Australian Crawl frontman James 4 Reyne at Cardiff Panthers on Saturday September 3 .
Seymour said he and Reyne would play separately and then join together on stage to jam for 20 minutes.
``When we get on stage together we sing some great songs that nobody expects us to do,'' Seymour said.
``When we've played at other clubs most people have been surprised because the songs are not usually our thing.
``I'm not giving anything away, it's a surprise we keep for the show.'' Tickets are $35 pre-sale and $40 at the door.
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