Seether Rock Star
Shaun Morgan Loves His Xbox

Shaun Morgan is the lead singer and guitarist for Seether, the South African rock band that took the U.S. by storm in 2002. The band has just released their fourth CD, One Cold Night, which comes with a bonus DVD. Their newest release is a live acoustic album, featuring hits like Remedy, Fine Again, and Broken. When Morgan isn't not touring the world and living the life of a rock star, he's home in Los Angeles playing his Xbox® and Xbox 360™.

Shaun Morgan, the lead singer and guitarist for Seether.

"I play different games for each system," said Morgan. "On Xbox 360 I play games likeQUAKE™ IV  and Top Spin™ 2 . On Xbox I play all those sort of evil games likeDoom 3® and Manhunt ."

The Madden Effect
Morgan said that once the band was on the Madden NFL™ 2003 soundtrack with their song Fine Again, there was a huge influx of fan support.

"People still come up to us and say the first they had heard of us was Madden," said Morgan. "It's definitely like with wrestling and videogames and music. There's a connection within all three. I definitely think music has a large part to play."

Seether has had their music featured prominently on WWE programming, as well as in movies like The Punisher, Daredevil and Freddy vs. Jason. Morgan said videogames play a huge role in getting new music out to fans.

"Xbox Live is great. We're in a band and we don't all live
in the same town and we have other friends who
live in other cities. So we can go home and hang out
online without having to get together on a tour bus."

"I find out about new music now either through videogames or XM Satellite radio," said Morgan. "Having the videogame throw a song at you by a band you may not have liked before, and then being surprised by it, that's a good thing. I know what it did for us."

Keeping Up with the Band
Morgan and his band mates and friends are spread throughout the country, and throughout the world. He said he often keeps in touch with them through Xbox Live®, where they can talk and game at the same time.

"Xbox Live is great," said Morgan. "We're in a band and we don't all live in the same town and we have other friends who live in other cities. So we can go home and hang out online without having to get together on a tour bus."

Madden NFL 2003 helped put Seether on the map.

Morgan doesn't fare as well when it comes to gaming online against strangers.

" I don't last very long at anything I play online, but I have played Halo® 2 and Unreal Championship 2," said Morgan. "In both cases, I was totally killed. It's some little 10 year-old kid killing me. That's the power that anonymity brings you. You're some faceless little teeny bopper voice out there in the cosmos. And Xbox Live has the headphones, so these kids can curse at me when I'm online."

The new album includes an acoustic version of Fine Again,
originally on the Madden soundtrack.

Rugby Games
While it was Madden that helped get Seether noticed, Morgan hasn't been able to conquer the American sport in videogame form. He and his brother play another virtual sport instead.

"Most of my football rules I learned through Madden," said Morgan. "I still get my ass kicked by kids online when I've tried to play. Being South African, we don't understand the finer nuances of football, whereas rugby, we know the game. I can sit there for hours and read about football to get good at the game, but I don't have time for that. We opted out of the whole Madden thing and now I play Rugby.

Rugby 2005 is one of Shaun Morgan's favorite games.

Morgan and his brother spend a lot of time playing Electronic Arts' Rugby game. Although he said the gameplay was poor in the first iteration, the most recent game, Rugby 2005 , is spot-on.

"I grew up playing the sport at school," said Morgan. "It's not a game that many people know about in the States. The rules are easy to learn. We try to teach the Americans how to play on the tour bus so we can actually play a game and kick their ass."

Article by John Gaudiosi