Article about fame and fortune in the Cut era.

Author: Peter Castro, Who Magazine.

Date: 26 October 1992.

Original URL: N/A.

Article Text

Who needs America when you’re the coolest platinum pub band in Australia?

Mark Seymour has devoured a large plate of penne in less than two minutes. His Hunters & Collectors bandmates, bassist John Archer and keyboardist Jeremy Smith, sit in quiet disbelief as the stony-faced lead singer continues his wolfing at the Melbourne cafe where they’re having lunch. “I eat very quickly,” says Seymour, moments before ordering another serving of the same dish, which he’ll consume with equal fervour. “I always have.”

These days, Seymour, 36, is digesting more than pasta. Hunters & Collectors’ new album, Cut, has just hit the stores. But the platinum-proven band, one of Australia’s longest-running and most successful rock groups, has failed to make it overseas, which leaves them baffled.

Particularly when their pop peers INXS, Midnight Oil and Crowded House – which happens to feature Mark’s younger brother, Nick, on bass – have successfully made the crossover. “I don’t know why we haven’t made it over there,” says Mark. “I mean, I don’t care that we haven’t, but I think it’s a source of acute embarrassment [to our label, Mushroom Records].”

“It’s frustrating,” says Mushroom’s managing director, Michael Gudinski. “Sometimes the best bands take a long time. Some of Australia’s biggest performers never made it overseas – just look at John Farnham. The Hunters are one of the biggest acts I’ve got. I love this band. They kill. They’re safe as pie with us.”

Still, overseas indifference has managed to cast minor doubts on the band’s future. We all speculate about what might happen after Cut goes as far as it can go,” says Seymour, sitting in the living room of his cold and cluttered mid-renovation St Kilda flat. “One possible scenario is that we might break up, which would be really predictable.

***It appears there is meant to be more to this article***

“Our fans have been absolutely fundamental in why we’ve stayed together,” says Mark Seymour during a reflective moment at home in his St Kilda flat. “They remind us of the power of what we do.”

“Mark’s a great spokesperson, says keyboard player Jeremy Smith (far right), with Seymour (left) and bassist John Archer. “But sometimes I wonder if it’s perceived as his band or a whole band together.”

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