Red Hot Summer a perfect warm-up for Mark Seymour's Antarctic odyssey

The Advertiser

13-06-2025

Veteran Aussie songwriter Mark Seymour will be feeling the heat this summer, but come December next year, he will be preparing for a cool change.
From October to December, Seymour will join some of Australian music's biggest names for the Red Hot Summer festival. Just 12 months after the tour wraps up, he will embark on a voyage to the coldest continent on earth.
Seymour, 68, said he couldn't resist the offer to join an 11-day cruise to the Antarctic, which will see him performing intimate acoustic sets for those onboard.
Read more from The Senior
"I'd never do it otherwise. I'd never get down there. So it's an incredible opportunity to see, you know, this really, magnificent part of the earth," he said.
Seymour is particularly excited about travelling the infamous Drake Passage.
The notorious stretch of water between South America's Cape Horn and Antarctica's South Shetland Islands has historically been considered the most dangerous body of water in the world for seafarers.
"It's got hundreds and hundreds of old wooden shipwrecks somewhere down on the bottom, you know, and so the history of the area is incredible."
Before heading off on the adventure of a lifetime, Seymour will join the likes of Crowded House, The Church, The Waifs, and Angus and Julia Stone on the lineup for this year's Red Hot Summer touring festival.
He can't wait to perform at the festival. He enjoys the opportunity to hang out with fellow performers at festivals and said Red Hot Summer offers a different vibe to most music festivals.
"It just sort of becomes its own little kind of like a community backstage, but it's definitely got that vibe in the audience as well, I think.
"What sets it apart from other tours or other festivals, it's very much about communities in towns, and it's sort of multi-generational. It's not focused on one particular age group."
Joining Seymour on stage will be Vika and Linda. Seymour has had a long association with the popular vocal duo, having written When Will You Fall For Me, the first single from their self-titled 1994 debut album.
The show will combine hits from both Seymour and Vika and Linda's catalogues. Seymour will take on lead vocals for some of Vika and Linda's hits, and they will take the lead on some of his, giving audiences the chance to experience the songs in a new light.
Outside of touring life, Seymour, who co-penned Australian classics like Throw Your Arms Around Me, Holy Grail, and When The River Runs Dry, continues to write and produce music.
The former Hunters and Collectors frontman released his latest album The Boxer with his current band, The Undertow last year. Its eponymous first single tells the story of a young woman who leaves a country town to pursue a boxing career and was inspired by his personal trainer.
"I'm at my best (as a songwriter) when I inhabit a character. So there's a person engaged in something, and then they've got an attitude or they're in a particular emotional state."
Having written and recorded music for more than 45 years, you might think the occasional bout of writer's block would be inevitable, but it has never been an issue for Seymour.
"I look out at the world, and there's never a lack of material, ever. And I just basically experiment with my guitar, you know, it's a very simple process."
"Why I chose songwriting as a pathway in life was pretty intuitive, really. Whatever that trigger is, it has always been there."
Tickets for the Red Hot Summer are on sale now and selling fast.
Red Hot Summer; touring regional venues in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia from October 11 to December 6. For tickets visit www.redhotsummertour.com.au.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
.
Veteran Aussie songwriter Mark Seymour will be feeling the heat this summer, but come December next year, he will be preparing for a cool change.
From October to December, Seymour will join some of Australian music's biggest names for the Red Hot Summer festival. Just 12 months after the tour wraps up, he will embark on a voyage to the coldest continent on earth.
Seymour, 68, said he couldn't resist the offer to join an 11-day cruise to the Antarctic, which will see him performing intimate acoustic sets for those onboard.
Read more from The Senior
"I'd never do it otherwise. I'd never get down there. So it's an incredible opportunity to see, you know, this really, magnificent part of the earth," he said.
Seymour is particularly excited about travelling the infamous Drake Passage.
The notorious stretch of water between South America's Cape Horn and Antarctica's South Shetland Islands has historically been considered the most dangerous body of water in the world for seafarers.
"It's got hundreds and hundreds of old wooden shipwrecks somewhere down on the bottom, you know, and so the history of the area is incredible."
Before heading off on the adventure of a lifetime, Seymour will join the likes of Crowded House, The Church, The Waifs, and Angus and Julia Stone on the lineup for this year's Red Hot Summer touring festival.
He can't wait to perform at the festival. He enjoys the opportunity to hang out with fellow performers at festivals and said Red Hot Summer offers a different vibe to most music festivals.
"It just sort of becomes its own little kind of like a community backstage, but it's definitely got that vibe in the audience as well, I think.
"What sets it apart from other tours or other festivals, it's very much about communities in towns, and it's sort of multi-generational. It's not focused on one particular age group."
Joining Seymour on stage will be Vika and Linda. Seymour has had a long association with the popular vocal duo, having written When Will You Fall For Me, the first single from their self-titled 1994 debut album.
The show will combine hits from both Seymour and Vika and Linda's catalogues. Seymour will take on lead vocals for some of Vika and Linda's hits, and they will take the lead on some of his, giving audiences the chance to experience the songs in a new light.
Outside of touring life, Seymour, who co-penned Australian classics like Throw Your Arms Around Me, Holy Grail, and When The River Runs Dry, continues to write and produce music.
The former Hunters and Collectors frontman released his latest album The Boxer with his current band, The Undertow last year. Its eponymous first single tells the story of a young woman who leaves a country town to pursue a boxing career and was inspired by his personal trainer.
"I'm at my best (as a songwriter) when I inhabit a character. So there's a person engaged in something, and then they've got an attitude or they're in a particular emotional state."
Having written and recorded music for more than 45 years, you might think the occasional bout of writer's block would be inevitable, but it has never been an issue for Seymour.
"I look out at the world, and there's never a lack of material, ever. And I just basically experiment with my guitar, you know, it's a very simple process."
"Why I chose songwriting as a pathway in life was pretty intuitive, really. Whatever that trigger is, it has always been there."
Tickets for the Red Hot Summer are on sale now and selling fast.
Red Hot Summer; touring regional venues in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia from October 11 to December 6. For tickets visit www.redhotsummertour.com.au.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
.
Veteran Aussie songwriter Mark Seymour will be feeling the heat this summer, but come December next year, he will be preparing for a cool change.
From October to December, Seymour will join some of Australian music's biggest names for the Red Hot Summer festival. Just 12 months after the tour wraps up, he will embark on a voyage to the coldest continent on earth.
Seymour, 68, said he couldn't resist the offer to join an 11-day cruise to the Antarctic, which will see him performing intimate acoustic sets for those onboard.
Read more from The Senior
"I'd never do it otherwise. I'd never get down there. So it's an incredible opportunity to see, you know, this really, magnificent part of the earth," he said.
Seymour is particularly excited about travelling the infamous Drake Passage.
The notorious stretch of water between South America's Cape Horn and Antarctica's South Shetland Islands has historically been considered the most dangerous body of water in the world for seafarers.
"It's got hundreds and hundreds of old wooden shipwrecks somewhere down on the bottom, you know, and so the history of the area is incredible."
Before heading off on the adventure of a lifetime, Seymour will join the likes of Crowded House, The Church, The Waifs, and Angus and Julia Stone on the lineup for this year's Red Hot Summer touring festival.
He can't wait to perform at the festival. He enjoys the opportunity to hang out with fellow performers at festivals and said Red Hot Summer offers a different vibe to most music festivals.
"It just sort of becomes its own little kind of like a community backstage, but it's definitely got that vibe in the audience as well, I think.
"What sets it apart from other tours or other festivals, it's very much about communities in towns, and it's sort of multi-generational. It's not focused on one particular age group."
Joining Seymour on stage will be Vika and Linda. Seymour has had a long association with the popular vocal duo, having written When Will You Fall For Me, the first single from their self-titled 1994 debut album.
The show will combine hits from both Seymour and Vika and Linda's catalogues. Seymour will take on lead vocals for some of Vika and Linda's hits, and they will take the lead on some of his, giving audiences the chance to experience the songs in a new light.
Outside of touring life, Seymour, who co-penned Australian classics like Throw Your Arms Around Me, Holy Grail, and When The River Runs Dry, continues to write and produce music.
The former Hunters and Collectors frontman released his latest album The Boxer with his current band, The Undertow last year. Its eponymous first single tells the story of a young woman who leaves a country town to pursue a boxing career and was inspired by his personal trainer.
"I'm at my best (as a songwriter) when I inhabit a character. So there's a person engaged in something, and then they've got an attitude or they're in a particular emotional state."
Having written and recorded music for more than 45 years, you might think the occasional bout of writer's block would be inevitable, but it has never been an issue for Seymour.
"I look out at the world, and there's never a lack of material, ever. And I just basically experiment with my guitar, you know, it's a very simple process."
"Why I chose songwriting as a pathway in life was pretty intuitive, really. Whatever that trigger is, it has always been there."
Tickets for the Red Hot Summer are on sale now and selling fast.
Red Hot Summer; touring regional venues in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia from October 11 to December 6. For tickets visit www.redhotsummertour.com.au.
Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send a Letter to the Editor by CLICKING HERE.
.