Mark Seymour

Mark Jeremy Seymour (born 26 July 1956) is an Australian musician and vocalist. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors from 1981 until 1998. Seymour has carved a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in 1997 and winning an ARIA Award in 2001 for One Eyed Man in the category of Best Adult Contemporary Album.

Mark Jeremy Seymour was born on 26 July 1956 in Benalla to Frank and Paula Seymour.[1] He has two older sisters, Hilary and Helen, and a younger brother, Nick (born 1958) – later bass guitarist for Crowded House.[2] His mother encouraged all four children to learn musical instruments and sing.[2] He initially learned piano but switched to guitar as a teenager. Seymour and his family moved to Melbourne in 1972, he graduated from University of Melbourne in 1978 and was qualified to teach.[2] He later lived in the St Kilda area.

By 1980 Seymour, on lead guitar, was a member of The Jetsonnes, a post-punk pop group formed in Melbourne, with John Archer on bass guitar; Doug Falconer on drums; Margot O’Neill on lead vocals; and Ray Tosti-Gueira on guitar.[3] Clinton Walker described the group as “lighter, bouncier (rather than funkier) and more infectious than other like-minded bands such as Models”.[3] They issued a double A-sided single, “Newspaper”/”Miniskirts in Moscow”.[3][4] The Jetsonnes, Models, and International Exiles were “the first bands to rise out of Melbourne’s hothouse punk, new wave explosion playing an exuberant brand of neo-pop”.[4]