Rushfans’ David sits down with Mitch Seekins, Geddy Lee’s vocal coach for the Rush Fifty Something Tour, for a special conversation about working with one of rock’s most distinctive and recognizable voices. Mitch discusses his role in helping Geddy prepare vocally for the tour, the challenges that come with performing demanding Rush material night after night, and what goes into keeping a legendary voice ready for the stage. The conversation also offers Rush fans a unique perspective on the preparation happening behind the scenes as Geddy, Alex Lifeson, and the band bring Rush music back to audiences on the Fifty Something Tour. For longtime Rush fans, this is a rare opportunity to hear from someone directly involved in helping Geddy Lee prepare for this new chapter of live Rush music.
🎙️ Interviewer: David Utsler from Rushfans
🎤 Guest: Mitch Seekins — Vocal Coach for Geddy Lee
🥁 Topic: Rush — Fifty Something Tour
If you enjoy Rush interviews, tour coverage, concert discussions, and everything surrounding Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and the music of Rush, be sure to like the video, subscribe to Rushfans, and join the conversation in the comments.
#Rush #GeddyLee #AlexLifeson #MitchSeekins #Rushfans #FiftySomethingTour #RushTour #GeddyLeeInterview #RushInterview #ProgressiveRock #ClassicRock
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Transcript
David Utsler interviewing Mitch Seekins
Mitch Seekins: There we go.
David Utsler: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Rush Fans. Many people have commented on the Fifty Something Tour and how strong Geddy’s voice sounds. He’s hitting notes he hasn’t hit in years, seemingly without strain. I read that, apart from “2112,” they’re not downtuning. If you’ve seen the shows or watched the videos, the person on screen is largely responsible for that. I don’t mean me! It’s Mitch Seekins, Geddy Lee’s vocal coach. Welcome, and thank you for coming.
Mitch Seekins: You’re very welcome. Thanks for having me.
David Utsler: Before we talk about your work with Geddy, what’s a day in the life of Mitch Seekins like?
Mitch Seekins: I get up in the morning, make coffee and head down to my studio. Depending on where a student lives, there can be a 12 hour time difference, so I may start teaching at 8 a.m. Usually, I start around 9 or 10 and teach until dinnertime. Sometimes I come back for another couple of hours afterward. I’ve been doing this a long time and have a pretty full roster, so it keeps me out of trouble.
David Utsler: That’s probably a good thing. I assume you do most of your lessons over Zoom?
Mitch Seekins: Yes. Do you want to hear an interesting story?
David Utsler: I do. I love story time.
Mitch Seekins: As far as I can tell—and that’s my qualification—I was the first person to teach voice online. I started in 2001, after preparing for a couple of years and waiting for the necessary bandwidth. I knew it was going to become possible. It’s been a long process of growing with the internet as high speed connections developed. For the last 10 years, I’ve taught strictly online. I don’t coach in person anymore.
David Utsler: You were an innovator, but now online lessons are almost the norm.
Mitch Seekins: They are. I’m so accustomed to it because it’s what I do all day, five or six days a week, depending on the week.
David Utsler: So if a student wanted to take vocal lessons with you, how would they do that?
Mitch Seekins: They can reach out by email. The easiest way to find me is to search my name, or even “Who’s Geddy Lee’s vocal coach?” My website has my email address. We discuss their goals, where they live, their background and how much they’ve studied. I ask them to send material so I can hear what they’re doing now, and perhaps what they did in the past. If it seems like a good fit, I pass them to my assistant, who handles my calendar. It’s quite full, but there’s still a little time available. Then I send a link, and we get to work.
David Utsler: And the website is MitchSeekins.com, I assume. Is that correct?
Mitch Seekins: No. It’s mitchseekinsvocalstudio.com.
David Utsler: I’m glad I asked. All one word?
Mitch Seekins: Yes. If you Google my name, it’s the only thing that comes up.
David Utsler: We usually have a banner for the website, but I didn’t think to get one. That’s mitchseekinsvocalstudio.com, or people can search for Mitch Seekins.
Mitch Seekins: Or just Google me.
David Utsler: That leads to the next question: How did you get this gig with Geddy Lee of Rush? How did that come about?
Mitch Seekins: An old student of mine, Andy Curran, who used to be with them.
David Utsler: Andy Curran of Coney Hatch?
Mitch Seekins: Oh, yeah.
David Utsler: I don’t know Andy personally. I know Maya from Envy of None, but I haven’t met Andy. Just this guy!
Mitch Seekins: Andy studied with me about 10 years ago. I saw him again today, actually; he wants a refresher. He was part of Anthem and Rush’s management for years. When Alex and Geddy started discussing the tour, Andy thought it would be wise to see what Geddy’s voice could do after so many years away from singing. He thought of me and asked Alex whether coaching might be a good idea. They reached out to Geddy, and he agreed. Then Andy called me and asked if I’d be interested in working with Geddy Lee. It was a little scary, of course, but I’m an expert in the upper range of rock singing. I was thrilled to help an iconic singer prepare as well as possible. The tour dates were already booked, so it was time to get moving. Andy said he’d give Geddy my contact information. Five minutes later, he called back and asked whether I’d work with Alex, too. Alex wanted to sing more. Of course I said yes, and both of them reached out.
David Utsler: You were a Rush fan, so you knew their music?
Mitch Seekins: I was a big fan in the late seventies and early eighties. Around 1982 or 1983, I became wrapped up in my own work as a touring artist and didn’t listen to much other music for years. I missed a whole stretch of their records. I knew the band was still around, but I didn’t know what they were doing. I was there for the earlier period, though. I think I saw them three times back then.
David Utsler: The first tour I saw was Moving Pictures in 1981. I’ve been a fan since 1976, when I was 11.
Mitch Seekins: I think I saw them on the 2112 tour, though it was so long ago that I’m not certain. I saw them play those songs, whichever tour it was.
David Utsler: You knew how iconic Geddy is as a performer, bassist, frontman, keyboardist and singer. He’d done other projects, including books and a book tour, but he hadn’t really been singing.
Mitch Seekins: Only briefly. He performed with the South Park guys and at the Taylor Hawkins memorial, but that was just a couple of songs each time.
David Utsler: What was it like knowing Rush would tour again after more than a decade, with so many people wondering about Geddy’s voice? I’d have found the responsibility daunting.
Mitch Seekins: It was daunting. I didn’t know what to expect, and I’d never met Geddy, so I didn’t know how committed he’d be. First, I needed to assess what aging had done to his voice. Then I learned I was his first vocal coach. He had never studied, which shocked me. What he’d done throughout his career without training is exceedingly rare, and he sustained it for almost all that time. Things had begun to change a little during the last couple of tours.
David Utsler: That’s not unusual for singers after decades of performing.
Mitch Seekins: No, not at all.
David Utsler: Rob Halford of Judas Priest is another example. I’ve seen him many times, and he still has incredible pipes, but he approaches the high notes differently now.
Mitch Seekins: That’s right. I’ve read that Rob studied his craft and worked hard at it. With Geddy, I had to introduce some basic concepts he hadn’t learned formally. Fortunately, he’d already been doing about 90 percent of it correctly. Much of the work was explaining and reteaching what he had done instinctively in his prime, along with some new concepts to provide stability.
David Utsler: Almost explaining to him what he was doing.
Mitch Seekins: Exactly. It took a month or a month and a half for him to understand the concepts. He’s very disciplined, and we worked almost every other day at first. Once he could recognize what I was describing, I’d show him archival footage from around 1985 and say, “See what you’re doing here? Hear how that sounds? That’s what we’re aiming for.” He had started to get too wide at the top of his range, which caused the voice to close up.
David Utsler: I’m a college professor, so I give my students assignments. Did Geddy have exercises to practise between lessons?
Mitch Seekins: Not at the beginning. Vocal work operates so much at a subconscious level that a student can think they’ve understood a new concept and then practise it incorrectly. That creates a habit we have to undo. Once Geddy reached a certain stage, I made exercise files for him, with spoken cues throughout to remind him what to do while singing.
David Utsler: Rush fans are a good group, but we can be judgmental. Did you feel pressure about how they would respond to Geddy’s voice?
Mitch Seekins: Definitely. I’d listened to Rush a great deal when I was younger, and I tend to focus on singers and vocal tone, so I already knew Geddy’s voice well. My first question was what remained after the long break and whether we could get him in shape to do the songs justice. I reviewed archival performances of both Geddy and Alex and made notes. These are global icons. People love them, rightly so: they’re good people, extraordinarily talented and hardworking. Every component of Rush matters, and Geddy’s voice is so recognizable that you can identify him from a single note. I felt the weight of helping him deliver those songs and honour the band’s legacy. We talked about that pressure. At the same time, Rush fans are supportive; they want to see the band again.
David Utsler: We didn’t think we’d ever have that chance again.
Mitch Seekins: Exactly. Whatever the result, I think the fans would have supported them because it’s Rush.
David Utsler: They wouldn’t have started the tour unless they felt they could play well. Still, as a fan, hearing Geddy sing older material such as “A Farewell to Kings” with a voice that sounded so smooth was extraordinary. I saw them twice in Fort Worth and watched videos from other shows, including Toronto and Los Angeles. It was more than we could have hoped for.
Mitch Seekins: My original goal was to help him do a good job. I didn’t know we’d get to the point where, to my ears, he’s knocking it out of the park. Is it perfect? No, and it shouldn’t have to be. He’s 73. His voice isn’t exactly what it was in the eighties, but it’s remarkably close. He’s worked very hard. I continue to speak with him every day and work with him between shows to monitor his vocal health, stretch the voice and keep it in shape.
David Utsler: You’re approaching this as a true teacher, with the same care you’d give any student. I’m sure Andy Curran knew that about you.
Mitch Seekins: At that level, an artist has a lot riding on the voice. I’ve worked with a few globally known singers, and they need that close attention and support. It also eases some of the anxiety when something goes wrong, whether they’re worried about a performance or they’ve caught a cold. I help them through all of it.
David Utsler: I’m in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. The first Fort Worth show was cancelled because the trucks couldn’t get across the border. Then the band played two shows. I had tickets for the fourth, and we were pulling into Dickies Arena when someone told us it was cancelled. The restaurants nearby were full of people in Rush shirts. We learned Geddy was having voice trouble—bronchitis or laryngitis. From Alex’s message to fans, it sounded as though Geddy hoped he could still perform, even after sound check.
Mitch Seekins: He was at he was at the venue.
David Utsler: Geddy was saying, “I can do this,” but the doctor said he couldn’t. How were you involved?
Mitch Seekins: I’d been involved since the previous day; we work together almost every day. After the second show, he woke up thinking he had acid reflux. He’d been coughing all night, which reflux can cause, but when we worked online his range was still there. I told him to drink plenty of water, avoid eating late and get rest. If it was reflux, the swelling should ease. We planned to check again on show day. He’d been out for barbecue, which was part of why he suspected reflux.
David Utsler: That’s understandable in Fort Worth. We have Dickey’s Barbecue and plenty of other barbecue places.
Mitch Seekins: You’re in Texas; you have to try barbecue. He’d also had a bourbon, so reflux seemed plausible. But the next day he called and said he was worse and had coughed through the night. I don’t usually see him on show days—he has warm up files, sound check and a busy schedule—but we went online. This time his voice was almost gone. The tour doctor came in and tried everything available, including treatment through an IV. The band understood how much people had invested in coming: travel, time off work and hotels. They felt the responsibility deeply and wanted to give the fans their best. I suggested Geddy go to the venue and try a warm up after seeing the doctor, to find out what was possible. At the venue, his voice was worse still. Cancelling was a difficult decision, but they had to make it.
David Utsler: I thought the decision came only about an hour before the doors were due to open.
Mitch Seekins: It was made around sound check, about four o’clock. Then everyone had to work out how to tell the audience. We’d discussed the possibility that something like this could happen, perhaps even again, but no one expected it so early. There hadn’t been much time to prepare for that situation.
David Utsler: It was early in the tour. They’d played four shows in Los Angeles and two in Mexico City, so Fort Worth was only their third city. The two cancellations had completely different causes, but people online were speculating. To quote “Show Don’t Tell,” everyone knows everything and no one’s ever wrong. That must have weighed on them.
Mitch Seekins: Believe me, they weren’t happy about it.
David Utsler: I was fortunate to see two shows after they came back. They played their hearts out, and they’ve kept doing that at every stop since.
Mitch Seekins: I’ve just started listening to the first Detroit show. I usually review the previous night’s performance over coffee so Geddy and I can discuss it on his day off. I couldn’t listen yesterday, but Geddy told me he felt it had been one of his better vocal nights. We keep working, and things are becoming easier and more consistent. He’s actually getting stronger as the tour goes on, which is wonderful.
David Utsler: Anika has been amazing, too. She seems to fit musically with the band and to be settling into their sense of humour.
Mitch Seekins: She fits in so well, and she’s very nice.
David Utsler: The chemistry, Geddy’s voice and the band’s playing all seem to be finding a groove from city to city. Rehearsing is different from performing in front of thousands of people, however well prepared you are. Geddy feeling stronger in Detroit seems to match the progress of the tour overall.
Mitch Seekins: Geddy and I discussed the pressure of the first Los Angeles shows. By the fourth show, Anika was starting to settle in. Mexico was better, Fort Worth better still, and in Chicago she was really finding her groove. They know the material so well now that they can relax into it.
David Utsler: Several members of our team live in Chicago and went to those shows.
Mitch Seekins: They were great shows.
David Utsler: Geddy is ambitious and likes a challenge. The actors in the opening film said he’s such a perfectionist that they repeated scenes until he was satisfied. What is it like to coach someone so driven?
Mitch Seekins: Part of my job is to keep a vocalist from striving for perfection. That isn’t helpful.
David Utsler: I’m imagining you telling Geddy that he can’t strive for perfection.
Mitch Seekins: We began simply. Singing is an athletic activity: you train muscles, build strength and develop confidence. No professional athlete can achieve perfection, and chasing it will drive you crazy. The aim is to train until your performance stays within a narrow, high level of consistency. An amateur’s range of results may be much wider and lower. A professional’s worst day can still be better than an amateur’s average day. With Geddy, we rebuilt the voice and then worked on endurance. If a note went astray, I reminded him not to panic. These are muscles. Once he accepted that, he worried less, and look at the progress he’s made.
David Utsler: Letting go of that worry may even improve the performance.
Mitch Seekins: Exactly. Instead of fearing a missed note, you ask what you can do differently and try again the next night.
David Utsler: It’s like stepping out with the wrong foot. You still have to keep walking.
Mitch Seekins: He’s disciplined and determined to do his absolute best. I’m waiting to hear how today’s sound check went, actually.
David Utsler: You also coached Alex. His backing vocals seem more prominent on this tour. What was it like working with him? I imagine there’s humour, but he must be serious when it’s time to work.
Mitch Seekins: He is. Both guys are lovely people. Alex works differently from Geddy, but I wouldn’t call him less disciplined.
David Utsler: He has his own way of doing it.
Mitch Seekins: Yes, and he’s very focused. We talk while we work, which helps singers relax. Alex has a great voice; he’s simply been shy about singing for most of his life, and he wanted more confidence. I expanded his range beyond what the tour required and introduced some concepts. He practised every day with a work file and met with me two or sometimes three times a week, especially at the beginning. In concert videos, I watch him sing backing vocals. His tone is stable, his pitch has always been good, and he’s making a strong contribution to the lower part of the vocal sound.
David Utsler: I saw R40 in Dallas and thought that was the end. To see them return with this strength and freshness is hard to describe. It’s wonderful.
Mitch Seekins: It is remarkable. When I started, I had no idea how far we’d get. Expanding Geddy’s range in exercises was one thing; applying it in songs was another. I worked with them throughout the rehearsal process, warming them up before sessions that lasted six hours, then checking the next day how their voices had responded. We didn’t have much time to work on individual songs. Between the health clinic in Austria and time in England, our priority was building the range and making sure Geddy could reach the high notes. We had begun endurance work when rehearsals started, so I monitored that during the sessions and made sure he wasn’t hurting himself. The result has been wonderful.
David Utsler: You train singers to reach higher than a song requires. From the audience, Geddy seems to hit those notes without straining, though I know he’s working. Is that extra range part of what makes it look easier?
Mitch Seekins: I’ve been coaching for 36 years now. With Geddy, I tried to keep the high F sharp available as consistently as possible, though rehearsals and vocal fatigue sometimes made that difficult. That high note in “Freewill” has become reliable for him. He hits it every night.
David Utsler: I’ve noticed in concert videos that he raises his arm when he reaches a couple of those high notes.
Mitch Seekins: I saw footage from the early nineties, and he was doing it then, too. I might teach a different physical approach, but if it isn’t causing trouble, there’s no need to change it.
David Utsler: After doing it for so long, he may not even be aware of it.
Mitch Seekins: If it helps him, that’s great. He hits the notes every night.
David Utsler: I’ve got a couple of photos here. There’s Alex with that signature smile, and here’s one of you with Geddy. Was that taken at a show?
Mitch Seekins: Yes, during the Toronto run. My son was there, and I wanted him to meet the guys. He’s learning bass and guitar and studying voice with me. Geddy sent him a bass pedal for his birthday.
David Utsler: Oh, nice.
Mitch Seekins: For his birthday, yes.
David Utsler: Was it a YYZ Shape Shifter?
Mitch Seekins: Something like that. I’d have to look at it in the other room.
David Utsler: Tim from YYNOT would know what I’m talking about.
Mitch Seekins: We went backstage so my son could meet them. We didn’t stay long because so many people wanted to speak with them.
David Utsler: It was their hometown, so they had family and old friends there, too.
Mitch Seekins: My son met Anika, and I got to talk with her again after our conversations at rehearsals. When Geddy and my son Graydon posed for a picture, Anika stood in the background with her fingers behind Geddy’s head, photobombing them. I didn’t even notice until I got back to the hotel. They’re fun people.
David Utsler: They do something difficult, yet they keep that sense of humour and fun.
Mitch Seekins: They really are having fun.
David Utsler: Music has been their life, and they’ve given their fans so much over the years. Now they’re doing it again.
Mitch Seekins: It’s an honour to be part of this project. Working through those songs brought back memories of how much I enjoyed Rush when I was younger. I saw them two or three times and felt a connection to them as people, not only musicians. At one show at the Edmonton Coliseum, Neil Peart broke a snare head. Someone had forgotten to bring a replacement from the truck, so the concert stopped while they fetched one. I think it was a snare head because I remember him tuning it onstage. Geddy and Alex told jokes and played polka and country music while everyone waited. I saw Styx on the Paradise Theatre tour about a week later. Their show was understandably choreographed, but I connected more with Rush because they seemed so real. Those memories came back as we worked through the songs.
David Utsler: Songs take you back to where you first heard them.
Mitch Seekins: Exactly.
David Utsler: They bring back all those memories.
Mitch Seekins: I remember first hearing “The Trees,” “2112,” “Closer to the Heart” and “Tom Sawyer.”
David Utsler: When we were kids, there was no internet. We’d read in music magazines that a Rush album was coming, note the release date and go straight to the record store. I especially remember Signals. Permanent Waves had been a shift after Hemispheres, and Moving Pictures was amazing, so we wondered what would come next. My friend Dennis and I nearly passed the new album in the rack because we weren’t expecting a cover with a Dalmatian and a fire hydrant. We took it home, put it on the turntable and listened. We were about 17 or 18 and so excited.
Mitch Seekins: As kids, we didn’t know how much thought went into those album covers. There are so many layers to them.
David Utsler: Shout out to Hugh Syme.
Mitch Seekins: He did a great job. And the live show—have you ever seen anything like it?
David Utsler: I’ve seen a lot of really marvelous things, but a Rush show is singular.
Mitch Seekins: Geddy oversees all of that, doesn’t he?
David Utsler: He’s always been involved in the show’s ambitious ideas. I love that they also make fun of themselves, as in the Villa Strangiato retirement community film.
Mitch Seekins: Geddy is like a CEO overseeing the team and making final decisions. I hadn’t realized he’d been involved in shaping the shows since around 1987 or 1988. I didn’t even know about the films they were making for this tour. Alex told me they’d had prosthetics made to look 110 years old. Geddy mentioned having to speak in a funny voice. I couldn’t understand why they needed it all until I saw the result. Both Alex and Geddy acted wonderfully.
David Utsler: They did. They played much older versions of themselves. Taylor told us the direction for his role was like the child in Willy Wonka who eats everything in sight. I especially liked Geddy’s acting, right down to the little gestures. And Alex saying, “I peed again”…
Mitch Seekins: And the response, “Of course you did.”
David Utsler: Brilliant. For some artists, the spectacle carries the performance, but with Rush it’s always the music. Howard Ungerleider’s lighting and the videos add to it. The band could simply play and we’d still be amazed, but all the other elements make it even stronger.
Mitch Seekins: I’d seen concert footage online because I review every show, and it was impressive. Seeing it live was something else. The band, the music and the entire production supported one another. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s brilliant.
David Utsler: R40 was the first tour where they used a curtain in front of the stage.
Mitch Seekins: Oh, really?
David Utsler: This tour’s opening goes beyond a curtain. As “Xanadu” begins, the image separates, you see Geddy and Alex, and then the screen rises to reveal Anika. It’s one of the best openings I’ve ever seen.
Mitch Seekins: Eddie told me they call that screen a brow. It’s porous, so they can project 4K images onto it, but when the lights come on behind it, you can see through it. Brilliant.
David Utsler: So gosh, Mitch, this has been fun.
Mitch Seekins: It has been fun. I’ve enjoyed myself.
David Utsler: Is there anything we missed or anything else you’d like to add?
Mitch Seekins: We’ve covered a lot. I’m thrilled that people love the show. I attended rehearsals but didn’t know what the finished stage production would look like, so seeing it was a wonderful surprise. I’m also happy that Geddy keeps getting stronger. We’re working hard to maintain that for the rest of the tour. I have to admit, my experience with 73 year old singers who can hit a high F is limited, so I’m learning as we go, too.
David Utsler: On behalf of Rush fans everywhere, thank you. We’re grateful.
Mitch Seekins: It’s been my honour and my pleasure.
David Utsler: Before we go, if you enjoy Rush Fans, please subscribe and tell your friends. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook, and support the channel through Ko-fi. We also have merchandise below the video and another Instagram account called Rush Lyrics. Mitch, what’s your website again?
Mitch Seekins: MitchSeekinsVocalStudio.com. You can also search “Who’s Geddy Lee’s vocal coach?” and my site will come up.
David Utsler: There aren’t many Mitch Seekinses coaching Geddy Lee, so it should be easy to find. Thank you for giving us your time.
Mitch Seekins: No problem.
David Utsler: It means a lot to have you here on Rush Fans. Everyone watching, please like, comment and share this interview. Now you’ve heard more about why Geddy is sounding so strong and the work behind it. Mitch, thank you again. We hope to have you back sometime. Bye, everybody.