SELECTOR SOUNDZ MONTHLY
MAGAZINE AUGUST 2000
this is the magazine that
you get at Soundz, we got it free when we bought our Silencer CDs and I
read it in the shop.
Blessed with dreamy pop sensibility, the four boys of Zed (Nathan, Ben, Adrian and recent addition Andy) have emerged from the Mangrove Mountains in NSW, Australia with a necessary understanding of funnelweb spiders, a greater command of Playstation and a soaring debut album called Silencer. This evolution into album status follows on from their earlier success with the singles I’m Cold, Oh!Daisy, and the top ten hit Glorifilia. After recording the album at Auckland’s Revolver Studio, the boys camped out, studio style, in the Mangrove mountains for six weeks, mixing the 13 track album under the guidance of producer David Nicolas (whose former credits include INXS, Midnight Oil, Pulp and Ash) and manager Ray Columbus.
Ben Campbell, bass player and youngest member of the band (although probably the wisest) reflects on their time in the woods. "we’ve been locked away for two months like social retards, basically entertained by the foolish antics of each other, Playstation, VTV and a lot of ping pong. There was a ‘nightclub’ we went to that stretched the meaning of the word. It was the only bar like that for miles and that still didn’t make it any good! For nine days in a row we didn’t even leave the house. We learnt that to make it through, to see the light at the end of the tunnel with an album in our hands, it takes time, patience and a strong focus."
Zed reveled in the recording process. They loved it. Nathan King, the front guy: "The whole environment made you strive for something more, play better… it’s those thoughts you have when you’re thinking; this is it, this is my big chance to do it right."
You can hear it in Silencer, the energy and drive that the earlier singles suggested has hit its own rhythm, kicked into overdrive on some songs and reclined into sugar coated pop ballads (taken with a grain of salt) on others. First single from the album Renegade Fighter is a punchy anthem that was chosen because of it s stand out quality. Adrian Palmer, the drummer: "Renegade fighter just seemed like an obvious first single, not for any particular reason, there are several great singles on the album. I guess it is a bit of an anthem, a good way to kick off an album is a declaration like that, loaded with melody."
When asked about their mentors, several names pop up. The boys are true sons of 90’s indie rock: Shihad, Blur, U2, Jamiroquai , the Beatles, Kruder & Dorfmeister and a collective naming of Radiohead comes from all four quarters. Ben adds that he first heard Pablo honey when he was 13 and it was ‘love at first listen, I haven’t been the same since!’ It was inspiration like this that drew Ben, Nathan and Adrian together as a band in 1995, at Cahsmere high School. "We (himself and Ben) were writing jazz and cheesy MOR stuff" admits Nathan. "then I came along and made it cool" deadpans the drummer. "yeah that ‘s pretty much true" laughs nathan. "Percussion really measures the groove of a song, locks the whole rhythm in place."
So the band operated as a three piece until the recent addition of Andy lynch on guitar, which has added another layer to the Zed sound. Nathan sings the praise of Andy’s easy integration into the band. "Andy had a huge task of learning all these songs, then adding colour to them. That was the biggest challenge of the album, incorporating Andy into the mix." Andy is no stranger to the sound of music: his father was a bass player in Cat Stevens’ band during the 60’s and his mother Suzanne was one half of 60’s pop stars The Chicks. With a little bit of showbiz in his blood, Andy was introduced to the band by family friend Ray Columbus and the rest is musical history. I ask Andy the nature of his passion for music, to which he replies " the girl who took my coffee order." It seems the reasons for playing in a band have lasted thought time, beautiful girls and the rush of pulling off a song, a gig, a tour, an album.
In their brief history Zed have experienced the essential ingredient of playing gigs in the remote and quirky parts of New Zealand. They’ve done the ‘gig in Oxford where there was maybe ten people in the hall.’ But now they look back and laugh. "it’s all part of the package, and we’re still a young band, you guys" says Andy. "Ask us in a few years and there are bound to be some interesting stories…"
Right now the band are eagerly anticipating piling into a tour van, getting back out to the beer stained carpets of a New Zealand pub tour. "We can’t wait to get out there and tour with Silencer" says Nathan. "All that time in the studio has improved our playing and concentration levels. For me playing live is the highlight, we play pop songs that are meant to connect people. That’s the best feeling, it’s why I’m here."
With more enthusiasm than
a helium balloon, the sky is the limit for the agit-pop bliss of Zed. So
what are their thoughts of breaking into the musical psyche of Australia,
Europe and the States? "Australia is the logical place" says Nathan, "the
next stepping stone. But if something took off in the States then of course
we’d be happy with that too! You can’t think about it all too much. We
were all so surprised when glorafilia went top ten, that was part of the
magic and so we’ll play and promote Silencer, let that speak for us."