ZEROPUNK
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 24th August 2010.
Zeropunk is an 'electronic rock band of the 21st century' from Hertfordshire in the UK.
Singer/guitarist Jesse tells us what makes them tick...
Can you give us a brief history of Zeropunk – who you are, how you formed etc...?
Jesse: We are: Jesse - vocals/guitar, George - guitar/synth, Andrew - drums, and Gid - bass. The first line up of the band was formed in September of 2007 in a rehearsal space in London. My brother was helping me out playing bass, when we found a decent enough drummer after holding auditions throughout the summer. That drummer left after 3 months, and for the next year and a half, the band experienced several line-up changes with bass players and drummers coming and leaving due to their commitments outside of playing music.
In March of 2009, I finally got a stable enough 3 piece together to play gigs, to get a following and to eventually finish writing the material to the first record. We then released it successfully via our own label, however, due the other two members having different ideas about their dedication to the band, Zeropunk split 2 weeks after the album’s release, and I decided to reform the band with two new members on bass and drums at the start of 2010. We then found George, our lead guitarist and synth player, earlier this summer, so completing our 4-piece line-up.
Is there a huge exciting story behind the band name, or did you just pick it because it sounded cool?
Jesse: Our band name came out of nowhere. It just simply popped into my head one day. It sounded very striking to me and I’ve loved it ever since. It's a bit like a genie in a bottle: we don't know where it's from, and the more we use it, the more we learn about its meaning. To us, the name means 'Punk of the Zero-Age', with the 'Zero-Age' meaning the noughties and the years to come, which contain a zero, such as 2051 for example. So to say it in one sentence, we are 'Punk of the Future'.
Did you know what sort of music the band was going to play right from the off, or has your vibe developed a lot since the band’s inception?
Jesse: The sound we created at first was more of a post-grunge/melodic hardrock nature, with some electronic drum samples used on a couple of tracks. Over the last 2 years or so, we just kept adding more and more electronic beats, synths and effects to the mix because we want to move away from sounding like straight-up rock music, and develop our own style of futuristic electronic rock.
How would you describe the sound of the band to someone who hadn’t heard you before? Does Electronic Rock cover it, or is there a description you prefer?
Jesse: Ideally we would like to think of our music as 'Future-Rock' or ‘Sci-fi Rock’, but I think most people wouldn't know what to make of that just yet. We sound like futuristic heavy melodic rock music, made up of ambient and heavy or very effects-orientated guitars, bass, drums, electronic drums, ambient, distorted or synthetic keyboard sounds, with melodic and sometimes forced or screamed vocals.
What other bands would you list as influences?
Jesse: Nine Inch Nails, 30 Seconds To Mars, Noisia, The Prodigy, Tool, Alter Bridge, Soundgarden, Massive Attack and too many others to mention...
How about other aspects of life and culture? What really inspires you and the other guys in the band?
Jesse: Me and George are into extreme sports. He rides motorbikes, I'm into surfing and snowboarding. Gid is also a snowboarder. Andrew's into cars and breakdancing. I think we all don't mind a bit of clubbing and parties every now and then.
How have the music scene where you grew up, and the area in which the band now resides, affected your musical development? Are there plenty of good venues to see and play your style of music?
Jesse: Despite the fact that we’re very aware of the local bands and of the musical trends that are seen as hip right now, we’re not really influenced by what goes on locally, but more by bands from the states, and certainly not by ‘fad’ or ‘fashion’ bands. We were never part of a scene. The area we live in has enough venues to play in, but only seems to breed a few genres of music right now, and they are mostly alternative-indie, hardcore or emo/screamo. We don't see ourselves in any of those genres or scenes because our music is so different to theirs.
When did you start work on your latest album, and how easily did it all come together?
Jesse: The writing process for the album started ever since the beginning of this band in 2007, but the recording of it commenced in July 2009. The whole process was not a smooth or easy one because we were constantly held up by day jobs. Besides, the band was relying on me to record, mix and produce the entire thing without external help, so it's taken us a while, but we have been very patient with it and we didn't rush anything in the process.
Was there a set concept behind the creation of the album, or was it simply a bunch of standalone tracks that work well together?
Jesse: It's a collection of our best songs that represent the first era of Zeropunk's writing and sound.
How does the writing process in Zeropunk work? How would a typical song be created?
Jesse: Nowadays, I would write the words and chords of a song or even just a basic idea for a chorus, for example, then I would record it and develop it using beats and different guitar or synth sounds and I would then pass it on to George, our guitarist, to lay his ideas over it. Sometimes he'll start an idea for a riff or a song and pass it to me and I would develop his idea into a song or just simply into another part of a song.
What special techniques do you employ in the studio to get your sound?
Jesse: We love using effects. We will record guitars, bass, vocals and drums using close-miking and ambient miking techniques, and once we have everything tracked, we will use plug-ins and external effects processors to mutate the sounds into how we want them to sound. We use a lot of filters, distortion, delay and reverbs to achieve our sound, as well as pure synthesizers to create the soundscapes, ambiences and the weirder noises as heard on tracks like ‘Welcome To The Future’ and ‘Flowers Of The Abyss’.
What’s your favourite track, and is it the sound of the song or the memories behind it that make you love it?
Jesse: That’s a tough choice…I think my favourite track on the album would have to be ‘The Portal’. I love the fast drum n bass-like pace of the track, plus the epic wall of sound in the chorus, and how it changes the feel and pace between the different parts of the song. To me, it’s the best-written song of the album.
Do you enjoy the whole studio/creative experience, or do you prefer getting up on the live stage?
Jesse: We love being creative in studio, but nothing is as good as playing a great live show.
What is one of your live shows like? What should fans expect from one of your performances?
Jesse: Lots of energy. When we play live, we really get into the music and the vibe of each song, so you can expect to see us moving onstage quite a lot. Besides, we like to connect with the crowd, and explain what our songs are about. Sometimes we will alter parts of a song to experiment with new ideas that would suit it in a live situation, so I think it’s wise to not expect us to be playing everything as it is on the record.
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Jesse: Q: ‘What are you drinking?’... A: A pint of Leffe blonde, please.
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Jesse: I’m going back into the studio to record the vocals of a new track that we're currently experimenting with.
Anything else you would like to mention?
Jesse: We’ll be re-releasing our self-titled album ‘Zeropunk’ via Futurebound Records, on October 25th this year.
Thanks again to Jesse for his time.
http://www.myspace.com/zeropunkmusic
