Metal Mayhem: Thanks for answering a few of our questions. Who came up with the name Zao, and is there any meaning behind it?
Jeff Gretz: It means "Alive" in greek. It was named by original member Eric
Reeder. We recently found out that it means "Evil" in another language, but I can't remember which one it was.
Metal Mayhem: Can you give us a brief intro of the band and the other members?
JG: I’m Jeff Gretz, and I play the drums, Dan Weyandt is our singer, Scott
Mellinger on the guitar and then there's Marty Lunn on the bass.
Metal Mayhem: You've had you're fair share of instability and lineup changes
throughout your career, would you say this has hindered your progress in
anyway?
JG: Nope. I'd have to say that this line up is the best one yet. Probably because everyone in the band
WANTS to be here now. No one was ever kicked out of Zao, every one quit. If you
don’t want to be somewhere, you tend to bring everyone around you, and the
music, down.
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Metal Mayhem: Would you say that this lineup is pretty secure now? JG: Almost to the point that we would probably just break up if anyone in the current line-up left. There comes a point where the linup changes get silly. Zao reached that point years ago, so yeah. No more.
Metal Mayhem: Moving onto you latest album "The Fear is what keeps up here", it's a pretty intense listen, how would you describe your actual style? |
Metal Mayhem: What can people expect lyrically?
JG: Dan’s pretty much all over the place with the lyrics. Songs about
Zombies, surgery, politics, dying, all that fun stuff. It’s kind of dark. No
themes or agendas this time around though.
Metal Mayhem: How pleased are you with the finished product? Is there anything you'd
like to change if you could?
JG: We’re all super pleased with the album. There's nothing any of us would change. This is 100%
the record that we wanted to make.
Metal Mayhem: How would you compare this record to your previous ones?
JG: It has the name "ZAO" on the cover, other than that, I don’t think it
has enough in common with any of the prior ones to really compare it to them.
Metal Mayhem: What/Who would you say are your main influences as a band?
JG: Well, we don’t agree on much music that we listen too, common threads
for us are Johnny Cash, Carcass, Nick Cave, Slayer, early Metallica and Danzig.
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Metal Mayhem: Is there going to be a full tour in support of the new album? JG: Well, We're in the the middle of one now, hence the brevity of the answers, much touring. |
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Metal Mayhem: Are there any notable gigs or festivals you'll be appearing on this
year?
JG: Not yet. We missed the boat this year on the festivals, maybe next year.
Metal Mayhem: What would you like to achieve during the rest of 2006?
JG: Just to get through it. No more injuries.
Metal Mayhem: Good luck with the new album, any last words/comments?
JG: Yeah, just thanks to everyone that supports us.
Visit Zao Online at http://www.zaoonline.com or http://www.myspace.com/zao
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