I’ve been pretty lucky in that my work involves finding great new music, meeting even greater musicians and discovering bands which soon enough will be known by the whole wide world (and beyond)… Ed Zealous are one of those bands, their songs are brilliant and if I were to choose my all-time favourite track of their new album Wired, I would have to choose two equally great tunes: Thanks a Million and their latest single Diamonds For Eyes… Pete (the bass-player) was kind (and bored) enough to meet me for cyber-coffee and have a chilled out cyber-chat… He’s cool, very cool… And smart… And talented… No, I’m not zealous… at all…
Synth-drenched, shimmering, danceable electro-pop.
2. What does Ed Zealous stand for?
A spirit of restless musical adventure with a penchant for the quirky & off-kilter.
3. What’s the most memorable moment in your music career so far and why?
Performing at the packed-out launch party for the 1st single release (‘Medicines’) off our album, in the Stiff Kitten Belfast. That show sticks in the memory for the palpable chemistry between the band & audience & for the rewarding feeling of all our hard work up to that point beginning to pay dividends.
4. What’s the most embarrassing moment in your music career and why?
Well, my musical career (&life!) almost came to an end when one night as I was lying down in a friend’s front garden (trying to make myself feel better at the end of a night of fairly hard partying), I was run over by an estate car & trailer full of music gear. Despite the car running over my arm I was miraculously unhurt, but I did find out several years later in a Belfast music shop that I’d since earned the nickname ‘Speedbump’ around the scene!
5. Please describe each band member by using three adjectives.
Steve: Exuberant / Methodical / Resourceful
Andrew: Extrovert / Enterprising / Versatile
Paul: Energetic / Leaderly / Ambitious
6. Who writes the music and lyrics in your band and how does the whole creative writing process look like in your band?
Steve wrote the majority of the music & lyrics for a lot of tracks on ‘Wired’ although everyone contributed to a greater or lesser extent, so there was still a large element of collaboration. Paul & Andrew wrote ‘These Words’ together & also co-authored several others with Steve, their ideas have also birthed several more key tracks & worked their way into prominent parts of the album.
We took these sketches of songs & ideas from laptops & sculpted them into a body of work resembling an album. The songs we felt we’re strongest we then refined & demoed up before taking them to the studio.
7. What does a typical rehearsal look like for you guys?
We spend an hour or so setting up, shooting the shit & drinking coffee in our rehearsal room, then spend a few hours blasting through the set, refining aspects of the sound & working on elements of our live show. The room is arranged with all our instruments & amps facing the centre of the room in a circle, & we have a plastic helicopter adorning the wall that we got for free from a shop across the street – it lights up & sets the ambiance perfectly. Sometimes we have lazers too.
8. Where did you all meet and how did Ed Zealous form?
We all met while at Secondary School in Coleraine, close to the North Coast of Northern Ireland where we we all played in different bands in a fledgling music scene that’s since produced bands like ASIWYFA & Axis Of. We went our separate ways to Uni & Art College but a chance meeting a few years later in Belfast rekindled a certain chemistry we always had & sparked the desire to start a new musical project.
9. What’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about your music/ band?
I was told once by a member of a local band that it was seeing an early Ed Zealous show that inspired him to form a band, which was a really heart-warming thing to hear.
10. What’s the most annoying/ mean thing anyone’s ever said about your music/ band?
Generally words from peeps who approach us after shows, messages on Facebook/Twitter & reviews have all been really positive so far, so it’s difficult to give you a really nasty or negative quote! One thing I could say is a bit of a pet peeve for me is the reviewer who turns up half way through a show, stays for maybe 1 song & then goes home & writes an essay on their trip to the venue, what the audience were wearing, what the band were wearing & then maybe a sentence on the actual musical content!
11. What are your plans for 2014 and what can your fans expect from you after the release of Wired album?
On the 20th February in Belfast’s Limelight we’re going to have a launch party to celebrate the release of the album, with 2 of the best emerging bands from Ireland right now – Go Wolf & Affleck as our guests. We’re expecting to tour Ireland, the UK & Europe throughout the year including loads of festival appearances that are in the works – keep an eye out on our facebook and twitter for dates & announcements soon!
