Zed Photo: Supplied / Trigger Marketing
Kiwi band Zed have been flexing their "musical muscles" again with the release of their first album in 20 years.
It has been a long wait for fans of a band that came to typify a certain early-Noughties New Zealand rock sound, with hits like "Renegade Fighter" and "Glorafilla".
Having got back together in 2017 and playing regular shows since then, it was a natural progression to make their new album Future Memory, Nathan King (lead vocals, guitar, trumpet) told RNZ's Afternoons.
"We're lucky in the band there's three of the four of us [who] write music, and I think it's one of those things that's in your blood a little bit, and you don't necessarily ever give that up."
The band dynamic has mellowed since the early days, he said.
"I think we're all a lot more tolerant of each other and aware of ourselves. That self-awareness has become really apparent, and that's made this reconnection just so rewarding I think."
The band is now scattered throughout the country, he said.
"Our drummer, Adrian Palmer, is in Christchurch. Ben [Campbell] is based in Akaroa, Andy [Lynch] is based up in Matakana, and I'm in Auckland."
That makes the writing process different from when they started out, King said.
"Because we live in different parts of the country, and traditionally, I might have got stuck with a verse in a pre-chorus or something. I really needed a chorus, and I'd just hammer away for sometimes weeks to try and find that right thing.
"But now I throw it to the other guys and see what they come up with. And it's really great because it's refreshing and often a bit of a left-hand turn, not where I would have expected to go. And that can be quite cool."
The industry is unrecognisable from when they started out, Ben Campbell said.
"It's a completely different landscape - right through from how you record music through to how you promote it and release it and get it across the various different channels."
Future Memory is released on Friday.
