Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I am, unfortunately, tall–and I like to think of myself as being cute, even though I look butt-ugly in all of my pictures! My childhood was dysfunctional and abusive–we were a large super-poor family, with divorced parents. I’m sure there is some insight to be gleaned there, but my memory of that time is all a little blotchy.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover Zeroz?
A: I plan to use the Ranma Saotome Anything Goes School of Public Relations approach to spreading Zeroz. I take whatever legitimate opportunity for outreach is presented to me–step by step. Local outreach, social media outreach, blog/publication outreach, or any other mode where I’m in contact with people who actually care about music. I don’t know if this will equal any level of success–but I want to try with everything I have! If you’re about to discover Zeroz I would say, “I hope you like loud music!”
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: I get inspired by watching a lot of anime: Chainsaw Man, Dan Machi, Evangelion, Darling In The Franxxx, Re:Zero are some classics and recent shows I love. A lot of the anime I watch features passionate characters that struggle and fight to their limits just to see any level of change, despite taking on lots of injuries–I relate to that. Making art when you are poor, have health problems, and have no connections means struggling and fighting with everything you have for even the smallest advance in your position. I also love Film: Triangle of Sadness, and, Decision to leave, were some recent favourites. I love Ruben Östlund and Park Chan-wook!
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “LOL Curse.”?
A: Lol Curse is meaningless. When you are constantly barraged with media and content, the emotional and intellectual connection you make with media seems meaningless in the unending feed of news and content–one emotion or thought is simply replaced by the next.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: “Kool-Guy”
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “LOL Curse“?
A: I was extremely poor for most of it, at one point I was one day away from being served an eviction notice; focusing on writing and recording with the looming threat of homelessness was probably the biggest challenge.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: There is no message with Zeroz. If there was a message it would be “Burn it all to the ground”. I want to give everything I can to art: make truly great art, support art, and support other artists I believe in.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Mozart. Mozart. Mozart. Mozart. I could write a libretto for/with him or something.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: My advice would be, only pursue art as a career if it is something you want more than anything and you’re okay with not achieving financial success. The ways for artists to make a stable career within any level of the industry are severely diminished from what previous generations had access to. Means of generating income like record sales or touring are simply no longer viable sources of income, and that’s not even getting into the issue of music abundance, piracy, AI, or any number of issues plaguing current artists. Only do it if it’s what you really really want, or you could end up hating it like so many unsuccessful artists–which is really really sad 🙁
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: “Keep believing in and giving everything you have to art. No matter how much you fail you’re pure fire”
