We just recently had our record release show with Cleric and Mick Barr at a place called Ceremony in Brooklyn which went really well. We love playing with those guys and it was great to celebrate the release of the record with friends and family. We have another Brooklyn show at Alphaville next week and then some plans to get out of NYC and potentially do some northeast shows over the next few months.
2.Recently you have released a new album, what are some of the things you feel you have done different musically with this recording that you were not able to do with your previous releases?
For the most part, I felt like the music on Lowlands lent itself to be a bit more open and exploratory then much of the music on our previous releases. We purposely developed the material to be longer and include more dramatic, textural-improv type sections as opposed to shorter songs with a million complicated parts and polyrhythms. So when we were in the studio with Colin this time around we were able to spend more time trying to get creative, high energy takes as opposed to trying to nail the parts perfectly every time.
3.So far all of the music you have released has been instrumental, would you be open to using any vocals on future releases?
That’s a fun thought, but I’m afraid not :) We’re obviously not opposed to vocally driven music, but none of us can sing and the stuff we write I feel like doesn’t lend itself to vocals anyway.
4.According to your facebook page, one of your interests in astrophysics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
Basically we’re nerds!! We like science and outer space, plain and simple… :)
Like our facebook page says, we also like pasta.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Zevious'?
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?
After we had finished the recording, we started looking around for art that was reminiscent of sci-fi, psychedelic 70s prog albums. We stumbled onto the collage work of Bryan Olson, thought his work fit perfectly with what we were going for and immediately got in touch with him.
We wanted to make Lowlands feel like some kind of extra-planetary ritual, and both Bryan and our long time friend Kris LoCascio who developed the layout really nailed a visual aesthetic to compliment the music.
The name of the painting is Galaxy Selector BTW.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
I have a terribly bad memory when it comes to our shows since we’ve been playing together for a really long time. I especially feel like the New York shows over the past few years have really started to blend together, since we often play with alot of the same bands and musicians. Our record release show with Cleric and Mick as well as a show we recently did at Mercury Lounge with Krallice and Imperial Triumphant come to mind as being particularly awesome.
8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
One thing we were talking about with Greg was potentially trying to get a bunch of the Nefarious bands together to do a showcase of some kind. Maybe in New York or Philly or maybe on the road…
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of progressive and extreme metal?
Well nobody I know of aside from the occasional youtube troll has complained too much about what we’ve been doing over the years, so given the current state of the world, I’ll take that as positive feedback!
10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
Outside of Zevious, the main bands I play and tour in are Sabbath Assembly and Desertion Trio. Both of those bands put out records this past year and both projects have recently recorded new material that will hopefully make its way to the public next year some time. Jeff is hard at work with Dysrhythmia (as usual) and I believe those guys will have new material and show plans going into next year. Mikey’s recently been recording music for a new synth project called Timetracker which we’re all super excited about and will hopefully be released soon.
12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Interestingly this the is the first period in the band’s 10 year history where we don’t have new written material in the works. So to compensate, we’ve been spending a lot of time at rehearsals just improvising and recording which is something we never did as a band outside of the context of one of our songs. I think it’s definitely going have an impact on how we shape the next batch of material.
13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
These days I think overall as a group we’ve been really drawn to electronic and ambient music across various genres. Anything from early 70s Terry Riley, Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze to minimal-techno like Ritchie Hawtin or Sleeparchive seems to be on all the time when we’re hanging out. Mikey and I also both have various electronic music projects in the works and using software to compose and create demos has been a big part of making music for Zevious over the years.
14.What are some of your non musical interests?
15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
https://zevious.bandcamp.com/
