Z LIST TEARS

26th Jan 2006

Z-List Tears get inside your mind;

Adam Dale: Lead Vocals and Guitar
Dan Newton: Guitar
Al Blackmore: Bass
Adam Baldwin: Drums/Percussion

Retro inclinations ooze out of this Warrington outfit, most noticeably in their Red Hot Chili Peppers and underpinning of Led Zeppelin guitars. Honesty, sincerity and pride are qualities that have made people take notice of this outfit, locally. The guys kindly agree to answer questions about their set up and what we can expect from one of their popular live shows.

Q1: Your stand out number thus far in your fledgling career is the feisty and snappy ‘Inside’ that embodies the spirit of Led Zeppelin and features intimate lyrics. What is the story behind this number and does this number encapsulate your sound?

“The story behind Inside to be honest, started out as a Drum ‘n’ Bass jam that Adam and Al used to warm up really. From there it just sort of evolved into more of a melodic and structured piece of music. Further from there it just grew into what it is today but we spent a lot of time getting the structure sorted for it as it was about 8 minutes long originally! We feel that there are different sides of Z-List Tears and the songs we write, and not one song we’ve wrote so far actually encapsulates ‘our style’ as we just try to write good songs, and to pigeon hole on one good song, isn’t what we are about, but we’re more than happy people like it of course.”

Q2: How would you describe the local Warrington music scene at the moment? Do you think coming from Warrington has held you back at all as Manchester & Liverpool bands seem to be given the edge publicity wise and have more opportunities for gigs?

“Not really no, we feel that Warrington does lack venues to play (although the ones available are good) and it also lacks publicity but to be fair I don’t feel it holds you back. It’s quite easy to blame something for lack of success and publicity when in all fairness; the only ones to blame are the people in the band and/or management for lack of pushing. It doesn’t matter where you are from, be it London or in Hollywood, if you’re lazy, you’ll go nowhere.”

“There are a lot of good bands in Warrington, and our opinion is there is a lot of healthy rivalry between bands, but that’s expected from anywhere. You’d probably find it at professional festival gigs too, that sort of thing. The music scene in Warrington is developing but to be honest we don’t really feel we fit in as much as the next band probably don’t feel they fit in with a style of Warrington as a musical genre. People who go to watch live music in Warrington know what they like, and go to watch what they like. If we were to say to someone who has never been to live music events in Warrington, you can expect to be pleasantly surprised at what you hear. There are a lot of good bands about which deserve recognition.”

Q3: Why should people check out a live Z-List Tears show and what in your opinion can they expect if they do so?

“Without trying to sound cliché here, the answer is in the question, we play shows. We work hard and love playing live, that’s the reason why any musician picks up an instrument in the first place. We’re not about shoe gazing; we have fun and lots of it! We work hard at linking different parts of the set into each other and the more times you come to see us, the more you will realise we try to throw something new into each set. There’s nothing worse (in our opinion) that paying money to watch a band, and what you hear is good music don’t get us wrong, but it can tend to just be “this one is called” and “the next one we’re gonna do is..” and when you pay to see a show, you want to be entertained, which is what we try to do.”

Q4: Describe the song writing process for Z-List Tears. Is it a democratic sound right from the start, or do you each do your own part separately and then it all comes together in the rehearsal room?

“Our songs always start out as a jam as a mess around in the studio. ‘Let go’ was one of the first songs we wrote which started out as a mess around on the second rehearsal. Its always a democratic decision, if one person doesn’t like a particular part, its scrapped, no questions and we work on it until we’re all happy that its as good as we can get it. The lyrics Adam Dale writes and that’s done by jamming as well, and then they’re wrote out and worked on in his own way.”

Q5: Which modern day band or artist would you most like to share the stage with?

Adam Dale – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Dan Newton – Chris Carnell
Al Blackmore – Foo Fighters
Adam Baldwin – Jane’s Addiction

Q6: You have just added another guitarist to the line up; to become a quartet. What impact has this had upon your sound or is it too early to tell?

“Well the studio rent is cheaper! Seriously though, it’s had a huge impact on how the songs sound complete, we sound more of a complete unit live now and it generally has added a new dimension in song writing and live performances.”

Q7: What is the best venue you’ve played so far and why?

“Too be honest we’ve not played a huge variety as of yet, the best so far would be the Parr Hall venue wise, but not the best gig we’ve played if that makes sense? Probably because of the size of the stage, as mentioned before, we like to have fun up there and the more room to move the better.”

Q8: Finally, which of your songs sums up your current mood and why?

“We’ve wrote a new song called “Behind these eyes” and its fresh to us and has welcomed in the new year to us all personally. We still don’t feel that we have completely established ‘our sound’ yet but the more we write better the songs get which can never be a bad thing. Watch out for this one because if you like ‘Inside’ you’ll love this one!”