On
today's instalment of – Borderland Fuzz Fiesta Spotlight – where
we interview bands who are appearing on the bill. I'm speaking to
Mark Aceves (Bassist) from awesome Stoner Rockers – ZED.
ZED
have made quite a name for themselves within the Hard Rock/Stoner
Rock scene with releases such as 2010s – The Invitation and 2013s –
Desperation Blues. With the latter being released on Ripple Music.
They've
won a fair amount of praise over the last few years for their albums
and their live performances which makes them a name to look out for
in 2016 as they will be releasing their 3rd album later
this year via Ripple Music.
Now
it's time to catch up with Mark as it's been a long time since I've
last spoken to him over at The Sludgelord. So when I was given the
opportunity to do this interview, I jumped at the chance. So here it
is....
Hi
Mark. How are things with you today? Thanks for doing this interview.
Been a long time since we spoke. Perhaps when I was still The
Sludgelord. Welcome to my new home.
Things
are great, thanks for asking! We are glad to see you up and running
with the Outlaws site as we were fans of your work over on Sludgelord
as well!
Anyway
we have been busy the past few months working on our new album for
Ripple Music. We are currently getting final mixes completed and will
be mastering soon, and hopefully handing it off to the label end of
Jan!
For
people not in the know, Can you please tell them how the band got
together and where it is today.
ZED
first got together in '07. Three of us, Pete (vocals/guitar) Rich
(drums) and me, Mark (bass), were in a previous band that was on
Metal Blade/Prosthetic Records from 98-01 called Stitch that was just
all heavy groove metal and after that ended we went our different
ways for awhile but got back together after Rich had been jamming
with Greg (guitar) for a bit and just kinda pulled Pete and I back
into the mix.
How
would you describe your music?
Heavy,
hook/groove driven blues rock maybe? it's kind of hard to describe as
we draw from various influences while trying to establish our own
identity. I feel that it took a few years to sort through that
process and that we have pretty much defined the ZED sound by now.
You’re
scheduled to play Borderland Fuzz Fiesta in February 2016. How did
you get involved in that festival?
I
met Wayne Ruddell shortly after we signed to Ripple in October of '14
and maintained a friendly correspondence with him via Facebook. When
BFF 16 was announced some months ago, I reached out to see if ZED
could be a part of the bill and we were stoked and grateful to be
added to the bill.
What
can people expect from your set at Borderland Fuzz Fiesta?
We
plan to bring a good mix of old a new to our set. Some of the new
songs from the unreleased album in addition to our staple crowd
pleasers that we have been playing for the past number of years. We
work hard at playing our asses off and winning the crowd over and
since It's our first time in Tucson and we are stoked to be playing
to mostly new faces who we hope will dig our vibe.
Which
bands are you looking forward in seeing at the festival?
Pretty
much every band in the line-up is an awesome act and brings a lot of
killer vibes to the festival. Elder, Dead Meadow, Yawning Man, Blaak
Heat..... everyone really! All killer, no filler!
Will
you be performing any warm-up gigs before the festival?
We
are playing in LA the night before with House of Broken Promises and
possibly Kyng, then after BFF we hit San Diego with Desert Suns and
Nebula Drag.
You
will be releasing your new album later this year on perhaps the best
Stoner/Hard Rock label out there – Ripple Music. Can you tell us
what can we expect from the album.
We
are absolutely stoked to be part of the Ripple Family. They treat
their bands with the utmost respect, fairness and love like I've
never seen from labels. As for our album, we spent about a year
writing it and we think that this is a huge step in the development
of our sound and where we are as songwriters. I can easily and
truthfully say it's our best work to date as everyone in the band has
really pushed themselves musically on this one. It's great to be in a
band with such great guys and musicians.
Did
you do anything different recording the new album compared to your
past albums. Will there be a change in sound or is still the same
classic hard rocking sound that ZED are known for.
We
recorded with Tim Narducci (SpiralArms, White Witch Canyon) again, as
we feel he did great work with our last album Desperation Blues. He
knows us and our sound and his recording/producing technique is very
organic and captures the energy and essence of the songs.
Tim
really thought that we should go record drums in a fully dedicated
percussion recording environment so we went down to Southern
California to the studio of Eric Kretz from Stone Temple Pilots and
did all our drums tracks there, which was an incredible experience as
we got to talk shop and get advice, pointers and here some great rock
and roll stories from one of the most successful rock drummers of the
past 20 years. as far as the sound and if it has changed, I'd say our
sound has grown and matured in that our focus on this album was
around song structure and composition, while not sacrificing the
worship of the almighty riff. Some of the biggest riffs we've every
written are on this album!
How
hard is it being a band in today's world? What are the most difficult
aspects in being in a band?
It
really depends on what your goals are. If you want to be in a hobby
band that plays occasionally in your town, then its not too hard. If
you want to do something bigger such as put out records, and play on
the road, its definitely harder as the money is a lot tighter than
before and bands have ever increasing expenses with fewer channels of
income. So the bottom line is, you better do this because you love it
and you better be prepared to either live on the road or have a
steady day job that allows you to take time off. those are just the
external challenges. There are also the internal dynamics of being in
a band to deal with which is a lot like being married to 3 other
people, which can be challenging at times. If you can get through the
first few years without killing each other then you're good long term
most likely.
What
inspired you to become a musician? Any particular album, band or
life-changing event that told you – Yeah, that's what I want to
do....
Somewhere
between my love for Prince's Purple Rain and my introduction to Iron
Maiden when I was 12 I wanted to become a musician and Steve Harris
from Iron Maiden is why I chose bass. I would sit and listen to them
as a kid and Steve's bass playing just blew my mind so much. Still
does!!
What
is the song-writing dynamic in the band? Is it a group collective or
down to one individual?
Its
a collective process. Someone will bring in a riff or a few riffs and
as a band we collectively work them out, arrange them and create the
song. Doesn't matter who it is, drummer, singer, guitarist or
bassist, we all provide and accept input on the song. Then Pete
writes lyrics over them, which is usually his part exclusively, but
we provide input when we feel its needed. We need to be a true
democracy to make the band work.
OK…
if you had the chance to put on a festival, which bands would you put
on. It can be any bands from any era of music.
I
think that for the current heavy rock scene, what Wayne is doing with
BFF and what thief does with Psycho CA and Night of the Shred are
pretty awesome shows with great bands. That being said, in the town
where I live (San Jose, California) I found out a few years back that
there was an amazing concert here back in '69 that I would have loved
to have seen.
Check
out this line-up: Jimi Hendrix Experience/Jefferson Airplane/Chambers
Brothers/Led Zeppelin/Eric Burdon/Spirit/Canned Heat/Buffy St.
Marie/Youngbloods/Steve Miller/Chuck Berry/Muddy Waters/Taj
Mahal/Noel Redding (and Fat Mattress)/Lee Micheals/Blues
Image/Santana/Aum/Elvin Bishop/Poco/People/Linn County/Loading
Zone/Sweet Linda Divine/Cat Mother/Doc Watson/New Lost City Ramblers
How
much better could this have been? It couldnt have been any better
except maybe just adding Black Sabbath! and to think this happened in
my town!
Before
you go, do you have anything to say to your fans?
Just
a huge thank you to everyone who has every bought an album or a
shirt, expressed interest in our music or shared a beer with us at
shows. We love connecting with people where ever we go and hope
everyone digs the new album coming out this year. See you guys on the
road!
Words
by Steve Howe and Mark Aceves
Thanks
to Wayne Ruddell for arranging this interview and to Mark for talking
to me.
Zed
Links
Borderland Fuzz Festival Links
Tickets
Early Bird Two Day Pass: BFFEarlybird.brownpapertickets.com
Dead Meadow Single Day: BFFDeadmeadow.brownpapertickets.com
Elder Single Day: BFFElder.brownpapertickets.com
