- Sat, 2002-06-01 11:01
In the last year [2002] Zero 7 have created the kind of buzz that most major label rock bands can only dream of.
Their debut album 'Simple Things' hit gold and they scooped the award for 'Best Newcomer' at this year's Muzik Awards.
Last year they played at some of the biggest festival across Europe where they received standing ovations at every gig. So who are they? Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker are two nice 30 year old lads who grew up in London together.
After serving their studio apprenticeships they decided to go for it on their own, their first debut dub was Radiohead's 'Climbing Up The Walls' which soon fell into the hands of Radio One's Gilles Peterson and the rest as they say, is history.
They headlined Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Arena at Homelands.
I Like Music caught up with Zero 7's Sam at Homelands 2002 to see how he's enjoyed the ride so far...
“I like music because ... it gets me through my day.” Sam, Zero 7
ILM: I think Zero 7 is summery, chilled out - perfet sounds of summer, what's your fave thing about the summer?
Sam: It's nice when they coincide with world cups, other than that, barbecues in Henry's garden I guess. That's my absolute number one favourite thing.
ILM: You've been friends for a while and did apprenticeship in sound engineering, etc (the proper way)
Sam: I don't think of it as the proper way really. It was a strange way we fell into it actually making music, because we were set on a course where we were going to help other people make their music, but that turned out to be very dissatisfying for the both of us. Although we were into learning about it, but we reached a point where we found it to be a very male dominated insulated boring world, and you never really get out and you don't meet people.
So it was nice to step outside of there and just start doing what we're doing. In a way it was just like starting again, apart from the fact that we knew a little bit about what we were doing, so I think it's good to gain a bit of knowledge but ultimately I think it's probably best to just do what you feel like doing, because you can do it at home in your bedroom.
You don't need all the equipment. We were working in big studios with loads of equipment and when we quit that we moved into a tiny little room, and we just had a sampler and a couple of keyboards, and that was it - that was how we started. So you can do it, you know. Sometimes I think it's really good to make the most of what's at your disposal and explore all the possibilities of what you can do. So just do what you think is right!
ILM: Any computer hardware or software you just couldn't do without?
Sam: We're rubbish with all the computers and stuff really. I mean we use them, but we use a minute amount of what they're able to do, just to help us do what we need to do. There's things that are really helpful, but we've always felt it's nice to combine that element of stuff with some real stuff, so if you've got a friend who can play a few chords on an acoustic guitar, that's nice to bring something real into it.
ILM: What looking forward to most about Homelands apart from your own performance?
Sam: I missed Cinematic Orchestra who I really like. We've ended up playing with them a couple of places and they're really nice people. I like what they do but unfortunately I've missed them. Basement Jaxx is always a good show. I've only seem them live once since their last album, but it was a fantastic show. That's got a good energy.
ILM: What's been the highlight of the past year or two for you?
Sam: I think it's been coming out of the way we work as very much a studio act and actually getting involved with musicians, and very much against our will initially, starting to do live stuff. It's been such fun to do it, and we've had great experiences touring and we've been to the States and stuff, so doing the live stuff really and venturing out of the studio, and just getting more people involved, and doing live stuff. It wasn't something we'd really anticipated doing, but it's been really enjoyable.
