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Sometimes
fate conspires against you and whereas this interview was originally
pencilled in to take place late last year, due to outside influences it
never took place. And so here we are bright eyed and bushy-tailed
in 2009 and finally we get to chat with Ze from Lizhard.
MM - Hi Ze, firstly thank for taking the time out of your busy schedule
to talk to us today, we really appreciate it.
Ze - Thanks to
Mayfair Mall Zine, we’re very happy to answer your questions!
MM - Would you like to start by introducing the band to us and giving us
a bit of history on how the band got started.
Ze - Me and
Ricky. Then, 8 years ago, Luke came into the band and Paul joined three
years ago. Since then, we started working on some new material written
by me. In early 2008 we opened to former Mr.Big singer Eric Martin,
getting great feedback from audience and critics. After a few months we
inked a deal with the well-known label, Perris Records, for a worldwide
release of our album on October 7th, 2008.
MM - How would you best describe your music to any of our readers who
are currently unfamiliar with your music?
Ze - It’s
classic 80’s and 90’s hard rock style, with a bluesy influence. We
like to call it hard ‘n’ roll.
Simple lyrics, catchy guitar riffs and Luke’s voice does the rest. We
don’t expect to invent a new sound, we just play what we like, with no
compromise.
MM - The band originally started out as a cover band, what made you take
the big step and start writing you own material?
Ze - It was a natural step. Since Luke
joined 8 years ago we felt it was time to move on to our own stuff.
MM - Once you’d decided to make the move over to original music how
easy was it for you all to agree on your particular sound and were there
any clashes over musical ideas?
Ze - This album
is made up of songs I wrote and that we arranged together, but even now,
working with new ideas together for the new album, we don’t have any
problems with style. We all agree ‘cuz what we play is what we like
and it comes natural.
MM - Are there any bands in particular, past or present, that you guys
look up to or get inspired by?
Ze - So many ... Rolling Stones,
Beatles, Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Europe, Eagles, Ac Dc ...
MM - With the recent release of your debut album ‘Lizhard’, how are
the band feeling right now and what feedback have you had to date from
the fans and media?
Ze - We’re very
happy! Media, fans and even people that had never heard of us before are
appreciating the album and this gives us the strength to go on and
follow the path we’ve taken!
MM - Have you has a chance to think about how you will approach your
follow up album or is it too early to say?
Ze - We’re just
trying to improve those few aspects we got critics for (luckily very
few). Otherwise, the album will be totally in line with our style…plus
a couple of surprises!
MM - Can you tell our readers a little about some of the songs that
feature on the album. What subject matter do the lyrics deal with?
Ze - Well ... it’s just rock ‘n’
roll, but we like it! We talk about love, sex, having fun and rock
‘n’ roll ... that’s all we need ..!
MM - What are your own personal favourite song(s) off the new album and
what makes them special?
Ze - I’m particularly close to Angel,
Paul is fond of My Wild Side
, Luke loves I cry for you
and Ricky goes crazy from Let the
good times roll, but we love’em all!
MM - How long did the album take to be created from it’s initial
conception to it’s final release?
Ze - Too much! ..
two years, but we’ve been thinking about it for many more ... But,
don’t worry, you won’t have to wait as long for the next one!
MM - Is the whole song writing process covered by one individual or do
you all generally have inputs into the material?
Ze - As we said, this album is all
written by me except for a few ideas. But, for the new one, we’re
working all as one! Everyone inputs ideas, then we work on them
together.
MM - Where do you hope to see Lizhard in five years time?
Ze - Touring worldwide as rock stars!
Naaa...we just hope to play as much as possible, especially abroad and
we hope to ‘spread’ our music at large scale!
MM - Do the band have any live dates line up? If so how can our readers
find out more about them?.
Ze - We’re setting up some gigs
starting from March including other European countries.
We played a lot during the release of the album...from September to
December with La Famiglia Superstar, White Lion, Soul Doctor ...
MM - As you say, the band have been touring with some pretty big names
in the rock world what’s been the highlight so far for you?
Ze - Well..”La Famiglia Superstart
” is a really a family .. Terry, Marco Mendoza, Atma and Steve Saluto
are good friends. If you spend a full day with Eric Martin ... man!
It’s amazing and so funny!
MM - When supporting another band, how hard is it to attract new fans?
Ze - Well, we must be lucky or good
‘cuz every time we’ve opened for a big name the crowd liked us very
much and really supported us.
MM - Can you remember what magical musical moment in your life made you
want to become a performer/musician in the first place?
Ze - In 1981-1982 I heard Mark Knopfler,
and I said: “I wanna play like him” ... then I stopped to think that
if guitar had 6 strings, maybe bass might be easier .. I was wrong but I
started studying bass!! I got to ask to Ricky and Paul which is their
story! ... and Luke .. oh ... he’s born to sing!!(-:
MM - If you could ask one of your heroes /someone who’s inspired you a
question, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Ze - We might ask Rolling Stones how
they feel after 40 years of playing in front of thousands of kids every
gig!
MM - With 2009 just underway what plans do the band have for the coming
year?
Ze - As we mentioned, we’re working
on the new album and setting up as many gigs as possible.
MM - What do you feel has been the bands biggest accomplishment so far?
Ze - Getting this far is already a
giant step and we can’t wait to move on!
MM - Finally are there any words you’d like to pass on to all our
readers out there or anything that we might have missed you’d like to
mention?
Ze - Oh ... yes!
please support us, don’t illegally download our album or if you do
‘cuz you like our music, then buy the album anyway or else, in 10
years’ time no label will be able to produce any musical albums!!
And, of course, come visit us and stay in touch on our website www.lizhard.com
or on our myspace/lizhardband
MM - Thanks again guys and hope to catch you on the road sometime soon!
Ze - Thanks to
you and to all your readers ... and, yes we hope to see you soon on the
road!
Rock
on!
MM
- We wish Ze and the rest of the band the best of luck with the new
album and look forward to seeing them on tour this coming year. |