“Truthfully,” begins ZAND, “I used to be simply bored and felt like chatting absolute shite…”
It’s a usually frank response from the Blackpool genre-destroyer, when Kerrang! enquires concerning the that means behind their scorching new single. However would you anticipate something much less from the pioneer of ugly pop, who of their 2023 Ok! cowl debut pressured how they’re continually pushing to be their most “genuine self”?
Following final yr’s huge Cocktail Molotov from the Arcane League Of Legends: Season 2 soundtrack, ZAND is kicking off a complete new period at present – and whereas a lot has modified, they’re nonetheless the identical unapologetic artist as ever.
This chapter begins with “final hater anthem” TOES! – ‘final’ being the operative phrase, as they throw collectively good, brutal lyrics (‘I can’t relate to you bozos…’) with rock, rap and every thing in between. We caught up with ZAND to talk much more shite, and discover out what else is to come…
First up, how are you feeling proper now as you unveil TOES!?
“Excited! And scared.”
That is your first new music since final yr’s Cocktail Molotov, which was such an unbelievable success. Have been you shocked at how a lot it blew up, and the way did you cope inside that whirlwind?
“Thanks! I wasn’t that shocked at how properly it did, as a result of Arcane has such a gargantuan platform with a fanbase that actually will get concerned with its soundtrack – that, paired with simply realizing Cocktail is a fucking banger of a tune typically which might undoubtedly resonate with each an alternate and moody viewers had me feeling like I knew it was gonna do properly.”
Going into new music, did that make you’re feeling any extra strain than normal, realizing you’d discovered this complete new viewers with the Arcane fandom?
“I didn’t and don’t actually really feel any strain, oddly! Simply an insane sense of gratitude and pleasure that I have this elevated launchpad to introduce extra music from. The brand new followers are so sick. There’s clearly individuals who need extra songs like that however I don’t know if I’ll make one, I’m simply creating what I need as per… until a present or no matter comes alongside once more and asks me to jot down one thing particularly for them (laughs). I’ve been sitting on heaps of this music for thus lengthy it’s good to be getting it out.”
You’ve been teasing TOES! by killing off your former self in The Day by day Drain. Why did you wish to say such a particular goodbye to every thing you’d constructed along with your model of ugly pop?
“So that you’ve learn the information! The SEWERSTAR is sort of a little cartoon character primarily based on an exaggerated aspect of my character, not my former self by any means… it’s not like that. I’m probably not flattening what I’ve constructed – I just like the cosy little dwelling I stacked along with ugly pop. Now I’m developing a larger one with a completely different kind of brick that I favor. Perhaps it’ll have a cosmic attic that takes you someplace bizarre? I’m making approach for brand spanking new issues, however clearly shedding the label I coined for my music needed to be achieved in essentially the most theatrical, ZAND approach doable: by having its poster baby stabbed to dying on the fringe of a sewer, a noir homicide thriller reported by a bizarre little newspaper with some odd connection to a acquainted trying puppet that I present in my loft. Her identify is Sue, by the approach…”
Shout-out Sue! What are you able to say about all these teasers – is there going to be much more ZAND lore coming?
“You’re in all probability gonna be as much as your eyeballs in ZAND lore. I love telling tales and world-building. I mainly took up puppeteering for this. Now I’m making music movies once more – trace! – which I’ve actually missed doing, so there’s a ton of Easter eggs to be discovered and wires to be linked quickly.”
TOES! is such a enjoyable combination of every thing – when it comes to nerdy manufacturing particulars and dealing with Dan Weller, what was your favorite factor about piecing all of it collectively?
“The hook for TOES! got here while I was out on a stroll with my canine final yr. She’s a type of concepts that was like projectile vomit when she obtained going; you possibly can’t cease her from cascading out, splattering throughout your garments and partitions. I didn’t actually have something to attract reference from consciously. I obtained dwelling and produced your entire beat on Logic and that got here along with writing the remainder of the tune hand in hand. I knew I wished a fats pulsating bassline, I knew I wished a techno synth, and I knew I wanted to pair these with chuggy-as-hell guitars. I wanted petty double claps. I wanted a hi-hat that mimicked a ticking bomb. I don’t know what was extra enjoyable – placing the manufacturing collectively or writing the raps. There’s fairly a few double entendres, parallels and a lot of wordplay in there. I simply should be a smartass for some cause.
“Once I’d completed it on my finish, I had no alternative however to ask Dan to enact a few of his metallic wizardry onto the manufacturing. The shitty refrain guitars I’d already put down had been begging to get replaced with one thing gnarlier and extra distorted, and naturally it needed to have a very foolish breakdown. It additionally wanted a higher kick, which Dan discovered for me, and is a part of the intro’s ‘That kick feels like straight ass, get me a new one. STAT!’ gag – which was not the case for the ‘synth and the clap’ half, although, they’re all my doing… whoops. The bridge is horrifically obnoxious on function, the strings I placed on there are supposed to illustrate when folks tip-toe in previous cartoons, if that is smart. Metaphors! I love working with Dan – we’ve been good pals and collaborators for years now.”
Followers have been ready for a correct debut album from you. Is that this a good signal of what’s to come back, and what are you able to inform us a few full-length file?
“Now that I give it some thought, it’s not going to be like something the common ZAND listener would anticipate from a ZAND album. Consider TOES! as a pleasant introduction.”
That is the primary assertion of your new period. How excited are you for this subsequent chapter of ZAND, and what are your present ambitions for the place you wish to take issues?
“I’m hyped! I’m happy with what I’ve achieved up to now. Working this venture largely solo undoubtedly has its pitfalls, nevertheless it’s nonetheless very empowering in a approach. I don’t have a supervisor, agent or label so preserving at it while staying genuine to myself and my inventive imaginative and prescient is all I’ve achieved and can proceed to do. Make music for your self in the beginning, and anybody that it resonates with is a fats bonus.”
TOES! is out now
Learn this subsequent:
- ZAND: “That is for the underdogs and weirdos that really feel like they don’t belong”
- twenty one pilots: “It’s full-circle. This was the primary time I felt okay coming again to the place we began”
- Delilah Bon: “Earlier than, I felt like I was screaming by myself. Now individuals are screaming with me”
Posted on Could sixteenth 2025, 9:30a.m.
