Interview: They Called Him Zone talk latest music video

They Called him zone

They Called Him Zone have recently released their new visual for album track Only You taken from their acclaimed six-track debut album Crow Swan Wolf.

Only You’ arrives and departs in a lonely world of love, anxiety and addiction, blending a euro-pop sound with their trademark dark-wave, Goth edge.

The video for Only You was produced and edited by Richard at Trust Studios, UK.

They Called Him Zone are currently working on new material and have a planned a single release for a new track titled Death Drive for early June – including another video, starring Alternative tattoo model Zombie Cat Girl, the video is already in the storyboard/pre-production phase and will be produced and directed by Twenty Twenty Films, Bradford.

The band don’t step out in public very often – but will be making appearance at this year’s Infest Festival  (EBM/New Wave/ Dark Wave) taking place 25th – 27th August 2017, Bradford (UK), Goth City Festival, Leeds (UK) on October 13th and also an all day electronic festival titled ‘Alpaca’ in the Bohemian Suburb of Saltaire on April 22nd 2017. Check the band’s new video for Only You below!

We caught up with the band as they talked about the music video, latest music and more!

So how has the video for ‘Only You’ gone so far?

Steve: Well, no one’s slated it on YouTube yet. I’m not sure if that should disappoint us or not! It’s part of our ongoing plan for the songs on Crow Swan Wolf, to use filmmakers we’ve found on Fiverr. It’s been interesting seeing the different approaches of people.

Tell us a little bit about the song.

Steve: It was one of the first songs Mik and I collaborated on when I came onboard. Prior to that, Mik had released the Miami EP as a solo project. It’s one of the lighter songs on Crow Swan Wolf, betraying the poppier end of our tastes. We like to cover a range of moods.

Mik: It’s about addiction and the relationship that one develops with addiction, this can include love or drugs – both can be bittersweet and insidious. Many reviewers describe the track as ‘Euro Pop’, not really sure what that is – maybe we could be the next Eurovision entry for the UK.

Will there be a EP/album released this year?

Steve: Crow Swan Wolf hasn’t been out that long, so I think we’ll let the dust settle on that for a little while. But we’ve already got lots of new songs in the pipeline. So yes, there’ll be more music out later this year.

Mik: Creatively, we’ve kinda hit a golden period for Zone – we know where we want to take it and so far it’s heading in the right direction. Steve’s right though, the dust needs to settle – a new single release is pencilled in for mid-summer.

How pumped are you for Infest Festival?

Steve: We’re looking forward to it, definitely. It’s a well-respected festival, so we were flattered to be invited.

If you could work with any band on new music, who would it be and why?

Steve: I suppose the obvious answer would be a band/artist we’ve always admired, such as Iggy Pop. But then you often find inspiration working with people who are coming from a slightly different direction than yourself. So maybe the most productive collaboration could be with someone you wouldn’t immediately think of.

Mik: I would like to work with Mark Lanaghan his voice and also I share Steve’s love of Iggy, but I’m open to working with anyone, I have terrible pop tendencies, so – Boy George, Rhianna, Lady GaGa, Vince Clark, Depeche Mode even Drake, would all be acceptable.

What got you into music in the first place?

Steve: Oh, it’s that old cliché – I discovered punk rock, and was inspired by its anomie and the idea that you don’t need to be a virtuoso to use music as a form of self-expression. And, as Woody Allen says of his life of crime in Take The Money And Run, “you get to travel and the hours are good”.

Mik: When I was 19, someone told me I looked like I should be a singer in a band – six months later I was in a garage rock band; shirt off, cuban heeled, eyeliner in, channelling Jim Morrison and basically, sticking it to the man. Looking back, I think we had more fights than shows!

What do you get up to while not in the band?

Steve: Well, you’re never not in the band; it’s a bit like joining the Mafia!

Mik: What Steve said.

What has been your proudest moment to date?

Steve: Pride comes before a fall, as they say, so I try not to think too much about that. Suffice to say, I think we’re both pleased with the music we’ve created so far.

Mik: I agree – what really matters is the music.

What were your first ever gigs you went to?

Steve: The first band I paid to go and see was the UK Subs. The drummer from the support band got into a fistfight with the sound engineer. For some reason I decided this was what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.

Mik: I went to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in Leeds around their second album – the sound was horrific, they were terrible – but I love them anyway. I don’t see much live music really and the venues in this country at a higher level are appalling – they have become profiteering monsters with no respect for music lovers or the bands, 02 in particular, they herd you in and out like cattle. I’ve played over 1500 shows in my career with various acts and some well known – on average a 3-5 band bill, so that’s alot of acts to have seenand played with, but only 3 spring to mind that were any good, Stiff Little Fingers, who need no introduction, a band from Bradford called White Light Parade and also a Scottish grunge band called Elysium.