Zedi Forder released their debut album last month. Zedi Forder are an alternative heavy rock band formed in 2015 by members of UK heavy bands An Entire Legion & Tricore.
Zedi Forder are a power trio with lead vocals & drums performed by Kerl alongside guitarist Mark C and bassist Rich T who completed the lineup in late 2015. Check out Lonely One below from the latest self titled album.
We managed to catch up with 2/3 of the band back in May before the release of the album, check it out below!
Hi guys, Chris (Drums/Voice), Rich (Bass) here from Zedi Forder. Great to speak with you. Mark, our wonderful Scottish Guitarist unfortunately couldn’t be with us due to the fact he’s welcoming his first healthy bouncing baby bairn into the world! He’s asked Chris to answer on his behalf. A mistake? That’s for you to decide.
So how pumped are you for the release of your upcoming album in June?
Rich – I am as pumped as the rear wheels on a large family car (probably a Volvo) ready to take 6 passengers and a boot full of suitcases.
Chris – Super pumped. It’s been a long time coming what with the promotion cycle so I’ll be glad when it’s been set free to the aether to be honest.
Mark – Very excited ach I Kilts, haggis up yer nonce!
Can you tell us anything about the release?
Rich – It’s self-titled and out June the 10th!! If people pre-order it now they get the full Flame Wizard album by An Entire Legion as well.
Chris – It’s our debut and made up of songs written over 2015/16 when we were just getting Zedi Forder started. We’re a new entity. This time round we’ve decided to let people effectively pay what they want to download the album with the hope that as many people as possible will give it a listen. It’s also exclusively going to be on Bandcamp in its entirety. We’re big fans of those guys. We’ll have one or two tracks up on some of the other online platforms but will resist putting the whole thing up for the meantime. I’m not a fan of streaming services in particular. Great for the consumer but not so great for the vast majority of creators and they’re also invested in by the major labels. All artists should carefully consider where they distribute and with whom. The major labels have their fingers in many a pie so you may end up giving them a percentage without them ever having to lift a single finger to aid your musical journey. As far as I’m aware, Bandcamp’s largely independent, though I’m basing that on the zero research I’ve done to find out.
Mark – The record is excellent but I hope ye’d agree that all pales in comparison to the great battle of the Bannockburn. The year was 1314. It was a harsh winter and the foe were tough but victory was promised and after 2 grueling days…victory granted.
Will there be a tour at all this year to coincide with this?
Chris – Not anything significant I’m afraid. We’d love to have the opportunity to tour but it takes the kind of time, money and hefty organization that we can’t manage as an unsigned band. We find it hard enough to get gigs locally. It’s pretty ridiculous actually. Shit man, we’re even down for house parties as long as you can bring the crowd! The last one we played I used an electric kit .It was fun man! Hopefully we’ll get some dates arranged to come out and play for people locally (in the south) and if possible do some weekend spurts further afield. That’d be great. Hopefully, with the release of the album, more people will find out about us and bug the fuck out of their local promoters to book us.
How is the music different from An Entire Legion?
Chris – I imagine there’d be some similarities though my outlook was certainly different when writing for Forder. The songs had to work well with a three piece this time around. I always try to write to the strengths of the band, always try to write memorable tracks with memorable melodies no matter which project I’m writing for. Having a strong musical identity whilst keeping the songs fun to play live has always been important. I’d also say the lyrics are slightly less ambiguous with ZF.
Rich – It is much better, because the bass player, myself, is so much cooler. He is kind of a nasty dude.
Chris – I’d like to add that all the bassists I’ve ever played with have also been cool but Rich is correct when he refers to himself as a “kind of a nasty dude”. I can also confirm that he does “like it when a girl sucks on his titsss”. (For anyone who thinks that at this point the band started having strokes, look it up on youtube).
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
Chris – I’d have to say the pop hip/hop duo Twenty One pilots because they’re good and they’re currently shizzle hottie in the world of music. Anything we did with them would definitely be heard by millions and would likely result in us being able to continue doing what we do best from that point on, without a worry. Artistically speaking I’d be down with working with anyone that has cool ideas, that haven’t quite been realized before, whether that be Eddie Vedder or your Grandma ma.
Mark – Fer me, of course, it would be the Proclaimers. “Well I would walk five hundred miles and I would walk fiver hundred more”
Rich – Man O War, because poseurs still need to leave the god damn hall.
Who has the best fashion sense out of you three?
Rich – Chris, because he has the confidence to cut his own hair. Plus a sweet long leather jacket.
Chris – After giving it a lot of thought I’d have to agree with Rich on this one. As Rich mentioned, I shave my own hair. I don’t visit a salon like a princess to get my curls quaffed. I go through weeks, perhaps months or years of it looking shit just to stay true to my self. I also wear a dressing gown for an inordinate amount of time during any given day which of course should bring the mighty Hugh Hefner to your minds. We have many things in common. Dashing –check, wears robe-check, surrounded by beautiful women of every flavor…che…no…no I don’t have that. I’m building up to that though. For now I just sit there in my robe… on my own…cutting my hair.
Mark – I only leave the house draped in the flag of St Andrews with a tartan clad bagpipe to cover me saucy parts
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What was the funniest moment while recording your latest single?
Rich – It was not funny, art is pain.
Chris – Yea, there weren’t any super funny moments that I can recall whilst recording. We only have a certain amount of time usually so we just get on with it. The mood in the band in general is usually fun, whether at rehearsals or out and about. We’re considering starting up some short podcasts in the future so hopefully they’ll give people a laugh. Will they be the apex of humour for the 21st century?…Yes.
What do you get up to in your spare time outside the band?
Chris – Because a massive amount of my time seems to be taken up with band or music related stuff, I rarely feel like I’m in “down-time”. The other dudes have cool stable day jobs so in a way their “spare time” is essentially band-time. When I do pry myself away from music I like to exercise, hang with friends, play video games, watch films, philosophize, make funny animations, construct the occasional board game or write the occasional book.
Rich- Artificial Intelligence research, listening to metal with blastbeats that the others don’t like, cooking, trying not to die an early death from a sedentary, office-based lifestyle.
Mark – In my spare time I like to canvas for the SNP for one day my kin will have…OUR FREEDOM! (*We’d like to point out that Mark is in fact, not a supporter of the SNP. As far as we’re aware he remains supporter of the union).
What was your first gig that you ever attended?
Chris – I can’t remember the very first gig I attended. I mean, we were playing our own by 14 so my first gigs were probably those watching our peers. I used to hang around a place called the Agincourt in Camberley a fair amount in the nineties and I remember seeing a few bands there like Pitchshifter. We also had a local event in Guildford called “Splatch” which always had some cool local bands playing. I was pretty young when I went to Reading Festival for the first time as well.
Rich – A mini festival in Exeter. Opeth were headlining on their Blackwater Park tour, with Arch Enemy supporting. Also SikTh were there, which was rather excellent.