Thursday 5 November 2015 was the first time that Ollie and Daniel met up to see what making music together would be like. At the time, they had no agenda, no expectations and no band name – exactly zero idea how things were going to turn out. That first night of making music together went well, so they met up the next week, and the next and the next and it quickly became a regular Thursday night occurrence. After a year they decided it was time to put out some music and in November 2016, they released ‘Digital Soul’ as a single and became ‘Exactly Zero’. Time was always a limiting factor with both of them living on the South Coast but working in London so their sessions were limited to 2 hours a week, meaning progress was slow but over time, they amassed a collection of tracks and the focus then became on making an album. Defiance is the result of two and a half years work. All recorded and mixed in their ‘Shedio’ and features ten tracks that reflect the state of the world during this time. There are songs
about data-theft, philosophy, war, politics, the universe, love and hope. Historically, musicians were thought of as magicians because they created something from nothing. When designing the album cover the band wanted to find a way of showing their magical skills and defiance against the realms of reality. A wide range of influences inspired the sound of Exactly Zero, which has made for an eclectic but cohesive sounding album. The beats are electronic but all the guitars, bass, synths, vocals and even trombones were recorded live. In terms of a single definition, these are rock songs, which draw on elements of electronica and psychedelia. The band are releasing the album via a pledge campaign.
Check out All Together below!
We managed to catch up with the duo as they talked about their upcoming album and more!
How pumped are you for the release of Defiance?
Both – We are incredibly excited to release the album. It has taken us two and a half years to write and record which is a massive commitment so getting it out there feels like a massive milestone in our journey.
Are you confident that fans will contribute to this via Pledge Music?
Both – at the moment we have absolutely no idea. We are certainly hoping so. We decided a while back to release the album as a Pledge Campaign as we wanted to make the release more exciting and offer fans the chance to feel involved and also have the options for some really exclusive merch that will only be available via the pledge. We hit 25% in the first weekend so fingers crossed we get to our target.
What is your favourite track from the album?
Daniel – It changes from time to time but I really love Infinite Perception and Love Igniting
Ollie – Digital Soul for its fun energy; War Games for its political commentary.
Can you tell us something about the album no one else knows?
Both – good question!
Ollie – Dan is a bad influence on me, leading me to make terribly inappropriate jokes. Sometimes the guttural laughter has been left in the final cut, but by some miracle all traces of the offensive humour have been deleted. I hope.
Daniel – 90% of the album was recorded whilst I was wearing pyjama trousers
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
Daniel – For me it would probably be someone like the Chemical Brothers or Orbital – both are massive influences in the electronic world and I’d love to learn from them.
Ollie – I fell hard for Jeff Buckley’s impassioned vocals and skilled guitar. He’d died before I was introduced to his music but I’d have loved the chance to sing with him. Or the way Radiohead put a song together blows my mind, I’d love to observe how they write music.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Daniel – the first concert I ever went to was Genesis but the first proper gig was Suede in Watford when I was 14. I loved them when I was growing up and am even in one of their videos
Ollie – the Charlatans. I loved their album but was so disappointed at the gig coz they were turned up so loud everything distorted into a wall of noise.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
Daniel – Spare time is a rare thing for me. I work on London at PPL (the music licensing company) and have a family with a couple of young kids. But when I do get any extra time I like to do video editing. I recorded and edited all the videos we have made so far. I also live by the sea so taking walks on the beach is something I like doing.
Ollie – I would love to have the time to create a better world, and I hope that comes across in our music. I don’t have much time that’s my own, but when I get some I’m generally trying to figure out what to do with my life and how to improve the world.
Have you got any gigs planned for this year?
Both – yeah we have a few coming up.
We are doing a few festivals and are having an album launch show in Worthing on Friday 7 September. After that we want to do as many shows as possible in Autumn and Winter. www.exactlyzero.co.uk/shows has all our dates on.