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Zinc.
Zinc, according to their bio, didn't take things too seriously when they came together to record some material. Maybe they should have, because others certainly did. Record companies sat up and took notice when they casually recorded a few demos together and sent them out with few expectations. America actually signed them to a label before Australia did - a rarity in the industry.
If there's one question in particular that those talking to a band like Zinc may wonder about, it's the question of just how well having three frontmen works for the band. "When we started out it was basically the story of three singer-songwriters coming together," explains Adam Ray. "It was hard at first, everyone wants to sing, no-one wants to do backing vocals and that sort of thing, but we ended up making a deal where we pretty much checked our egos at the door. We'll have a crack at a song now, then decide who sounds best singing it, who's best suited to the song. We've been together for four years, so now it's all good, but the first couple of weeks were probably a bit trying."
You would imagine after four years of hard-going pub gigs that going from obscurity to two record deals would be a bit of a shock to the system. Once again, not so, says Ray.
"It was certainly a nice way of going about it, in the sense that we got picked up pretty quickly when we tried - we got a manager in Los Angeles and subsequently signed to a label in L.A. called Trauma, who had No Doubt and Bush - then we came back to Australia and got picked up very quickly by Warners! I can't say that it pushes your stress levels in any way either, I must admit! It just heightens your feelings, takes everything to a new level."
And their 18-month sojourn in LA certainly did take things to new levels, as they brushed shoulders and laid down vocals with the stars more often than they had ever anticipated.
"Really, living in LA, those sorts of things can potentially happen just about every day. We were working with a guy named Mark Hudson, who was also working on the Ringo Starr album, and he needed some backing vocals. He asked us if we were interested, we of course said 'yes, absolutely!' and got to sing on his album!
"We also got to meet Ozzy Osbourne, and sing on a Steve Tyler track - it was great, and that's why I just love it over there - I miss it. Also, I like to think we all hold our own in songwriting, but I can't lie and say it wasn't intimidating sometimes walking into a room with the guy who's written Living On The Edge! Once you get in a room though, they're all just songwriters, all just out to write great music."
Justin Blatchford
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Zinc play at the Grace Emily on Wed 17 Nov and the Eagle On The Hill on Thurs 18 Nov.
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