Interviews: Root Zero

On this new occasion, we had the chance to interview the Progressive Metal band Root Zero from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it or did it just come out like that?

The band was originally called Route Zero, but I (Giacomo) optimistically realised that if we ever got big enough to play in the states I’d get very annoyed at the American pronunciation of that name, so I changed it to Root Zero. In terms of it having meaning beyond that, I guess it’s largely because a lot of the earliest musical ideas I had were when I was going on forest walks during university. I always feel like being surrounded by forest is about as close to a spiritual experience that I can get to.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

There’s obviously a lot of catharsis that goes into writing and performing metal, and we all like the challenging aspect of the complexity of the music we perform and freedom to experiment. There are also the added layers from having both dual guitars and synthesizers, giving us a dense and layered soundscape which lends itself to the gothic and heavy side of things.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Me (Giacomo), Sasha, Llyr and Josh all went to the same uni although we never played music together whilst we were there. Me, Sasha and Josh were friends and I knew Llyr but we didn’t cross paths much, and Sasha and I now live together and have been together for a long time! Wren and Rob, we have since met in Cardiff.

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Giacomo: Either Soundgarden or Deftones Rob: Baroness

Sasha: Currently it’s Green Lung

Llyr: Karnivool

Wren: Choosing just one favorite band is always really hard, but the band that influenced me the most as a guitar player has to be Toska 

Josh: My favourite band will always be a changing answer like most people, but Metallica stands out as the band that I was obsessed with throughout my teen years. They were the ones that made me want to play music. More recently it's been Holding Absence for renewing my love of drums.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Sasha: In terms of writing the lyrics, a variety of things really - a lot of our lyrics draw on personal experiences and are very introspective, but walks in nature, social and environmental issues, as well as interesting films and literature can all provide sparks of inspiration. For example, the A24 film Midsommar provided the inspiration for the lyrics to our song Litha on our Dark Rainbow album. (Giacomo) As for the music itself, a few of my ideas have come from lucid dreaming, and then I usually just add to those ideas, or send them to the others to see if they’ve got any suggestions or additions.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last gig was in Newport on February 7th with Mad Spanner and Trollmother.

7. Where would you like to play?

We’re open to playing anywhere really, but we’re currently looking to expand our gig circuit across the UK and maybe even abroad. I’d love to play Italy, Germany and Finland in particular.

8. Who would you like to support?

We’re open to most bands that we’d fit with musically speaking, if you’re asking me (Giacomo) I’d love to support Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Opeth, Draconian or if we’re going for really wishful thinking, maybe someone like Deftones or Tool.

9. Whom not?

We’re not keen on supporting bands with Nazis in them I guess! Haha.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Stage fright is way more common than you think and nearly every musician I (Giacomo) know has wrestled with it. The best way I find to overcome it is to just remember that you’re playing music you love with some of your favourite people, in front of people who will usually be rooting for you as well! On top of that, most people don’t even notice any mistakes you make on stage, in my case I usually find I’m my own worst critic.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

It’s really hard to make an exhaustive list of all the bands that have inspired us but I like to think that as far as this band goes, we find ourselves getting compared to stuff like The Gathering, Anathema, Within Temptation, or any other similar moody/gothic metal bands.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We got asked to sign someone’s shoes once, that’s the weirdest thing I can think of!

13. What do you think of your fans?

We’re super appreciative of everyone who supports us, whether they’ve just come on board or they’ve been with us since day one. We get some fans who go out of their way to come to our gigs even if the venues in question are quite remote, and it’s moving to hear from fans who our music has resonated with emotionally too – we often hear this about our song Dead End Dreams in particular.

14. What do you think of our site?

It’s really cool, looks like you cover a variety of different bands from plenty of different subgenres, and there’s plenty of familiar names on there plus ones I’ve not heard of before so I’ll have to do some homework on stuff that looks interesting! I’m always keen to check out other up-and-coming artists.

15. Something to add?

We hope fans and new listeners alike enjoy listening to our new album Dark Rainbow, it’s a real labour of love for us and we’re excited to share it with everyone!