Interview: Root Zero (Written)
Highly absorbing Welsh riff merchants Root Zero will release their hugely striking debut album, ‘Dark Rainbow’, on Friday 16th May. In this interview, we get to know the progressive metallers a little more, courtesy of vocalist/keyboard player, Giac.
1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
I’m Giac and I sing and play keyboards in Root Zero. The band started as a solo bedroom project for me way back in 2016, when I was still at university. I studied in a fairly remote place in mid-Wales which didn’t really have a metal scene, I tried getting a full lineup together but nothing ever took off. Eventually there was a writing core so to speak consisting of me, our vocalist Sasha and our old bass player Ash; this was from around 2017 onwards. After me and Sasha moved to Cardiff in 2018 we set about getting a full lineup together again. We knew Josh and Llyr from uni and they ed in 2019 and 2020 respectively, which is when we started playing together. We started off just covering Alice in Chains songs really, but then gradually started to introduce material I had written for the band already. Wren ed the band as a second guitarist in 2021, and Rob ed as bassist in 2022 (I had been playing bass at this point but I moved to keys once Rob ed).
2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
I like to call our sound ethereal metal as I feel like that sums up our main influences fairly well. We’re equally influenced by the gothic metal of the 90s and 2000s like Anathema and Lacuna Coil as we are by 4AD artists like Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Dead Can Dance etc.
3. What’s currently keeping you busy? A new album/EP/single release? A new video? Playing live, or planning ahead?
We’re currently gearing up to release our debut LP Dark Rainbow on 16th May. We’ve been doing some shooting recently for a new music video too for our single Ignis Fatuus.
4. What is about this current period that is particularly exciting for you?
It’s obviously an exciting time for us to be releasing our first album! The material on this record goes back to the early days of me just coming up with ideas in my student bedroom, so a lot of this material has been a long time in the making and it’s exciting for me to finally get it out there. We also played Bloodstock festival last year after winning the South Wales Metal 2 the Masses, so we’ve had a fair amount of live traction over the past year or so. This year has been quieter for us gigging wise but hopefully we’ll be able to pick things back up a little once the album’s out.
5. Tell me about the work that has gone into making it a reality and what it means to you.
Well like I said a lot of the music on this album goes back to my early days doing this as a solo project, so I like to think I’ve had a lot of time to refine these ideas properly and everyone else on the band has been able to add their own personal flavours to the music. Most of the tracking we did at home but Llyr and Wren went up to Manchester for a few days last year to work with Joe Clayton at No Studio, who has done a stunning job with producing this album for us. A lot of the work that’s gone into this album is very DIY which is an ethos I’ve always tried to live by, but I think it’s also important to recognise our own limitations and where and when we can get outside help.
In of the live stuff, we’ve worked really hard over the years to make our shows engaging, exciting and enveloping. We can be quite limited on smaller stages because of how cramped we get but I like to think we’ve improved quite a lot on small stages and it really pays off when we have the opportunity to play on a bigger stage and we can really start moving about without the fear of bumping into each other!
6. Making music and being creative can be a very positive experience and can be very good for the mind. In what way has making music had a positive impact on your mental health?
Music has always been a huge part of my life. My mum is a piano teacher and she started showing me the ropes of piano as soon as I was old enough to walk pretty much! For me a life without music would be a life without colour; I’ve had multiple struggles with my own mental health over the years, but music has been a powerful tool for me both as a musician and also just as a fan and a listener, and it’s helped me as I’ve done my own personal soul searching over the years. Being able to write music and lyrics is also just a great way for me to express things that I would otherwise struggle to put into words.
7. It can also be incredibly challenging, more so in the modern times. What have been some challenging aspects of making music and how have you overcome them?
Writers block is probably the most consistently challenging thing for me when it comes to creating music. I have this constant anxiety that eventually I will run out of things to say or write, and there’s so much music out there especially nowadays that I also worry that we’ll just run out of new music to write. I’ve found over the years that the best way to tackle these feelings is to not push yourself too hard, and I’ve accepted that inspiration for new stuff does just come in waves.
8. How do you handle the online aspects of being in a band? Having to put out content constantly, promoting across several different social media platforms, and having your success measured in likes and follows?
The social media aspect of this band is probably my least favourite thing about it. Social media is a fierce beast to conquer, and the platforms we rely on to promote our music and encourage people to come to our gigs are absolutely hell-bent on increasing the reach of sponsored and rage-bait content at the expense of everyone else. It inevitably leads to impostor syndrome, something that every musician has likely dealt with at some point. It’s something that a lot of the time makes me feel powerless, but I think the way I deal with it is to just remind myself why I’m doing this in the first place; it’s for the love of writing and creating music above all else. Ultimately I’d rather have an audience of 50 people who love everything we’re doing than an audience of thousands of people who are ambivalent or couldn’t care less.
9. How do you make this part of things enjoyable, and fulfilling, for yourself?
Me and Sasha tend to share most of the social media posting between the two of us, and having help from someone else definitely helps me. I think also just coming up with new creative ways to promote our stuff such as DIY posters and gig lists can be enjoyable in and of itself.
10. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help you?
Come to our shows and buy our merch! Also share our stuff with your friends and recommend us to anyone into similar subgenres/bands.
11. Outside of music, what do you like to do to relax?
If I’m not doing music I also enjoy chilling out watching films and playing video games. I’m also a keen cyclist, swimmer and boulderer, although ittedly I’ve been slouching on that front recently! I also love to cook and bake stuff; I’m half Italian so I picked up a few recipes from my Nonna over the years which are all delicious.
12. Where can people find you?
You can find us on:
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | BlueSky | TikTok
