No 'I' In 'Team'

"We've only been home for a few days so I'm just trying to get the house in order and make sure the wife and baby are all set before leaving again on Friday,” Colazzo begins. “We were on the road for about three months touring through the US and Canada and Europe – it was a crazy long tour. We've got a week off and then we're going back out again to do some shows with Mumford (and Sons). I love going out with the Mumford guys, so that's exciting.”

Such is the way of an international group who found fame with their first single, Home, and who are now riding the wave that is the release of their self-titled third album. This new release sees the band inspired by the soulfulness of The Supremes, the raw, exuberant pop of The Beatles and the psychedelic echoes of Jefferson Airplane. More than anything though, the album showcases a band that has evolved and is hopeful for the future. “I'm pretty happy with the way the fans have reacted to it, it's been great. We've got some bad reviews in a few publications but I guess that just comes with the territory. Most of all, I'm just really proud of this album. I think everyone in the band is.”

Many of the songs featured on this latest release were originally recorded as the bookend piece to their second album, Here, but as the band continued to tour, the songs began to take shape as something separate from that album. “We ended up recording about 30-something songs and at the time, it made sense; it was a massive debate deciding whether or not we put out a double album or a few split albums between a few months of each other. Ultimately, it worked out that we'd release Here, which is a lot more methodical and introspective; what was left over was this collection of songs that were kind of wild and rampant and all over the place. So, when it came to releasing our self-titled album, we essentially had all the songs we wanted and it was still very current for us.” Having been a member of the band since its inception, Colazzo has seen the group evolve and change between releases. “We've definitely become better musicians!” he chuckles. “I've been there from early on and it took me about a year to understand how I wanted to play those songs, and I think everybody else was in the same boat, thinking about what we could do to make it work. We're at that point where we know how to get somewhere; Alex will just stop the song and do his thing and we kind of just psychically follow him. I think that's a huge thing that's definitely different from the beginning. We're experimenting with our psychic abilities to take it different places.”

The group currently boasts ten people among its ranks, but that can rise to as many as 12. While many would see this as a huge challenge for an internationally successful group, Colazzo wouldn't have it any other way. “It's pretty liberating... we're able to explore all these different sounds you wouldn't necessarily be able to do with four or five people. The process is pretty mellow; when we started doing the recordings for Here and the self-titled album, we worked out lunch time and when we'd be in the studio and it was basically like, 'Well, I'm going to be here on these days and you're going to be here on those days', it was pretty much an open door policy where the intention was for everybody to make as much effort as possible to be there, and that happened for the most part, although having so many people gave us nightmares in terms of scheduling. We prefer being in a band as large as we are. We've been doing it for long enough now, we're all best friends and pretty much like family.”

Having put together three albums, the Zeros are looking towards peripheral projects to keep themselves busy outside of music, but that doesn't mean they're neglecting their main trade. “We're already talking about recording the next album. I think everyone's feeling really energised now that this album's out. Touring's another big aspect of where we're going next. We're also starting a foundation called The Big Sun Foundation that helps with things like building wells; we get schools here to link up with schools in Africa and they start a pen pal program, which becomes a fundraising thing, which results in the village getting a well made. It's not directly tying in with the music side of things, but it's something we're really trying to push for as a whole, to actually make a difference.”