Nathan King and Andrew Lynch: Zed guitarists on the bands reformation and their latest music

Published: March 4, 2024, 8:35 p.m.

Twenty years after disbanding, Zed is back for good.\xa0

Hailing from Christchurch, the kiwi band was created in 1996, their 2000 album \u2018Silencer\u2019 going triple platinum.\xa0

They released another album after that before disbanding in 2004, lead vocalist Nathan King going solo while Ben Campbell and Andrew Lynch formed Atlas, which would then disband in late 2008.\xa0

The group reunited for a few live gigs over the years, including a national tour in 2019 to celebrate Silencer\u2019s 20th anniversary.\xa0

They announced their comeback in 2023, releasing a live video of \u2018Renegade Fighter\u2019 online, along with a new single: \u2018Future You.\u2019\xa0

With a twenty-year gap in the band\u2019s history, there is some regret from Nathan King.\xa0

\u201cIt was a sort of wondering of like, what could have been if we\u2019d sort of just, dug a bit deeper and managed to pull through some of those hard times,\u201d he told Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking.\xa0

However, despite that, Andrew Lynch sees a positive in the disbanding:\xa0

\u201cWe still really like each other because we weren\u2019t stuck in a room for an extra fifteen years.\u201d\xa0

\u201cWe may have killed each other if we tried to stay together,\u201d King agreed.\xa0

The split can be attributed, at least in part, to proximity and age.\xa0

While they\u2019re touring or performing, bands tend to be living in each other's pockets and for young hotheads with bottomless bravado, tempers can flare and boil over.\xa0

Coming back together after two decades, Lynch says that everyone is a bit more chill and understanding of other people.\xa0

\u201cWe know ourselves better,\u201d King agreed. \u201cYou can cope and adapt to it.\u201d\xa0

Zed\u2019s return was sparked by their 2017 performance for the All Blacks game against the Lions, which had them in front of a packed Eden Park.\xa0

\u201cWe we\u2019re like, \u2018that was a lot of fun, we should do that again.\u2019\u201d \xa0

Their latest album is releasing in July, and is, according to King, a slight evolution from their previous sound. \xa0

\u201cIt\u2019s kicked the can forward.\u201d\xa0

It\u2019s all fresh material, the album catering both to previous fans and those who have never heard them before.\xa0

\u201cThere\u2019s enough of us wanting to be our 20-year-old selves again but then at the same time going, oh, we\u2019ve learned a thing or two over the last twenty years,\u201d King told Hosking.\xa0

\u201cAlways a student, of life and music,\u201d Lynch added.\xa0

Musicians don\u2019t necessarily expect their music to go platinum, but they do quietly hope for it, both for the accolades that come with and the opportunities.\xa0

\u201cYou just want as many people to hear your music as possible,\u201d said King.\xa0

\u201cIt just creates something you can really sink your teeth into.\u201d\xa0

Picking up where they left off twenty years ago, Zed has no plans to stop any time soon.\xa0

\u201cEveryone\u2019s on the same page there.\u201d\xa0

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