PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Midlands alternative crew ZILCH have just released their superb new single and video,
Misgiven – https://youtu.be/e-6tyz3qmjE . With the guys on the rise, we found out more:
What is the full band line-up, who sings and who plays which instrument?
Thom Dewhurst – Guitar/Vocals
Cal Neathway – Bass
Crag Sharpe – Drums
How and when did the band form? Tell us anything interesting about your hometown.
Thom: We formed in 2018 through a mutual love of high-energy and aggressive music with pop sensibility. Crag and I were in a band that had just run its course and wanted to start something new. Cal and I had been in a band together when we were 16/17, so it was perfect for us to start playing and see what happened.
We’re based in Worcester, home to composer Edward Elgar and Lea & Perrins. It’s not a bad place. There’s a great music scene with some amazing bands and promoters.
When and how did the band really start gelling and solidifying?
Crag: We started out playing Mudhoney covers and some old songs of Thom’s, and I think it just worked. The songs came quickly and they were good songs with hook-y melodies and heavy riffs. We believed in the songs and felt that people could connect with them.
Thom: Yeah, it was pretty instantaneous.
Cal: We were just writing the music that we wanted to hear.
Who are your musical influences?
Thom: We’ve all got wildly different influences.
Crag: Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin, QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Motley Crue and Green Day.
Cal: AIC, Sex Pistols, Violent Soho, Metz, Converge.
Thom: Madness, Nirvana, David Bowie, Mudhoney, The Beatles, Slipknot, Kate Bush… So many.
Where did the name of the band come from?
Cal: We were circling around the idea of nothing. “Nothing” was taken.
Thom: I think I suggested “Zero”, but that was taken too.
Cal: And it’s a skate company.
Thom: Then Cal said “Zilch” and we jumped on it.
Cal: I got it from Futurama. El Zilcho sounded too much like a mariachi band name though.
How far back does your history with each other (the band members) extend?
Thom: I’ve known Cal since I was 15, we were in a band together. We were pretty terrible.
I met Crag through a friend and we jammed but then I didn’t see him for a few years.
We met again at my band-at-the-time’s last gig and 2 weeks later he invited me to join his band, Navajo Ace. That was 2017.
Cal: Crag’s marrying my friend.
Crag: I’m marrying Cal’s friend.
Are you friends from school or any family relations?
Thom: No, thankfully. I think being in a band with a family member would be weird.
Crag’s from Nuneaton and Cal and I went to different schools.
Where have you played or toured? Please name all countries / regions and recognised bands that you have played with.
Crag: We’ve played as much as we can in the UK. Covid definitely slowed down the momentum we had spent a year and a half working for.
We did manage to play a couple of festivals before 2020, Dubs of Anarchy and Drunken Monkey Festival.
There’s the Worcester Music Festival that happens every year, and that’s always great fun. It’s just a full weekend of local bands playing in every possible bar, pub, cafe, etc.
The promoters really nail it every time.
In your opinion, how is your band different from all the other bands out there?
Thom: It’s gonna sound so cliche, but I don’t think we’ve come across another band that sounds like us. We’re probably wrong.
We have a big focus on melody as well as tension and release, which makes for some pretty cathartic and raunchy pop songs at times.
But then we can also do a complete 180 and be really noisy and primal.
I think it’s a good culmination of all of our influences and emotions.
If a deaf person were to ask you to describe the sound of your music, how would you describe it?
Crag: Like a hurricane is outside your window but you’re safe.
Cal: Taz of Tazmania with a guitar, but he’s probably crying.
Thom: I would draw a picture of an anvil crushing a rainbow.
Where can we find your social media sites? Please include the URL for your Spotify artist page.
https://www.facebook.com/Zilch.Band.UK
