Zara Interview

Zara are a female fronted dark electro band with some lovely grungy hints. The guitars can be dirty but Sarah’s vocals are melodic and at points very dark. Gary Numan’s influence is there too. Zara combine so many great elements to the melting pot and work some amazing musical magic. Wicked Spins Radio got chance to catch up with Sarah, Zara’s front woman and here is how it went.

Phlis – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, can you tell our
readers a little bit about yourself?

Sarah – I grew up in the flat grey lands of Suffolk, very boring. When I was a teenager I joined “the Domino Effect” , a synth rock band from Ipswich, we were considered “weird” for many years.

At Bristol University someone gave me a bass to play in their the Cure covers band (lol) so I taught myself to play. The first acid raves were going on, and the emerging Bristol indie scene. I sang with a truly “jingly jangly” band called Cherry Cascade. The next chapter in my life is a massive blur: a pressurised TV career, all-night edit suites, living out of a suitcase, a baby or two, zero sleep….

After a couple of wake-up calls (and the death of my father), I thought, hang on, life is too short! So in the last 5yrs all those songs buried in my brain cells have started to eek their way out. I am back doing what I love best.

Phlis – I know going to school with four Sarah’s must have been a pain, but why did you end
up adopting the name of Zara for your band?

Sarah – There were so many Sarah’s about, as a child I started spelling my name with a “Z” to avoid confusion. Even my parents called me Zara. I remember watching Zorro at Saturday morning cinema – I loved his black garb (I wonder if Ian Astbury did too) and the way he sliced that letter Z with his sword.

When it came to choosing a band name (which I had to do overnight for a poster) the Gary Numan lyric “Listen Zara” popped into my head, but I also loved “White Triangles”. The promoter was pushing the female-fronted angle, so we opted for Zara.

Phlis – What was it about the sound of Gary Numan that attracted you so much?

Sarah – When I first heard Numan it sounded so different. I kept a pocket radio under my pillow from the age of 9 and listened to local DJ John Peel. I used to will him to play Tubeway Army and like magic it would come across the airwaves. Until then all I’d heard was Elvis Presley, Cleo Lane and the Wombles! I was hooked, he was the voice in the dark, calling me over the barren fields! The way he strung notes together was a whole new scale to my ears. Perhaps it was his Asperger’s that made his tunes so unique, some Numanoids have even said they share his alien DNA.

Phlis – So apart from Gary Numan who else would you consider an inﬂuence to your music?

Sarah – There is not a phase of Bowie’s music that I don’t relish. Even the Jungle period. His new album, so expressive, it blew me away. I like the uncluttered sounds from the XX – no wanky guitar solos there, or sickly pop pap. And Enter Shikari with their passionate and innovative songs. Placebo, NIN, Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, wow.

Phlis – What was the experience like when you sang at the Gary Numan event in 2010?

Sarah – I assembled a bunch of musicians and I said to them, “look I’m going to do a whole set of Numan covers for a gig, do you want to play with me?” Most of them had barely heard of Numan, and thought I was mad, but that’s how Zara began. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, everyone has work, travel and family commitments. Gone are the days of hanging out aimlessly in garages and jamming over a few beers. I just have to see who is available – nothing is going to stop me performing!

Phlis – How hard has it been for you to get your music out into the world and what have been the reactions to your music so far?

Sarah – After that Numan gig my focus was on 80s covers. There is a great art to covers, to re-interpreting hit songs, I get annoyed with people who diss it as an art form. I get right under the skin of the original songwriter, and then put my own twist on it. Even the fact that I am a female singing male lyrics puts a slant on things. When we had no synth player we started putting synth-lines onto guitars , someone said it sounded like the Strokes, it certainly sounds different so it’s a style we’ve developed. I ‘lead from the hip’ with my bass guitar and I currently have 2 talented guitarists Paul and Clamor on board. We’ve done covers of Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, the Cult, the Sisters of Mercy, Kraftwerk, Human League, Bowie, Nirvana, Cranberries, Placebo….

At a rehearsal once the drummer had to dash off because his son was taken ill, so I was fiddling about plucking away and singing some of the songs that were in my head, Clamor really liked them and steered me in the direction of original material.
I’ve been pretty astounded by the reaction to my songs. I see people with jaws open and heads rocking! I’m never sure if that is good or bad! Then at the end there is more applause than normal plus whooping. Some of my lyrics are very personal and at the last few gigs the sound has been crystal clear – you can hear every word! I feel like I am ripping my soul open for people to gawp at. It’s something I have been reluctant to do. It’s a far cry from the angry punky bands I was writing for in my teens and twenties.

Phlis – What would you like to achieve with Zara?

Sarah – Performing live and reaching out to people is my passion. I love that special moment (which happens at about 1 in 5 gigs) when you actually make a direct contact with souls. Time stands still.

I would like to tour further afield. People keep asking about an album – it will happen (after I’ve fed the cat). There is going to be more electronics.

Phlis – What’s your earliest memory of music and when did you ﬁrst start creating music?

Sarah –I had a clockwork jewellery box when i was toddler, it had a spinning ballerina inside. I wrote countless songs over its melody. I started off by putting R.L. Stevenson poems to the tune, later I started writing my own lyrics, often about fairies. I also remember my dad bollocking me for taking his radio apart (to see what was inside).

Phlis – If you could go back to an era of music and live that experience, which era would you
choose and why?

Sarah – You might expect me to say the 1980’s, but I would choose to go back to the punk era. I was only a kid when grey Suffolk got ripped through by punk. There were a lot of talented musicians in those early bands, some really expressive stuff bursting out. I don’t think that will ever happen again, nowadays music is so manufactured.

Phlis – What is the weirdest thing to have happened to you?

Sarah – When I was 21 I was told that my birth records had been destroyed in a fire and I would never trace my real parents. Through a bizarre series of coincidences I found my mother.

Phlis – Where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics and music?

Sarah – I’m no spring chicken, so the days of writing teenage songs of angst are over. I know all about that shit and would never go back there. I’m attracted to the dark side, I couldn’t write a jolly pop song if I tried. Believe it or not most of my ideas come to me when I am asleep. Some of the stuff is barely legible in the morning when i read it in my bedside notebook. I love it when I wake up to a tune I’ve hummed into my i-phone!

Phlis – You recently released Screaming, what are you most proud of about Screaming?

Sarah – Compared to performing, recording is rather dull. But I told myself “I’ll get this song out of my head in all its layers”. I’m particular proud of my guitar playing, it’s the one instrument I do not ‘play’. None of my guitar buddies were free, so I got my ancient guitar out of my loft and did it. I believe you can do anything you put your mind to.

Phlis – What’s your favourite fast food?

Sarah – I have my local fish bar on speed-dial. They have my white-skinned plaice ready for me (diva!).

Phlis – What is the one sure thing that is guaranteed to piss you off?

Sarah – Violence. I am a pacifist. Soldiers, hunters, bullies, football hooligans, ogres of all kinds should reject their animal instincts. The world would be a better place. Some of us have evolved, but we will always be the compliant underdogs.

Phlis – And what makes you happy?

Sarah – I am tickled pink anytime anyone admits to liking my songs. Cute fluffy things like kittens make me very happy, as does dancing like a dervish , and of course x-rated stuff that I cannot divulge.

Phlis – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, is there anything you would like to add?

Sarah – Please support your local music scene. You might be surprised.

www.facebook.com/listenzara

Photos courtesy of Ben Joseph, Jess Hampshire & Marcus Fox