Hey ZUUL FX! Please give a mini history of your band.
Hello, I'm Shag, the bass player of the band… I answer your question today ;-)
Zuul FX was the new project of Steeve, our singer, in late 2003. The band was ready to rock in march 2004 and we went on french tour in late 2004, just before the release of our first album "By The Cross" in March 2005. It was a nice success and we did a lot of dates everywhere, until the release of the second album "Live Free Or Die" in 2007. The we did two european tours with Pro-Pain in 2007 and 2008.
A cd/dvd "Live In the House" came out in 2009 with a lot of nice bonuses and we had to wait a bit before releasing the third studio album because we had to change our drummer. "The Torture Never Stops" came out in March 2011 and it's already a nice success.
What is the meaning of ZUUL FX for you?
ZUUL FX is a band of rock'n roll lovers! We like to be on stage, we like to play music.
ZFX is a true metal band. We are not poisoned by the money, we like what we do and
we like the public contact. This is the most important thing. Furthermore, ZFX is
question of friendship. We are friends before all.
You have a new drummer: Clement (nice name…hehehe). Please introduce him and
what led to the departure of Aurelian?
Clement is a great drummer, he's one of the best issued from the "new generation" in
France. He's a machine really hard to stop… He's actually playing with some other
bands like T.A.N.K and Lyzanxia and he just did the new album of One Way Mirror…
When Aurelien couldn't do some shows with us in 2009 and 2010, Clement was with
us… And then, Aurelien left the band in late 2009 because of his jobs in other bands and
Clement joined us… And he stayed!!! The drums parts of the new album were already recorded by Aurelien, but we wanted Clement's parts… so we did it again… That's why this album took long to come out….
The sound of your new album and the layout of your booklet “The Torture Never Stops” are
very brutal. What means brutality to you? Please describe the new album in your own words.
We like Zombies and horror films and the lyrics of this new album are telling a full dark story, which has nothing to do with zombies hahaha… But zombies are a metaphor for the world now…Like George Romeo did with his zombies in "Dawn of the Dead" in the 80's. It's quite critical. Most of the people in the world now just follow one direction and most of the time, they don't know why… Like Zombies do… We found the zombies artwork very inspiriting for us… The torture never stops means that the world will continue to be like that for the rest of the times… It means more "signs of the times" than really brutality for us, see what I mean? This new album is the pure metal, with the rock'n roll style of ZUUL FX. We write songs, not just some riffs. Metal 'n roll is back again!
How has been the response so far on "The Torture Never Stops"? How do you personally feel about this record?
Fans were relay waiting for this new album… We had this live cd and dvd out in 2009 but the fans were waiting for the new songs since 2007! So we had to deliver the best songs we could for this new album. And I guess they are very happy with this one… The response is fantastic, it's like we did exactly what they were waiting and we do exactly what we wanted!!! It sounds perfect, no? Hahaha…We are very happy with this album, we like the new songs to play on stage and it's really a pleasure to be back on tour with a new show. This record gave us a lot of pressure and now we can relax… It seems that
ZUUL FX will never stops !
I think there a influences of bands like DEVILDRIVER, ROB ZOMBIE and modern Thrash metal Bands like MACHINE HEAD. Do you agree with that respectively what are your major influences, and how do you manage to combine them?
Well, to be very honest, Machine Head can be considered as a main influence of the band at the beginning. But for Devildriver and Rob Zombie it's not. Devildriver is a great band but not a reference for us. They do a style and i guess we do another… Which is funny with Devildriver is that we sometimes have the same ideas on songs but without knowing
what they do (and in the other way as well of course). So maybe we have the same kind of evolution… One day a journalist in Spain was speaking about a Devildriver's album and he was saying something like : "Devildriver is in the veins of ZUUL FX"… Hahahah…
In the bands we like a lot of different bands like Pantera for Karim, Meshuggah for Clement, Fear Factory for Steeve and Alice Cooper for me… But there are so many bands we like… We never try to combine them because we never write a song "in the way of"… That's why today there is a true ZFX style I guess.
Tell me a little bit about the lyrics. Is there a main message beside the songs? Which torture never stops? Who is responsible for your lyrics and where do you get inspiration from?
As I said before, from the first song to the last, the lyrics are telling a story. In this case, a guy is living a hell because he lost someone and he can't be fine again… It's a real torture for him, which leads him to death at the end. Steeve wrote all the lyrics in Zuul FX since the beginning of the band. I guess he knows how to write things that we can relay on stage with powerful choruses, as well as interesting subjects… And the inspiration is coming for the "everyday life"…
Do you think the contract with XIII Bis Records will help you to get more popularity? What do you think about the other bands who are signed to your label?
ZUUL FX is an european band more than a french one… So we needed a label with the ability of international action. XIII gets that. The popularity, you win that on stage, not in the stores, but when you just played somewhere, it's a very good help if the fans can find the cds in stores… XIII is working well on that.
About the other bands on that label, there are so many and in so many different styles… XIII is not just a metal label, and this is also what we like…
I have to say I don't really know the french metal scene. Tell me about it, which bands should be tested beside of DAGOBA, LOUDBLAST and GOJIRA?
Well, to be honest we are not focus on the french metal scene as well… But of course there are some very good bands. Well I'm glad you speak about Loudblast. There were a power trio in France with Gojira, Dagoba and Zuul Fx and we are happy that
Loudblast is coming back in the pit with us again! I recommend to listen to our friends from T.A.N.K and if you don't know them he guys from THE ARRS are quite good too… I don't know if the band ETHS is still living but it was great too… and the girl who sings in it is one of the most beautiful singer in the world hahaha…
What are you doing beside music?
Karim lives from his guitar, it is really his job, playing and recording for people. Clement is beginning also to live from his drums and he works in a school for now. Steeve works in the movie industry in France and he's also graphist. And for my part I am director in A/V industry (audio-video stuff), I'm making films and advertising for companies.
Are you already planning a tour through Europe and especially Germany?
Yes of course, but i can't give you some dates for now, the tour is in process… The best for all the questions of shows is to have a look on our website : www.zuulfx.com
The Last word is yours!
We just want to say that the best ZUUL FX is on stage. Try to come to see us one day, you won't regret… We hope to be able soon to come in Germany, we have nice memories there like in Bonn for example… I don't know if it is really a rock city but the show was wild!
See you on tour as people said in the 80's hahaha!
