Guest
“One of the very first songs we wrote and the first one Ray sang. The song musically is based on the electronic drum groove. Robbie Wyckoff did an amazing job with some of the backing vocals. Another song that will translate extremely well to a live audience” comments founding member and drummer Mark Zonder. Ray Alder: Lead and Backing Vocals Philip Bynoe: Bass Guitar Vivien Lalu: Keyboards Joop Wolters: Guitars Mark Zonder: Drums The band's name came courtesy of Alder - A-Z = Alder thru Zonder - and it fit straight away. “What I liked is that it did not limit what someone would think of the band. If we named the band Scary Ser-pent it would give a certain direction and I did not want people to prejudge the band and record,“ Zonder says. Likewise, self-titling the record made sense. “I did not want to give a direction idea to the audience. If we named the album Far Side of the Horizon, people would probably think 'prog band'. But if you named it The Machine Gunner, it would give a totally different direction for thought.“ For artwork, wanting to again get the best possible contributor, they turned to the famed Hugh Syme (Rush, Fates Warning), who delivered the vivid image of a zebra eating an apple, encom-passing the band name in a sly way. “Again, hire the best people you can find and just let them do what they do. The artwork is absolutely fantastic and really fits the whole concept. He is truly the best. Just a great guy to work with.“ A-Z online:
