Zero 7: We Want Acid (Man)

"When we started Zero 7 we never had any intention of becoming a band or of going anywhere near a stage either. We thought we were something completely different, a million miles away from being a band. There was no performing planned at all initially then over time it became obvious to us that not only would playing live be an interesting experience but also that it wasn't that difficult." Sam Hardaker.

Conducting an intense day of multiple press interviews in a Warners Records conference room off Kensington High Street, the one-time studio boffins turned million selling pop stars, sound distinctly unhappy having to promote their impending UK tour.

"Ticket sales are really bad so we need some help," Sam drawls, his voice dripping with sarcasm as studio partner Henry Binns admits they've become more than a little cynical about the press and touring in general.

"Dreadfully cynical, actually," he deadpans.

Skrufff: You've got to play tunes for the thousandth time on stage, is it a battle . . . "to keep it fresh and vital-" Henry finishes the question.

"Yeah, it is and that's why we have the holy shrine of the set list which we change every time."

"You want to keep it interesting for ourselves then hopefully it's interesting for the people that are there, but first and foremost we're thinking "How can we still feel excited about doing this-' and that means changing things," Sam agrees.

"Not to Bjork standards, but we still try to approach songs differently. Which was something we didn't do initially, we used to go and play the songs live in as direct a way possible as we could."

The time he's referring to is the strangely distant summer of 2001, when Zero 7's debut album Simple Things was released to general mainstream indifference if not hostility (sniffy Air comparisons being amongst the softer of some of the criticisms they attracted). However, with minimal hype and word of mouth recommendation Simple Things went onto sell well over a million copies, launching the career of session singer Sia and confirming "chill out' as a seriously mass market genre, perhaps the first of a post-house scene that was beginning to take shape.

Within months, however, TV advertised rapaciously greedy "best chill-out ever' compilations were already deflating the bubble fast and three years on, chill out as a genre is gone and is virtually a dirty word. And with Zero 7's latest album When It Falls (released at the start of this year) broadly repeating Simple Things' downtempo melodic formula it's perhaps unsurprising that friction has emerged between the media and the band. To describe them as hostile however, would be to over-egg the angst, instead their innate politeness and clear passion for what they do, shines through past any surface stuff.


Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): You were seen as being a part of dance culture when you started, as chill-out producers, whatever the term is, do you still feel a connection with dance culture-

Zero 7 (Sam): "We certainly felt a connection as punters because we grew up listening to dance music. We were around that club culture but we never made a dance record in our lives."

Skrufff: Do you still go clubbing now-

Zero 7 (Henry): "Yeah I do and I've been getting back into house music recently. I don't buy it anymore but over the summer I was hearing lots of interesting music at festivals, that electro-y acidy stuff. I was quite surprised. Mostly I go to places where they play, I guess, more black music, such as hip hop."

Skrufff: Do you feel that as Zero 7 you could release an acid electro record-

Zero 7 (Sam): "Yeah, I'd like to."

Zero 7 (Henry): "Definitely, it's about pushing music forwards, chords and melodies have all been done- we want acid, man."

Skrufff: you talked in a previous interview about when you both worked in RAK days when pop stars were pimping cocaine . . .

Zero 7 (Sam): "That was a very particular moment in time when all the extravagance Tags

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