Ian Glasper plays bass in the new group Zero Again, which soon will be releasing two singles. Thn is interview was done in Christmastime in 2020.

 

Zero Again, a new band after what I understand, tell me about the members and their previous bands?

-Hi Peter. Yes, it’s a brand new band – we have Dean from Regret & Ephemeral Foetus on vocals, Payney from Bring To Ruin  & This System Kills on guitar (he also currently plays in Social Experiment & System Of Slaves), Glen from Grand Collapse & Four Letter Word on drums, and myself Ian on bass, who used to play with Warwound, Stampin’ Ground and Decadence Within etc. It’s a pretty fresh chemistry between us… we’re excited about it.

 

You will be releasing two singles in the spring 2021, tell me about them?

-We recorded 13 songs in October, ten of which are for two five-song EPs, one called ‘Out Of The Crooked Timber of Humanity’, which is being released by Polish label Sanctus Propaganda, and the other called ‘Revert To Nothing’, which is being released as a joint effort between four labels: Kibou, Little Jan’s Hammer, Cimex and Sick World. The art for both EPs is amazing – we can’t wait for people to see and hear these releases! The other tracks we recorded are going on compilations, including the new ‘Birds of A Feather’ compilation for Grow Your Own Records.

 

I think your sound is somewhere between UK Subs and Exploited - what about that, of course with a lot of other influences and your own sound too…?

-It’s kinda weird what people hear in the sounds of other bands, I guess it’s to do with your own reference points, but hopefully you like Exploited and UK Subs, so this is a compliment, haha! Between the four of us, we listen to a LOT of different music, and we all bring some of that to the table. When I write some of the bass lines, I think my Rudimentary Peni influence really shows, but by the time the others have stamped their identity on it, it sounds completely different. But I think some of our biggest influences collectively are Dead Kennedys, Neurosis, Killing Joke, Tragedy…

 

When we talk about UK Subs, Charlie went 75 years some months ago, what will you do when you´re 75 ?

-Jeezus, that’s 22 years away. I’d like to think I’ll still be healthy and active and loving punk music – hopefully even making music and writing about it - but there’s no guarantees in this life, so enjoy it while you can.

 

What´s your view on punk now and if you compare with when you first came into punk?

-Well, nothing is as exciting as when you first get into it when you’re a teenager, and that’s why I have a special emotional attachment to punk music from the early Eighties, but there are still hundreds of great bands coming through, and the scene still feels vibrant and exciting to me. The music we’re playing with Zero Again feels fresh, and we’ve got plenty to say that’s relevant… there’s no shortage of bullshit in the world to rally against, and that keeps punk angry and intense (or should do).

 

You have done a new book now also, tell us about it? And how we can get it?

-It’s called The Scene That Would Not Die: Twenty Years of Post-Millennial Punk In The UK… yeah, I know, a really snappy title, right? But it does exactly what it says on the tin, and covers the last twenty years of punk here in the UK in some detail… there’s 650 pages, over 350 pictures and over 200 fliers, about 111 bands – and it’s in colour, so smashing punk taboos as well, haha! You can get it directly from Earth Island Books.

 

Back to the band, how was the thinking when you started it, how did you come to the sound you have now…?

-Warwound had just split, and I was needing an outlet for my music and lyrics, and wanted to do another band. Glenn and myself had been talking about jamming together for a while, so we started putting the feelers out for a suitable vocalist and guitarist. Dean and Payney were top of the list because of our existing friendships with them, their similar outlooks on life and their musical legacies. It seems a great fit, no egos jockeying for position and shit like that.

 

Do you think it´s important to release physical stuff of your music? Do you think that you have released a record if it´s only on Spotify for example?

-We’re very much about releasing physical product that exists in the real world, so people have something tangible to interact with – artwork to look at, lyrics to read, a cover to spill coffee over etc. The internet is great for getting your music out there, and you have to embrace current opportunities and formats, but we’re not interested in releasing anything in only a digital format. We’re pretty old school in that we want to do some 7” EPs, a 10”, and then our first album, and introduce people to the different aspects of the band bit by bit.

 

To play this sort of music in England right now, how is it?

-I don’t know, because none of us have played a gig since the beginning of 2020. Which is frustrating as fuck, because punk is only truly alive in the live environment, in that shared moment between band and audience when we all become one and the outside world doesn’t matter.

 

What about England, covid, brexit, rascists?

-The UK is pretty fucked up at the moment, but sadly we’re not the only ones. COVID is running rampant around the world, and right-wing governments are chancing their arm with how far they can suppress civil liberties, whilst their policies and a heavily biased media embolden fascists and racists. Brexit however is all ours to be ashamed of for years to come, and a particularly poorly handled clusterfuck all round. Our government seemingly loves to ostracise us from the rest of the world, probably because they have the least to lose personally.

 

I´m recently looked at the movie White Riot and the fucking rascists back then, are England going back to that time now?

-I sincerely hope not, but it does feel like the country is drawing up battle lines again. It’s not a time to sit on the fence. There’s a lot of angry people looking for scapegoats for a lot of pent-up frustration. Common sense and tolerance must prevail or we’ll come apart at the seams.

 

Have you been playing live with Zero Again yet?

-No, sadly not. We’re not interested in playing a socially distanced sat-down gig, so we’ll bide our time and wait, and write and record lots of songs in the meanwhile.

 

Have you been planning any live gigs yet, I think about the covid-shit?

-We’ve got nothing planned yet. It’s frustrating, but a lot of people have it far worse. We’re not relying on our art for a living, but millions of people do, and they’re really hurting. Our thoughts go out to them, and when the time comes, we’ll play as many benefit gigs for those grass roots venues and promoters as we can.

 

I love beer and I don´t know if you drink but if you did an own beer it could be called Zero Again and could have been a non-alcholic beer? Or what have it been called and which type of beer would it be?

-You’re asking the wrong band member as I haven’t drank alcohol for over thirty years, haha! But the rest of the band have been known to enjoy the… er… occasional tipple.

 

Please tell me some of the titles on your songs?

-Well, the first EP has the following songs – ‘Tragedy Death Pain’, ‘No One To Mourn, ‘Husk’, ‘Hope You’re Proud’ and ‘Covid Dreams’. The second one has ‘My World Now’, ‘Tomorrow Disappears’, ‘Making Sense of Reality’, ‘Not As I Do’ and ‘Angry Corpses’… all cheery stuff, haha!

 

How do you do the music to Zero Again, is it so that someone comes with an idea or do you do them together or how do you do new songs?

-I present a lot of the initial ideas to Payney, who adds all his guitar flourishes to them, and then we smash them out in the practise room – Glenn feels his way into the riffs and adds his magic, which is when the songs usually start to really take shape, and we all have a hand in the arrangements, and then Dean figures out how the vocals are going to fit best.

 

Do you play any covers with Zero Again? If you do which ones is it?

-None yet, but we’ve talked about a few… no doubt ‘Zero Again’ by Rudimentary Peni will make an appearance at some point!

 

If someone paid you to do a five-track-ep with covers which five would you have done then?

-Personally mine would be ‘Sea of Desecration’ by Legion of Parasites, ‘Black Horse of Famine’ by Onslaught, ‘Azmeroth’ by Sacrilege BC, ‘Ballykelly Disco’ by Exit-Stance, and probably ‘Bleed For Me’ by Dead Kennedys…

 

Five favourite records right now?

-The last five CDs I played in my car were ‘Revelations of Oblivion’ by Possessed, ‘Immaculate Deception’ by Ludichrist, ‘Mutiny At Muscle Beach’ by Night Birds, ‘Horse Bites Dog Cries’ by D.I. and ‘The Best Of The Partisans’… I wouldn’t say they’re my five favourite records right now, because I’ve also been playing the new Mr Bungle a lot, and the live CD of the last Good Riddance gig, haha! But you get the picture… tomorrow it will be something different.

 

Are you missing to play live?

-Yes, I really am.

 

Which was the last concert you did? And which was the latest concert you saw live?

-The last gig I was at was Testament, Exodus and Death Angel in Bristol, back in February or March 2020, but the last one I actually played would have been with Warwound in London, in October or November 2019… damn, that seems like an age ago now I’ve written it down.

 

If you could choose five bands(live and dead bands) to have a big concert with Zero Again, which five would you go for?

-Rudimentary Peni

Dead Kennedys – with Jello

Crass

Cro-Mags – ‘Age of Quarrel’ line-up

Voivod – with Piggy

And Metallica with Cliff on bass if any of the above pulled out!

 

Is there any other good new punk/hardcore bands in England right now?

-There are so many great bands here right now, it’s hard to list them all, but check out Grand Collapse, Drunken Marksman, Blind Eye, Pizza Tramp, Burning Flag, In Evil Hour, System of Slaves, Coughin Vicars, Attestor, The Domestics, Bratakus, Jaded Eyes, Natterers, Rash Decision, Bad Sam, Bad Breeding, Rat Cage, Unholy Alliance… the list is endless, mate. And of course, you can read about most of them in my new book, haha!

 

Some of the old ones which have done some really good record recently?

-Yeah, there’s plenty of established bands still doing great too, not least of all Discharge, GBH, Omega Tribe, The Inner Terrestrials, Subhumans, Exit-Stance, Agnosy, Social Insecurity, The Fiend… all still making new music too, not just playing old songs at reunion gigs etc.

 

Zero Again, how did the name came up?

-There are several layers of meaning to it. I’d been knocking about the band name idea in my head for several years, because it feels apt when you leave well-established bands and strike out with something new, so you’re going back to the beginning. And I wanted there to be no expectations, no egos, just about the music and the lyrics. But also, I’m of an age now where a lot of my friends are sadly passing away, and I’m very aware of my own mortality, so it’s a reflection on that as well, about returning to nothing and what we leave behind. And of course it’s one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands too!

 

Future plans for the band?

-We have two EPs coming out in early 2021, but hope to have another 7” and 10” out later in the year, before we write and record our debut album. We already have most of the songs written for these. And we hope to play a few gigs someday soon as well!

 

For yourself?

-I’ve got a few more book ideas in the pipeline, so I plan to keep myself as busy as possible.

 

Today’s wisdom word?

-Don’t believe everything you see, hear and read in the media. The truth is out there, but you have to search for it. And look after each other in these crazy times.

 

Something to add?

-Thanks for the interview, Peter, it’s much appreciated.