Let me introduce you to Zior, a 4 piece combo out of the early 1970s heavy
progressive scene. In my mind one of the most kept secrets
that the
First of all its
quite an experience to get a chance to do a Zior
special, since I have been a long time fan. I only have the 2 Zior albums, its been tough to
find more. Both albums have reached a cult status among HR and Heavy
progressive fans, what do you reckon about the status that Zior
have nowdays ?
It's great to know that there are fans
out there who love / like Zior's
music. At the time we were together, it was a struggle to find live work,
although we did play 3 /4 times a week and in some very large venues (1500 +
audiences) and some not so big (150 +) but we enjoyed them all. I didn't think
the albums sold as many as it did, our record company Nepentha,
which I think was a sub label of Page One Records (Kinks & Troggs were also on it) never did a lot of publicity for
the album, although we did do an album launch at Ronnie Scotts
Jazz Club in London's, Soho area. The albums' seem to be enjoying a
Resurrection lately, in fact Radenko Lukic a fan in
To begin with, go way back in time what
was the origins of Zior and how did you come
together?
It started in Southend
on Sea,
Talking about Zior
as a live unit, did you have a live following already or did that come later
after the debut album was released ?
We had a following before the album,
we had a very exciting stage act, which included Keith & Pete dressing
up as monsters, one being 3 metres tall, towards the end of the set,
while John & myself carried on playing, dragging some poor girl up on stage
and simulating sex & violence on her (most of the time they didn't mind but
a few freaked out on stage). The final act did have a few lighter moments, like
when Pete, in his 3 metre costume, lost his way and fell off the
stage into the audience (the world's first stage diver) or once in Gloucester,
after a girl freaked out on stage, her male friends jumped on stage and
they, us and our roadies started fighting (all in strobe lighting)
which must have looked fantastic off stage. Security finally calmed things
down. Although it's great to have an album out, I don't think it made much
difference to the amount of fans that came to see us.
You hooked up with Nepentha
on the first album, how did you hook up with them and how much response did you
get from the label ?
Keith & Pete were the main guys
and they usually found the gigs, sorted recording and found the record label.
Keith was already writing songs and was signed to publishers Shapiro
Bernstein and it was through them that he arranged a meeting with Larry Page
(Kinks & Troggs manager and owner of Page One
Records) who wanted to start a new progressive rock label. I wasn't at the
first meeting and never met Larry until after the first album was recorded. It
was at this meeting that I first saw the completed album & cover (vinyl in those days) and promptly pinched one
for myself. Larry laid out the plans for launching and promoting the album but
other than the launch party and some flyers, I don't think that there was the
amount of promotion promised if any. In fact I'm not really sure how or why the
album is a popular today as it is or where all the copies are coming from?
You used the artist designer Keef as Black Sabbath had on the first album, how did you
hook up with him and how did the idea came up with this brilliant cover that
gives the album a spooky and mournful concept ?
Keef was recruited by Larry, who knew Sabbath and liked their
cover and asked him to design ours. Again, unfortunately neither
John or myself had any input in the design and I'm not sure if Keith or
Pete did either. I think it was decided that Keef is
the designer. we'll let him do his job and what a good
job he did.
How was the reaction back in those days 1971 on your first album
?
I'm not sure, pretty average I'd say, I
have a feeling that it is getting a better reaction now with hindsight than at
the time it was released. I know that there is definitely more interest now,
this is the 4th interview I have done in the last month, one for
One thing that confuses me of Zior is that the grouppicture on
both album only is a trio, there is very rare ones that you are 4, what is the
main reason for that ?
The one who is missing is me. I was
getting married on the Saturday and was at the wedding rehearsals on the Friday
(shoot day), unfortunately because of the timing I could not be at both places
and my future wife would have killed me if I didn't show up there. So as the
photographer could not be rearranged they carried on, today with digital photos
& computers I could of been added later but in those days it was
impossible to manipulate the picture.
Speaking about the following you had, you
had a reputation back in those days for black masses and satanical
events onstage much in the same way Black Widow had, how was the reaction to
your concept back then ?
As I've said Keith & Pete would dress
up in these monster costumes and drag a girl out of the audience onstage, which
in most cases went well. Most girls joined in the act but a few who were either
drunk or stoned would suddenly freak out and scream, which actually made it
more realistic for the audience as if something was really happening to them.
The ending was very gory, when Keith in his costume would stab Pete in his with
a long bladed knife and all this blood (fake by the way) would come oozing out
of the head & torso and Pete would collapse on stage, Keith would than grab
the girl (usually screaming) and drag off into the stage wings, as if to kill
her as well and all under strobe lighting, which made it so dramatic. Great entertainment, but not for the faint hearted.
More on the following you had back then, what acts did you play with and how
was the audience turnouts ?
Most of the gigs we played we headlined
and could draw on average 500 / 600 people. Sometimes if we played
somewhere out of the way or a town that never had many visiting bands (that is
not on the touring circuit) we could draw 1000 and at one time 2000 at
Beside
In a simple answer I have no idea, I
never got into the business side in those days, I was
picked up in the van for a gig or told when and where we were recording. I
got paid for gigs but I don't ever remember getting any royalty payments, Um! perhaps there's a few quid to pick up from someone, although
I doubt it! I don't remember there being a lot of promotion for the album's but I think the album reviews in the music press was
positive. I'll have to see if I have any cuttings, if I can find them I'll try
to scan them in to my computer a send them to you.
Go into the recording of the first album,
how long did it take to record the album and do you have any good/ strange
stories to tell how the process of making the album was ?
We recorded the album very quickly, I think in less than a week, we tried to
record it in one take. We tried to make it a close to our live playing as
possible and even made up parts as we recorded, which if you did't capture it at the time could not be repeated. I
don't remember any strange stories, other than the studio was supposed to be
haunted (it was in a basement) but I never heard or saw anything.
You also did a couple of Eps that I havent got, what was
the reactions to them and I have heard that those are only pressed in
Is there? I never knew,
I'm assuming that they will be made up of the single 'Cats Eyes' and
possibly other unreleased tracks. I honestly don't know,
if any of your readers know of them please let me know, I'd love a copy of them
myself. And why
Now to second album Every Inch A Man, one of the best HR albums I have ever
heard, a incredible album from 1973, you had 2 years between the albums, in
that time how much had you progressed from the first album in the songwriting standpoint and was it any differences in the
making of that album compare to first album ?
Obviously I had a copy of the first album
(nicked for the record company) but until recently I never saw, heard or
had a copy of the second album 'Every Inch a Man', which was sent to me by
a fan in Italy but obviously not on Nepentha who had
stopped by then. I couldn't even remember recording it, until I
played it. It was made up of tracks we had been recording over a period of
time. We knew the owner Bill Farley, of the studio in Denmark Street, London,
(who used to let us rehearse there in down periods), and Keith had set up the
recorder to record our practices, mainly so we could play them back and
review, amend or rearrange new songs. However, because of the way we worked in
the studio on the first album, we had some great songs, which we couldn't of
improved had we recorded them again, so it was decided to use the tracks for a
second album, but because I wasn't involved with it, after playing, I had
completely forgotten about it and didn't even know it had been released or by
who. I think we were becoming heavier, if fact one song, which I
don't think was recorded (but I hope it was) was as heavy as f**k, even by
today's standards, great riff & lyrics, written by John. It would be a
shame if the track is lost but I suspect it has been.
Every Inch A Man came out on Global Records, what was the main reason to change
label and how much response did you get on Every Inch A Man compare to the
first album from press and fans ?
I know very little about this album's
release as it was released after the band had split up (I think). I
know Nepentha had collapsed and we were not happy
with the promotion the first album had received had it still been in business.
I can only assume that Keith had found the label,
however that said, there could not have been that much publicity especially
here in the
The title Every Inch A Man, was it any
significant meaning to that title ?
Keith had a strange sense of humour, I think it can mean what you want it to, from the
obvious (sexual innuendo) to how Manly someone can be, I'll leave that one to
you.
Back to your live work, how was the live following for Zior
after Every Inch A Man came out ?
I'm sure we had split up by then, or at
least I had left, so I have a feeling the album was released after this period, we did play most of it live in our set before it was
released.
You had Bill Farley producing the first album while Every Inch A Man you
produced yourself, when you dropped Bill were you not pleased with his work or
did you look for a different soundpicture for Every
Inch A Man ?
The first album was record as a
dedicated album so Keith & Bill jointly produced it in reality. But as
the second was recorded from practice sessions, keeping the best, we never went
in with the idea of recording a second album, it came about because we had
these tracks and thought why not use them. These tracks are a lot more organic
than the first album. They are the produce of songs recorded over a period
of time, changing, developing, parts added and deleted if it never worked,
until you have what has become 'Every Inch a Man'. So as it
wasn't recorded with the intention of release, it was never 'Produced' in the
usual way of recording an album. This is a great way to work, if you have
access to a studio, no pressure. I do know Keith did the final engineering on
it and finishing touches.
Now to the only album I havent heard Monument The First Monument that you did as a
spin off in 1971, how was the recording process for that one and how much
response did you get for it ?
Monument was a spin off of Zior, it is made up of tracks we had recorded before Zior really got started but they did not fit in with the
style that Zior was playing. It was recorded at
Keith's small studio in Southend,
The re-issues of your brilliant albums, how much difference is it nowdays in response from fans and media to those compare to
the early when they came out ?
I think there is more interest today than
when they were released, definitely worldwide, (judging by the emails I have
recently received), which never happened in the early days. I think in those
days we were just one of many bands playing similar music, we were lucky to
have a recording deal & a booking agent, so managed to play live around the
country. But today, well I don't really know, you could probably answer that
one better than me. Maybe it's a good example of it's
type and captures the period in which it was produced. In those days there was
still a lot of scope to sound different, today it's a lot harder to sound
different from the next band, as it's all been done by someone before but
perhaps by going way back and looking for more obscure groups a modern band can
find a new sound, or at least new to today's audience and that's way Zior has been rediscovered?
Zior ended after Every Inch A Man, what was the reason to
break up the band and where did the members went after the breakup ?
I'm sure the band spilt up before Every
Inch was released. There was no real reason, I think it had run it's course. Music was moving on a pace, with younger
and I'd say better players than ourselves and we had started to move in
different musical directions. Keith carried on playing for a while then became
manager of a local nightclub in
Playing the material today stuff like
Angel Of The Highway, Strange Kind Of Magic and Oh Mariya
for example it is very timeless and very refreshing to listen to, my question
to you is when you play them today compare to all the other 70s and today's HR
albums that is out, where do you place those albums yourself ?
A hard question, it depends on the
listener and what they want from their music. I like those tracks myself, with
the benefit of hindsight I can hear things that I played that I could do better
today. But it may then loss it's atmosphere, it's
distinctiveness, it's soul. I listen to different music at different times of
the day. I can't play rock during the day but I love it when I'm driving or in
the evening. As for placing it against our contemporaries or today's
music, I think about No 1, no seriously there are alot
better albums out there especially technically and musicianship but every album
has it's thing. I do play Zior,
every so often but at the moment my favourite artist is Joe Bonamassa
but it changes I also like ZZ Top, Glen Hughes, Kings
X, Metallica, Dog Eat Dog, Faith No More and of
course Skyclad.
The name of the combo Zior, where did the name came from ?
I understand that originally the band was
called Deszior, but people kept calling shortening it
to, I'm going to see 'Zior' and by the time
I had joined it had become Zior. Where the
original Deszior came form ????
Pete Brewer and Keith Bonzor
did all the writing for Zior except for Kaplan who
have 2 tunes on the first album, can you fill us in on how the duo came up with
all the ideas and arrangements for the material and how they worked together
and what was the reason that either you or guitarist John Truba
came up with any material ?
It was really Keith (more than Pete) that
in the beginning did most of the writing, even though we all wrote our own
parts, Keith took the credit for nearly all the songs, mainly because he had
the publishing deal and secondly because John & myself were a little naive
about the royalties you could earn from writing. However, towards the end
both John & myself had started to introduce songs written by us to the
band but it was after we had tracks down for Every Inch, and we were
practising at Keith's parent's home on Canvey Island, so I'm afraid no
recordings of these songs.
To close this interview I would like to continue the legacy of Zior, you are to
me the heaviest combo after Black Sabbath coming out of the
I would like to think that we have
influenced a few bands but just to know that there are fans out there who liked
what we played and in the case of Radenko helped him
through a war is praise enough. Just to know that people play & like
our music is a great feeling that makes making music all that more
enjoyable.
Finally is there a chance that Zior will return, if that is case are you planning a new
album etc, do you have any specific plans ?
It would be great to have get together, but I have no idea of where the rest of the
band are (even if they are still alive). I have tried searching the internet
but other than a couple of articles in an
For Info http://thefirstmonument.webs.com
Email soulman@madasfish.com
Gabriel Lilliehook