FEATURE:
Spotlight
ZAND
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BEFORE I get to…
a few interviews concerning the brilliant ZAND (London-based Zander Sweeney), there is a bit of background on this innovative and must-hear artist. Who they have inspired by and what their style is. You may not have heard of ZAND. They are someone who needs to be on your radar. I am going to get to some recent interviews soon. ZAND released their incredible E.P., SEWERSTAR, on 7th September. It is clear that this is an artist like no other. One of the most important on the scene right now. I shall come to interviews with them in a minute. First, here is what you need to know about the amazing ZAND:
“STYLE.
I call it “ugly pop”. Gritty, genre bending pop music that is uncomfortable and messy and industrial and whatever I want it to be. I’ve had a lot of “I have no idea what genre this is” comments and that’s just how I like it. Perfect for weirdos, the underdogs, the misunderstood etc
BIO.
“Zand is just me (or if you wanna be fancy, my real name is Zander and my pronouns are they/them). I did my first gig in 2012 when I was a mere foetus on an old singer songwriter folky cringy project, but I feel like I only really started “performing” this summer whilst on tour with Bob Vylan & Witch Fever. I used to be so self-conscious of how to perform and what to do onstage and really overthink it, but now I feel like I’m really honing my craft and I am much more comfortable. I love it. It’s just like ringing a bell. ‘Put on a damn show, baby’, or whatever.”
One of the most exciting, formidable, and hotly tipped rising stars in alternative pop, Zand is a force to be reckoned with. Exploding onto the scene with their own self coined genre/boundary bending “ugly pop” sound in 2018, they have demonstrated their prowess as a triple threat; singer, songwriter and producer. Since their debut EP “Ugly Pop” released in November 2020, the 4 track EP has racked up over 1 million streams on Spotify, gaining attention from the likes of DIY Magazine, Wonderland Magazine, Attitude Magazine, Alt Press and more. Their new single and first release of the year “Religion” just dropped in August; a metal infused, holy earworm produced by both ZAND and EDM producer Shurk, released in partnership with Jagermeister Musik. ZAND coined the term ‘ugly pop’ to describe not just their gritty sound, but with ‘ugly’ acting as a double entendre; touching on topics and telling a story in such a manner that could be considered controversial in today’s male-dominated, cis heteronormative society.
Q & A.
INFLUENCES?
I got a long list of those. I keep remembering different artists that influenced me as a teen or a child or a young adult or a few years ago or now. But a few off the top of my head: Imogen Heap, Slipknot, Tommy Cash, My Chemical Romance, Hans Zimmer, Fightstar, Hammock, Gorillaz, Rob Zombie, SOPHIE.
SHARE WITH US AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE ABOUT ONE OF YOUR SONGS.
I just had to google what “anecdote” means before answering this, and it says, “a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person”. I don’t have an amusing story behind this song to tell you, but the song itself is batsh*t enough on its own without needing one. So I’m just gonna tell you about it anyway. My new single “Religion” is a fun one to talk about, mainly because it sounds completely insane on purpose, production wise. Is it a pop track? Is it metal? Is that latin inspired percussion I can hear? “Yes” is the answer to all of those questions. “But Zand… are those demonic shrieks at the end… you?” I hear you cry. Yes, baby, yes, it is. “Why?” Because it rips, it works with the song’s narrative, and I wanted to show off. Extreme vocals are an artform in itself and I’m surprised I haven’t brought them to my music sooner considering I’m a little metal head. Also, no one has asked me these questions at all, I am just being dramatic. Lastly but certainly not least, if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll be able to hear that it’s a gay as hell track I wrote about being infatuated with an angel. I like telling stories in songs, so let that be the anecdote for this one. *ba dum tss*
IF YOU WERE TO BE AN ANIMAL, WHICH WOULD IT BE?
A dragon, for sure. Don’t hit me with the “they’re a mythical creature” lark, they’ve definitely at least been real before, and now the closest thing we have is alligators and stuff like that. One of my special interests since I was a kid has always dragons, I wrote a book about turning into a dragon, was completely obsessed with Dragon Heart and literally any media that had dragons in them, I’ve still got my Dragonology book, and now green hair horns and dragon wings are part of my aesthetic/persona. Kind of an unavoidable serve to be honest.
YOU ARE SENT TO MARS, NO CHECK-IN BAGGAGE, AND YOU CAN TAKE ONE RECORD – WHICH ONE?
Either Y€S by Tommy Cash or Move Along by All American Rejects. Both have pulled me out of depressive episodes many times, the former due to euphoria and the latter nostalgia. I’ll probably think of 5 more by the time I’ve written this.
YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC VENUE IN THE U.K.?
I don’t have a favourite venue, but I do have a favourite one I played on tour recently. Really enjoyed the 100 Club in London, had a big, long stage I got to walk up and down, very spacey. Did not trip over. Jumped around a lot. I’ve never played the Deaf Institute in Manchester, but I’ve seen a few gigs there (Neon Trees was my last one in 2012) and I loved how it felt like you were in someone’s living room with the bird upholstery and wallpapers, whatever you call it. Very nice.
WE ARE PROUDLY SUBCULTURE-INSPIRED. HOW ABOUT YOU?
Come on. You can take one look at me and see that I’m a slimy little mosher. Always have been”.
I am keen to get to some interviews regarding them. ALT PRESS chatted to ZAND earlier in the year to see what they had to say. Such a compelling and original artist, I am a bit annoyed I have only just discovered them! I am not compelled to look ahead to see where ZAND heads next:
“A few years ago, ZAND would have worried about silly lyrics causing offense and would over-explain every aspect of the project to avoid that. Now, they’re much less bothered. “Typically the only people who don’t get it are straight, white men who don’t get much of anything,” they smirk. “If you want to know what I mean, listen to the music.”
SEWERSTAR provides another layer of freedom to ZAND’s world. When they started making “ugly pop,” they stuck to a strict set of rules that included ensuring all the songs dealt with oppressive subjects and offered some sort of education, as well as making jagged industrial pop that still felt palatable for a mainstream audience. “Now, I just do whatever I want,” ZAND says of the evolution, with the new project mashing up EDM and nü metal alongside soaring pop hooks.
“I’m getting older, and I’ve realized that shit is just not that serious all the time. Life’s too short. Is there actually any point in having hope, or do we have to literally swim in the shit and get on with it while the world's burning?” they ask. “Either way, we might as well have a party.” SEWERSTAR will no doubt incite debaucherous, escapist chaos. ”I wanted to encourage people to just be a little silly,” they continue. “Create your art the way you want.”
After all, ZAND had their first viral moment as a 19-year-old with an acoustic reworking of a Bring Me The Horizon classic and was swiftly swept up in the music industry. “There were a lot of men telling me what to do, and I believed them because I thought they had my best interests at heart,” they say before a heavy roll of the eyes. “I went into this not knowing what I wanted to do. I just liked writing songs and playing guitar.” ZAND was also struggling with their gender identity, but coming out as nonbinary helped everything slowly slot into place.
“Coming into my own and looking how I’ve always wanted to look has helped a lot,” they explain. It also gave their music a purpose. “Every cunt and his dad can listen to Ed Sheeran, but queer people, nonbinary people, trans people, they don’t have the same representation. They need that home as well.”
ZAND’s hoping to really start building that sense of community with their upcoming U.S. headline tour. “I want to create a space where people can come and be themselves,” they explain, rolling out a strict “no dickhead” policy. “People can expect chaos, slutty dancers, and me laughing at my own jokes, hoping you laugh, too.”
Following a relentless string of anti-trans bills and continued attacks on body autonomy, ZAND thinks touring North America is “really important” right now. “Even if it’s a small bubble of people that you’re speaking to, providing a space where they can get away from all the horrors of the outside world is vital,” they say.
ZAND is regularly told just how empowering their music is. “You don’t hear many songs about the destigmatization of sex workers or telling nonbinary kids that how they identify is valid,” ZAND says. “But I’m just making the songs that I wish I had when I was younger. I know my music is niche, and it definitely isn’t for everyone, but it is for some people, and that’s important,” they explain. “Maybe it’ll help them feel less alone because this whole project has definitely given me a sense of community and purpose. People see me being fearlessly myself, and hopefully they can relate to that,” they add”.
The mighty Kerrang! interviewed ZAND back in April. They discussed music and art that is for the outsider. Those people who feel like they do not belong. It is clear that ZAND’s music will resonate with and empower so many power from different walks of life:
“ZAND has been called ugly their entire life. Their first experience of bullying came at the age of four, when their parents moved them and their brother from England to rural Ireland. ZAND in particular was targeted for their “nerdy” interests (Pokémon and Digimon) and being sensitive towards animals. “I remember my bully stamping on a frog I’d found in the playground – the same with a little baby bird that had fallen out of its nest that I was trying to look after,” the singer remembers.
It was when they returned back to Blackpool aged 12, and was parachuted into secondary school at Year 8, that they saw how ugly the world – and kids in particular – can be.
“That was a different type of brutal,” they recall. “Kids [were] more mercilessly mean than they were over in Ireland and I would get picked on for my appearance a lot, called ugly or a nerd... I did not feel as strong, or like I could push back, like I did when I was younger. It felt different [in the UK]. More big and scary. I struggled with self-harm and depression from an early age and would get picked on for that, too... ‘Fucking emo blah blah,' it’s all a blur, to be honest.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Megan Winstone
Things got all the more confusing when ZAND sang Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful in the school talent show in Year 10, something they describe as a “weird and hilarious blossoming high school movie" moment.
“Some popular guy from the year above started texting me like, “Wow you looked so amazing up there! You are so talented!” they say. “It was a really jarring juxtaposition, going from feeling grotesque and being made to feel beneath everyone all my school life, to people suddenly finding me attractive and ‘worthy’ because they saw my talent.”
Struggling with their gender identity at the time, ZAND saw how people reacted to them presenting themselves as more feminine and felt pressure to be more like that in order to be accepted.
“It wasn’t until my late-teens and even early 20s, [when] the penny finally dropped and I had the vocabulary to realise I was trans,” they explain.
They describe the moment they shaved their head – the look you see ZAND sport today – as liberating. “[I was] finally able to let go of all the prejudice and judgement I’d held towards myself projected by other people,” says the singer.
The bullying didn’t stop when high school ended, unfortunately, and when ZAND came out as trans in 2015 they were subject to transphobic abuse. “It was harrowing,” they say today. “A really scary time that definitely has had a lasting impact on me, but all of this just gave – and still gives – me the push to be my authentic self. I feel and look my most powerful as a baldie.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Megan Winstone
And that’s how ‘ugly pop’ came to be – the artist reclaiming the words that have been used against them for so many years in a positive light (‘ugly pop’ also represents the dark subject matter that ZAND sings about, which some might consider ‘ugly’).
“I like looking different, I like expressing myself and feeling good about myself,” they explain. “Even when people fucking harass me, I'm like, ‘Well you’re gonna remember what I look like but I’m gonna forget your face in like five seconds...’”
Harassment due to their appearance is a regular occurrence for ZAND and they are often subjected to having their photo taken, or being filmed without permission, while just going about their day.
“I get filmed a lot – and it’s usually by men,” they explain. “Just a few weeks ago I was stood at the train station with my hood up, minding my business and someone was sending Snapchats of me. I’m just existing and people laugh at me and use me as a spectacle... I will never understand that. Why do you treat people who just look different to you like they’re shit on your shoe? Because they don’t fit your idea of beauty standards? It's just fucking weird to me”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Megan Winstone
While still incredibly independent – self-releasing and self-producing their music – getting a proper team around them has helped. Agent Christina, whom ZAND describes as “my rock and accidental therapist” came on board three years ago, and it was the recruitment of manager Rosie that saw ZAND get organised. But even with extra hands on deck, the singer says it’s hard to shake the feeling that they are “just trying to get through every day... If I feel I’ve not done enough on a song or whatever, I feel very guilty.”
So what would be enough? How would ZAND know when that full potential has dutifully been sought?
“It is woefully ironic trying to think about what my full potential looks like, because it is constantly changing,” they say. “And maybe I will never reach it because capitalism fucks us so hard and no matter what achievements and milestones we reach, it never seems to be enough. We are always constantly having to prove ourselves to ourselves and other people. It’s hard not to get caught up in the rat race of comparing yourself constantly...”
“I used to think my full potential was taking over the world and selling out tours. Now I'm like, is my full potential just having one person hear my music and not feel alone? Is my full potential notoriety? Or being able to pay my family’s bills comfortably? I don’t know...” they ponder. “What I would like to do, though, is release what I feel is enough of my music to the world before I die. There’s a lot more I still want to do as an artist”.
Moving forward a bit, in July, DORK were keen to highlight ZAND. They talked about their (as-then) upcoming SEWERSTAR E.P. It is definitely one of the most impressive and impactful of the year. It is very clear that there is a special place in the industry for ZAND. They are inspiring so many people already – and this will grow larger as their music career goes to the next level:
“Other people are a mystery to ZAND. From how they react to their art to how they respond to their look, ZAND’s under the distinct impression that “different things inspire different people depending on like their upbringings and how they see the world.” It’s how they get by in a world that tries to fit things in neat little boxes. “If something might come along that is unorthodox, or that they don’t understand – whether that’s music, whether that’s how someone looks, whether that’s anything to do with that sort of shit – they either turn their nose or they relate to it in some way, even though it might not have anything to do with them.”
These experiences are reflected in ZAND’s music. They mention that ‘Ugly Pop’ was written “from a place of writing about unhealed trauma and shit that I was really angry about.” And while this is still the case for a lot of what they’re creating, when it comes to ‘Sewerstar’ and its offerings, it’s about trying to be a little less serious with it. “I just want to have a little fun with it and write about stupid shit like wanking or ‘HA, this is really funny, I’m going to say something really funny in this’ and just seeing what comes out.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Frances Beach
While ZAND’s first artistic pursuits were a far cry from who they are today (“I was a baby, it was me singing a song on my guitar doing twee… but I was still a gobshite”), the writing has come to be just as important as the vision. “The music, and how I do it, leads in terms of personality and whatever the fuck else. A lot of things in my life have fuelled me to want to protect myself that way.”
ZAND’s transformation into the artist before us today was a process. “We’re all constantly posturing, right? Depending on the song, we’re all putting a version of ourselves out there that we might not necessarily be. And that’s the kind of thing that I find interesting to play with when it’s like playing different characters and songs. You’re performing a personality; you’re performing this viewpoint.”
These building blocks of bravado are important, but more prescient is the fact that whomever ZAND is on a deeper level is, rightfully so, to remain a mystery. “There’s always going to be a story that people don’t know,” they say. “Even if someone writes an autobiography, you’re still not going to know every single thing about someone’s life and what’s led them to be the way they are.”
Mentioning that the confidence and bravery they present is a big reason fans have latched onto them, they’re not always what people expect. “I am like a big softy, sensitive person,” they laugh. “Like I literally cry about everything, but people will often be like, ‘Oh my God, yes, you’re badass. Like you just don’t give a fuck; you’re so confident”.
I want to finish with a recent NME spotlight. Actually, they caught up with ZAND. They discussed collaboration with Jeremy Corbyn, their Queer community, and what comes next for them. There are some October gigs coming up, so do make sure you catch ZAND if you can:
“Before heading to Reading & Leeds, ZAND’s previous gig was in Sheffield with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – in a bid to “to save The Leadmill, and bring awareness to music venues and landlords fucking them over”.
Describing their time with Corbyn, ZAND said: “He’s a G. He was a lot funnier than I expected him to be. When that came about, I was in my dressing room and they were like, ‘Oh, Jeremy wants to come and say hi. He comes through and he’s like, ‘Can I touch your hair?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah…’ We were taking hip-hop duo photos together. He’s cool and he’s very passionate about what he does, so it was really an honour to collaborate with one of the last politicians in the country who has a beating heart.”
ZAND continued: “It was really fucking random how it came together. His Peace & Justice Project DM’ed me on Instagram, just reaching out in solidarity and said they wanted to get involved in something.
“I didn’t have ‘ZAND and Jeremy Corbyn collaboration on my bingo card for 2023’, but everything is happening this year so… wows!”
Another recent career highlight came when ZAND supported Peaches on tour – an experience they describe as “insane”.
“When I got the email about that, I was literally screamed so loud in my room,” said ZAND. ” The night we flew out to the first date in Amsterdam, she just came out to my room and was like, ‘Hello!’ and I was like, ‘Mother!’
“Her entire show is just insane as well. Everything is just so theatrical. She literally brings out a giant inflatable penis and shoots shit out of it. She’s crazy, and the definition of a real artist.”
Next month sees the release of ZAND’s new ‘SEWERSTAR’ EP, taking their concept of “ugly pop” into ambitious new territory.
DOES not pass you by.
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