ZeroFixx

ZeroFixx came out soon after Hollow Inside had cleared the way and proceeded to get folks up and moving around, shaking those arses. Well, sort of. The kids were doing that thing where they bob just the upper half of their bodies back and forth like Dustin Hoffman shaking off a scare in Rain Man, which looks cool and all and probably gives people a great abdominal workout but makes a body dizzy after a spell.
Musically, though, ZF has some cool stuff going on — it's not just a matter of ca-chunk, chunk chunk waaaah ooof ooof ah fuckin' chunk chunk — whether Ogdog's guitaristic riffing, Michael B.'s bass playing or the turntable bits (provided by a fella I believe calls himself "Scary Jon"). Vocally? Ah, never really been a big fan of rap (Public Enemy and a handful of others aside) and especially not rap metal, but ZeroFixx shows that you can make the genre deeper than oooga chaka waka oooof oooof break your fuckin' face tonight chaka laka rolling rolling rolling oof oof ooh ah.
- F5 Jedd Beaudoin

zero fixx took the stage last and blew away all my impressions of what I thought a band who's front man was a radio DJ would sound like-just messing with ya, Bull- "Bull" from the leadhead lockout show on FLY 92.7 showed off his team of seven, that included a DJ and a second lead vocal. Together, they shoved their audio onslaught into your very core! I have to admit that I was just slack jawed at the sheer talent on the stage especially in view of the fact that this group hasn't been together that long...a few months maybe?

Another awesome gig put on by three bands from right here in dodah! Not bad, my friends, not bad at all.

- Wichita Band Scene - Digi

Originally published April 29, 2004


by Jedd Beaudoin

42-minute blastathon from these Air Capital ragers that takes us from the straight-up dirty riffing of "Zerofixx Is Coming," through the sonic experimentation of "Phoenix" (which blends the various streams that make this band work — record scratching, sampling, heavy riffs and a little bit o' rap along the way) and then the plain old Rage Against The Machine on White Zombie of "Curbcheck."
"Inside," a raging emotional storm, may very well be the band's Big Radio Track, while "Donutland," a catchy enough attack on police brutality, may prove a little graphic for some audiences. On the whole, this is cool stuff. It's well-produced and has musical and emotional layers enough to keep listeners occupied for some time to come.
- F5 Wichita

don't call Zerofixx rap metal. Sure, you'll find elements of both genres in the ICT-based band's oeuvre but bassist Michael B. remains adamant that you have to delve deep into the band's sound to fully understand it.
"Our sound flexes with whatever sound we're doing. It flexes by mood. Whatever mood we're in, we bring that to the song. It's all our stuff and you can tell that it's our stuff," he said. "But I don't think anything sounds exactly the same."
Sitting in a bar just on the outskirts of Old Town, B., guitarist OgDog and newest member, drummer Marshall (of S.O.R.E. and Dead Orchestra fame), have gathered to tell the story of this seven-piece band that throws metallic riffs, groovy bass lines and turntable techniques into one big pot, stirs it and comes up with something outside the ordinary. The biggest part of the story at this point in time is the band's new album, Hate, Fear, Love, Lust.
Recorded at Greenjeans Studios in Wellington by Carter Green, the disc displays the band's eclecticism without compromising continuity. Sessions for the album ran on the long side (12-13 hours-a-day on average) but OgDog and B. couldn't be happier with the results. It helped, B. said, that Green understood the band: "He's not the kind of producer that goes in and tells you what you're going to do. He listened to what we had to say. You can say, 'I want this kind of sound,' and he'll help you find that. He's right there with you. Although if he thinks something sucks, he'll tell you."
"He's a real stand-up guy," OgDog said. "I can't say enough good things about him. He's a great musician and that helps. He'll just work something until it's right."
The finished product remains an interesting study in musical dynamics and gives listeners a real glimpse of the many paths that Zerofixx walks upon. Many of the songs, OgDog and B. note, have highly emotional origins. "Inside" is one that the pair begin to talk about almost immediately.
That song, OgDog said, has special meaning for many of the band members but he feels especially close.
"I have a sister who lives here in town," he said. "She's had some problems, a lot of demons. She's been battling things that we went through in our childhoods — things with my mother and becoming my mother and other things that I've gone through .... The emotions I experienced when seeing my sister fall ...."
OgDog had a rough sketch of the song, which he brought to Bull (one of the band's two lead vocalists). Bull asked OgDog where he wanted to go with the song.
"It turned out that he had some things that he wanted to talk about, some things in his own life. And although his problems weren't exactly the same as what was going on with my sister, his ideas fit perfectly."
The guitarist added that the song remains important to him not just because of the writing but because it serves as a message to his sibling: "It's a message to her about opening up, to me and the family. Letting us in. I love her. We love her. It's hard to watch someone [make the mistakes she's made] time and time again. We want her to open her heart and let us help her."
Marshall added that he came to the songs on the current disc from outside but the emotions behind each, especially the track "Innocent," still hit home. When he first encountered the song, he'd just gone through a breakup and although many of the wounds have now healed, he added that the memory of those feelings carries over into his performance of the tune today.
"I hit my drums 10 times as hard. I'm more intense about it, and I try to convey the emotions that I have to the audience,"Marshall said. "I made a connection with that song. I love that."
It's interesting to note that the band doesn't play its cards as close to the chest as one might expect for a metal band, nor does it project an image of being mad at the world.
Although B. said that he can relate to angst. The song "Complex," he said, speaks to some of his darker days.
"I used to have a real anger management issue," the bass man said, "I had a lot of inner turmoil. That song got at some of that."
It becomes apparent that these are changed men with a slightly changed band.
B. and OgDog don't discuss what specifically led to Curtis (the previous Zerofixx drummer) leaving the band but they did bring Marshall (who B. introduced as "the FNG"(Fucking New Guy)) to the interview. Comfortable in his new environment, the skin basher (and lifelong KISS fan) seems incredibly grounded. Some of that may come from his years of playing in a variety of bands. Some of those experiences, he noted, proved less desirable than others.
"It's great being in this band," Marshall said. "In the past I've had to deal with egos and drugs and whatever and one of the first questions [the Zerofixx guys] asked me was, 'Do you use drugs?' I said, 'No," and it was like, 'Cool.' It's a brotherhood in this band."
Although Marshall didn't play on the album, he said that the other members welcomed new ideas that he brought with him.
"I listened to the CD and thought, 'I have an idea for here. And for here.' And I brought them to band and it was OK."
B. said that having a new drummer has made his job easier. "I don't feel like I have to corral him. He's got good timing. But it happens where sometimes I have to back him down or he has to back me down, especially in the live situation. When you've got people out there looking at you, the adrenaline starts going and you start speeding up and you just have to say, 'OK, back it off, man.' That's no problem with Marshall."
"I think that what's nice about Marshall is that he's a diverse player," OgDog said. "I can appreciate what he does on the drums because I'm also a drummer. And you've got to be able to keep time. He can do that. He's also part of the show. He's a ham."
The guitarist/drummer pointed out that the new dimensions have helped the band better realize some of its visions for earlier songs.
"The only negative thing I can say about some of our older tunes," added the golf and fishing enthusiast, "is that I felt like we could have put more of a groove into it. Not an R&B-rap kind of groove, just something that internally makes you want to move. And something that you can move to."
And moving is something both the bands and its fans will have a chance to do throughout the spring and summer as the seven-piece gears of for dates, dates and more dates. Marshall noted that he looks forward to encountering more audiences with Zerofixx.
"I always like playing and there are those first few minutes where you're watching people and it's like, 'You're not doing anything. What's going on? Love us or hate us, do something.' Then people start bobbing their heads and you know they're into it," Marshall said. "That's always a good sign."


- F5 Wichita