Nathan King and Andrew Lynch: Zed guitarists on the bands reformation and their latest music

Twenty years after disbanding, Zed is back for good. 

Hailing from Christchurch, the kiwi band was created in 1996, their 2000 album ‘Silencer’ going triple platinum. 

They released another album after that before disbanding in 2004, lead vocalist Nathan King going solo while Ben Campbell and Andrew Lynch formed Atlas, which would then disband in late 2008. 

The group reunited for a few live gigs over the years, including a national tour in 2019 to celebrate Silencer’s 20th anniversary. 

They announced their comeback in 2023, releasing a live video of ‘Renegade Fighter’ online, along with a new single: ‘Future You.’ 

With a twenty-year gap in the band’s history, there is some regret from Nathan King. 

“It was a sort of wondering of like, what could have been if we’d sort of just, dug a bit deeper and managed to pull through some of those hard times,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking. 

However, despite that, Andrew Lynch sees a positive in the disbanding: 

“We still really like each other because we weren’t stuck in a room for an extra fifteen years.” 

“We may have killed each other if we tried to stay together,” King agreed. 

The split can be attributed, at least in part, to proximity and age. 

While they’re touring or performing, bands tend to be living in each other's pockets and for young hotheads with bottomless bravado, tempers can flare and boil over. 

Coming back together after two decades, Lynch says that everyone is a bit more chill and understanding of other people. 

“We know ourselves better,” King agreed. “You can cope and adapt to it.” 

Zed’s return was sparked by their 2017 performance for the All Blacks game against the Lions, which had them in front of a packed Eden Park. 

“We we’re like, ‘that was a lot of fun, we should do that again.’”  

Their latest album is releasing in July, and is, according to King, a slight evolution from their previous sound.  

“It’s kicked the can forward.” 

It’s all fresh material, the album catering both to previous fans and those who have never heard them before. 

“There’s enough of us wanting to be our 20-year-old selves again but then at the same time going, oh, we’ve learned a thing or two over the last twenty years,” King told Hosking. 

“Always a student, of life and music,” Lynch added. 

Musicians don’t necessarily expect their music to go platinum, but they do quietly hope for it, both for the accolades that come with and the opportunities. 

“You just want as many people to hear your music as possible,” said King. 

“It just creates something you can really sink your teeth into.” 

Picking up where they left off twenty years ago, Zed has no plans to stop any time soon. 

“Everyone’s on the same page there.” 

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