Mitch: Your debut album, I Needed To Hear Me Say It, just came out on October 30. Do you mind sharing a bit about the album and the themes that can be found throughout?
Zach: I’d been working on it for around two years before we went to record it. It was just a bunch of spare tunes I had lying around, and a couple of things that didn't really quite fit any other projects. So I committed to working on them at home, experimenting with them and then finally got the courage to record them with some friends.
Now, here we are with the record.
Mitch: What do you hope people feel while listening?
Zach: It's a pretty joyous record. There are a couple of somber songs, but overall, it's pretty uplifting and maybe a little inspiring to get out there and make your own record.
That’s kind of what the songs are about, some of them anyway. Getting out there and facing some fears and doing it for yourself, if not anything else.
Mitch: If the album was turned into a movie, what would the plot be? What would the movie look and feel like?
Zach: Maybe it would just a biopic of my life. A lot of the songs are coming from personal experience. Maybe it's somebody who's been around for a few years and trying to figure out their place in this ever-changing world.
Plotline, who knows? Maybe something tragic happens. I'm just spitballing here.
I think it's a self-exploration kind of movie.
Mitch: What’s your favourite memory from making the album?
Zach: Just recording it was really fun. I did it with a bunch of good friends over a week up in the Blue Mountains, in this beautiful spot. It was fun to finally have these songs, which had been all mine for so long, spread out between friends so they could put their own fingerprints on them.
Mitch: Without using any genres, how would you describe the sound and style of the album?
Zach: I suppose easygoing, most of it. There's still some energy in a bunch of tunes, but I'd say mid-afternoon lounging music!
Mitch: You’ve been releasing music with Hockey Dad for over 10 years. What made you decide that now was the right time to step out on your own?
Zach: I don't know. I've been asking myself that same question. I think it was just that I finally had enough songs that I was proud of and ready to put out.
I think there was always a reluctance to do something like this. It just seems a little strange when Hockey Dad's been so fun and so good for so long.
I think it was just to the point where I was like, if I don't do it now, it would take me another 10 years or something to muster up the courage to even try it.
It was about trying to face that fear of what it was going to be like, if anyone was even going to care about it or anything. So I guess I just had to commit and go for it. That's what made me do it.
Mitch: You’re opening for The Belair Lip Bombs in November / December around Australia. Why should people come along? What can they expect from your set?
Zach: I've got a great band backing me. A lot of the people who recorded on the record are playing with me. There's some beautiful saxophone solos, piano and a lot of different instrumentation that you're not usually used to seeing me with.
Honestly, I would say go for The Belair Lip Bombs because they're going to be amazing. They're so good.
Mitch: What’s the best way for people to support you and the album?
Zach: You could buy the vinyl. That would be a great help. We've printed a limited edition of 300. Go to Bandcamp or my website to do that.
Get a ticket to a show, stream and just send me a message if you want and say, "Good album." That's enough for me.
Mitch: What’s one thing you’d love to manifest for your career over the next 12 months?
Zach: I'd love to just go on tour. Spend some time touring around with the band and playing. That's what I hope to do.
Mitch: Who are some AUS/NZ musicians that people should get behind?
Zach: Swapmeet are doing great.
There's another band called Birdland from WA. They’re a couple of really young kids that have been killing it.
Also, The Belair Lip Bombs, they're blowing up.
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS!!
Mitch: Favourite track from the album?
Zach: Roy
Mitch: Go-to karaoke song?
Zach: Burning Love - Elvis
Mitch: First album you bought?
Zach: I think it was Ben Lee’s record, Awake is the New Sleep
Mitch: Finish the sentence? Zach Stephenson is for fans of…
Zach: Wilco, The Belair Lip Bombs & Cory Hanson