1. The band were discussing our options over a few beers and Simon suggested
Terminal. I (Peter) responded that it was a bit dark to be just Terminal so suggest we
add Zero. Little did we know that Terminal Zero is actually a mathematical term for a
zero to the right of a non-zero at the end of a number. There you go, evidence that beer in moderation helps with clear and logical thinking.
2. What is your name and what do you do for the band?
Peter Nattrass, Singer
2.Tell us where you are based and describe the scene. How do you think where you
are located influences your sound.
We’re based in Adelaide but three of us grew up together in Renmark, South Australia.
The Adelaide music scene is a fantastic melting pot of sounds and sights, however our
influences are more drawn from the eastern states of Australia and overseas, so Adelaide’s
had only a limited influence on our approach to song writing and production.
3.Who influences your sound that would surprise people?
As a vocalist and lyricist, I’m into a wide range of expressive singers. I like story tellers so
legendary Australian singers like Paul Dempsey from Something For Kate. I still love
Captain (Million Miles An Hour). Then of course there is the political activists like Ezekiel Ox
of Mammal and Superheist fame. He is an amazing, spirited writer and legend worthy
performer.
4.Are you endorsed by musical companies, if so who, and if not who would you like to
be endorsed by?
No current endorsements. We did have a clothing company and music store in the early
days.
I’d go TC Helicon and Sennheiser as I use their rack mounted effects, microphones and
wireless systems live.
Matt would jump at ESP guitars and anything from Fractal Audio Systems. Simon would be
a great poster boy for Roland V-Drums and Ableton. Heath looks good with anything
strapped on him.
5.When you started what was your ultimate goal? And how close to the goal are you
now?
My ultimate goal was to tour the world living the rock lifestyle of fast cars and organics fruit
smoothies in LA with James Hetfield. We’ve got the fruit smoothies, but so far James hasn’t
returned our calls. Come on James, pick up the phone and unblock me on Twitter!
6.In todays digital environment it takes creative strategy to keep things moving. What
creative ideas do you have to keep your band relevant over time?
Our drummer Simon has invested significant time, energy and hard-earned coin taking
Terminal Zero digital. He’s become an absolute wizard in our studio with Pro-tools and a
million plug-ins and he makes extensive use of Ableton to automatically change guitar or
vocal effects, programmed lighting and sequenced backing tracks.
I can genuinely say that having someone in your band like Simon is a not negotiable for
contemporary music nowadays.
7.We have all seen a terrible live band that is awesome on CD. Is that cool with you or do
you lose respect for bands that cannot pull it off live?
Again, this is why we’ve invested so heavily in digitizing our gear. We feel that’s the
minimum we should be delivering for the legends who come out to see us play live. People
deserve value for money, there’s nothing worse than a great band that sounds shit live with
no production, poor mixing or a weak front of house PA.
8.Tell us your “core” are you Metal , Rock , Punk , Pop etc because people just have
to categorize these days you know?
Rock
9.This is a tough question but a very real reality, Is your band actually talented or just
popular?
Hard work and persistence are key ingredients in the TZ special sauce. Sure, there’s some
level of musical ability but it’s come from hard work and it’s got a lot to do with putting in the
hours, reflecting with an open mind on advice that gravitates to you as you move up or
through the food chain.
Many bands make it with a cliche or publicity stunts etc. Would you accept fame even
if it was just because of being the “in” thing or is it actually important to you that you
gain favour with talent?
We’ll take what comes our way as we’ve put in over 20 years of work experience. For some
it might be a falling knife, but I’d put my hand up to catch it as it will be 20% lucky and 80%
persistence. Happy to compare scar tissue and empty bank accounts with anyone.
10.Tell us what to expect from you live. Nothing is more boring than watching bands
stare at the floor and bob their heads to music nobody but the band knows.
What can
your band offer in a live setting that people will remember?
We try to bring our albums to life when we’re on stage. We know what we like to see live so
we do our best to bring the dynamics of our music to life. If you want to see people standing
still, don’t come and see us! We play music because it moves us.
11. What releases have you put out, When will we see something new?
Today we released the second single, This Is What It Feels Like, from our new album
Control which will come out in March.
We had the pleasure of working with Richie DW Norton from Superheist on this one. He’s a
twice ARIA nominated producer/engineer so working with him in Queensland at Black
Mountain Sound Studios was amazing. So much good advice and real straight shooter when
he needed to be to encouraging us to rethink our approach or go the extra mile on a song.
Prior to Control, we released a full-length album Cold War in 2017 and two EPs Rule The
World and Once Around The Sun.
You asked earlier about ultimate goals…. Rule The World captures the scale of our
ambitions, Once Around the Sun turns out to be 20 times around the sun and Cold War is
what music can sometimes be. I’d think Control will be a crowd pleaser.
12. If you have videos where can we see them?
We enjoy doing video clips so This Is What It Feels Like has us in an old industrial shed with
a massive truck baring down on Simon. The first single was called Famous and that was just
a massive party with our fans at one of our houses.
We also did a clip for the title track of our last album Cold War. Shooting that was interesting
as there’s a couple of scenes that I pushed a bit far and broke a couple of ribs. That song is
all about how we could all very easily fall from grace and end up on the streets without a
penny to our name. It was a humbling experience begging on the streets of Adelaide during
the filing
They’re all out there on YouTube as well so I’d recommend people give those tracks a run.
(refer embedded links)
13.Everybody has Bandcamp , ReverbNation , Soundcloud , etc
Why do you think this is so important? Doesn't it seem like everyone is giving
everything out for free?
Free music has an important role for up and coming band like us. But, in my view, free music
comes with a promissory note that if I like them, I’m going to hunt that band down and see
them live when they next come to my town.
I love it that I can look up the support acts and hear their music before I get to see the main
act. No money down and I’m getting more for my ticket when I do get there. Every great
band has done their time as the second or even third support.
Looking up support bands before you go is time well spent. I went to see Bring Me The
Horizon with Matt and Simon a few years back. They were great, but Hands Like Houses
had me from their opening track.
Live music pays for the next album and fills the artists adrenal cup to push them to make the
next track or next album. Having people come see us live is why we do this.
Control has a song on it called The Chemicals. It’s all about the rush that writing and playing
music give us.
14.Best moment of your career so far?
We had a great show in front of a full house supporting Fuel a couple of years ago at the
Gov in Adelaide. Great crowd, good room and we nailed it!
15.Your message to the fans?
Follow us, including on Spotify or your preferred music purveyor, so you get the heads-up on
the release of Control. We’ll be hitting the road soon, we want to hear you out singing the
band and then come up and introduce yourself after the gig.
Bonus Question who do you bring back Dime , Cliff , Dio , Lemmy , Randy
Randy Rhodes without a doubt. Randy Rhodes Tribute was one of the first albums I had.
When I listen to that album today, it still captures his magic potential.
If only we could get in the DeLorean and go back to say ‘Randy, don’t get in the helicopter’.
YOU CAN HERE TERMINAL ZERO AND ALL METAL COFFEE BANDS ON SPOTIFY
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