Aussie party-starters NO ZU aren’t known for being the most predictable band in the world, but things only get more nuts when they all pile only a plane for a casual stopover in France to play a one-0ff festival gig at Trans Musicales de Rennes.
Hopping on a plane one day and playing in front of thousands of punters the next – pretty exciting stuff for any band. Of course, that excitement always manifests itself differently with everyone and, well, that’s how you end up with some of the moments you’ll see below in the cheeky little tour diary they’ve put together for us.
If you’re keen to tap into just a little bit of the infectious genius that is NO ZU, you thankfully won’t need to head halfway around the world to do it – they’ll be playing a special show this weekend at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria as part of Friday Nights at NGV, bringing together art exhibitions, food and music every week.
That great sheep shed in the sky
“We went to Europe to play just one show, Trans Musicales, and then come home again. 24 hours to Paris, 4 more to Rennes, rehearsal with our original ‘Muscle Funk Man’ Andrew Noble who lives in Berlin now, sleep, soundcheck, and then this! A press junket! A non-stop interview and photo session of a couple of hours in a big hall. One interview was with a whole class of children lead by one who had the best English (I assume), and the rest just stared at us… including the teachers. They did smile, but this situation was never explained to us.
“We also did three radio interviews during the junket and all had such thoughtful questions about our music, videos, collaborations and our general life outlook. Because these were live they had English-French-English translators – our answers sounded so much better in French. For some reason we tried to drop the term ‘sheep shed’, including ‘we’ve come a long way from the sheep shed’ and ‘that great sheep shed in the sky’, into each interview… Jet lag, eh?”
The anti-Garth Brooks disguise
“Backstage in the band room. Romain (our amazing bespectacled, French EU booker) shows Nic (me) a video of a man washing his hands in a urinal, I believe. Daphne suggested I put some lipstick on to escape being compared to Garth Brooks, like a group of good time blokes at Old Bar were convinced they should explain to me (with photos on their phones) recently. Kieran has a cheeky pre-show excitement expression happening in the background.”
Muscle moves in silence
“A band of posers. This is like a reflex now. A camera comes out and we freestyle our idiotic muscle moves in silence. Even the freshest ZU there, Luke, in the tan hat, is totally in work-out mode. Nice one Luke.
“I think I’ll be glad we did this when I’m 80… or we may need to burn all the negatives to spare anyone unfortunate enough to come across these group pics. I have an encyclopaedia’s worth now, so it’s gonna take some kerosine.”
Tassels are trending
“Side of stage, waiting. Case in point. Kieran’s awareness of a camera is something to behold. In the background our second oldest ZU speaks to our newest, Luke, about just exactly how they’re gonna be a Heat Beat rhythm section on the night and about the latest trends in silk and tassel-wear for men (I can only assume).”
Onya Cayn
“Daphne Camf, proud of her new gloves. Stunning shot by Cayn here. Good one Cayn.”
Break things
“Another by Cayn capturing my Kung Fu Cowboy / Fat Elvis Los Vegas years pre-show work out routine. Can’t have enough pairs of sunnies – I broke two pairs that night. Five drumsticks too actually… and I left my dignity on a platform (*cough* catwalk) in front of the crowd. More on that in a moment.”
Instant zone, instant vibes
“Now, Mitch looks pretty zonked here, but I’m sure you know if you have ever seen us live, he is just about the opposite. With those leopard print pants there’s almost too much beauty to behold when Mitch is playing – he is an instant zone, instant vibe machine as soon as we start. I can’t believe we take pics while onstage – not a great look, but we’re always selfishly glad we did. Great shot Cayno.”
Selling ourselves – cheap
“Oh yeah our dignity, as I was saying before… if there is a catwalk, or a platform, or even just an audience I don’t trust Cayn or myself to stay in our place and be a tasteful couple of band members. The horns come out and we sell our selves real cheap – we can’t help it – we have to hustle.
“Last time we were here in Rennes we disappeared into the crowd for quite awhile and I thought it would be a good idea to write “NO ZU” in my sweat on the wall. It looked pretty good, but it was obviously very disgusting behaviour. At least Cayn can actually play his instrument – I have no excuse.”
Sax machine
“A bit of a blurry pic by me, but it shows the beginning of more sordid activities by Cayn in front of a live studio (airplane hanger!) audience. Blundstone-stompin’ sax-machine Cayn Borthwick in Rennes!”
Praise the crowd
“Thank Zeus we had a bloody good crowd. It’s not like we were just playing down the road.”
5000 poor souls
“Post show. Thanks for ripping apart my singlet Mitch – it was worth it for the internet vid though. This portrait is a pretty good illustration of the crazed high we feel after doing a ZU show, having immersed ourselves deep deep in the Hades of the ZUniverse. This time for an hour in France. How surreal!
“That was a real wild ride of a show, unlike any other we have played really. Definitely the biggest indoor show. Maybe there were five thousand poor souls that had to witness seven degenerates play a type of not-so-subtle, unrelenting, mutant dance music show. Poor buggers.”
Bloody good catering
“Missing two ZUs here (Luke and Kieran), but we have gained loved ones and also Jean-Louis, the guy that runs the festival, who had us over in Rennes last time and is the reason we could come back for the second time this year! Last time he came onstage with us – no such luck this time. We love you Jean-Louis XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“P.S. Bloody good catering there too. Cheese soufflé… oh my… we never got that in the sheep shed.”
