DZzZ

To cap a year that’s seen them conquer New York and release their best single yet, homegrown two-piece DZ bring the noise - and the strobe lights - to 4ZzZ’s 35th Anniversary party. Guitarist Shane Parsons changes that dial.

What does 4ZzZ mean to you guys?
They were the first guys to give us any sort of attention in Brisbane. When we first put 'The Mess Up' out, and we heard it was being played on 4ZzZ, we were pretty over the moon about that. I'd never been on any sort of radio before that, so it was really cool.

Can you remember the first time you heard your song on the radio?
I can't, but I can remember listening to one of our songs and thinking it sounded better on the radio than it did on the stereo at home. I
think it's because they used some sort of compressor or something to make it sound bigger. It was a demo, and it was getting played on the radio.

How important is 4ZzZ for fostering the local scene?
I reckon it's really, really important … After 4ZzZ, the next step for a Brisbane band trying to get their music on the radio is Triple J. So if Triple J isn't really your thing, it's good that 4ZzZ plays loads of stuff … Some of my favourite Brisbane bands, like Running Guns, are getting played.You don't have to listen to stations like Triple J to hear what's good. Sometimes the best music is coming out of your hometown; it just hasn't hit the mainstream yet.

You and (drummer) Simon (Ridley) are originally from Bundaberg - is there anything like 4ZzZ there?
No, unfortunately ... But Bundaberg's a long time ago now. I don't really think about it that much. It had a hardcore scene, but it didn't have an under-age scene. When I was growing up there, if you were in a band, you'd get to play your friends' house parties and maybe the battle of the bands and that was about it. But there's more happening in that town now. I think they just had a festival with some half-decent acts playing.

If you programmed your own station, what sort of stuff would you play on there?
I guess I'd have more guest presenters; artists that could come in and play whatever they want. It's always better to hear what other musicians like. If you've got musicians on your radio station playing the stuff they like, that's probably going to be really good for your radio station. I'm more interested in what other musicians are listening to, as opposed to people who are just nuts for music. I feel like we're that band that other musicians like more than general people. We're a little bit rough around the edges, and other musicians can see through that, but someone who's just listening to the radio looking for a catchy song … they might listen to Gypsy & The Cat or something instead.

Speaking of catchy songs, is there any one song you can’t turn the dial away from?
Maybe a Bon Jovi song. Maybe 'Shot Through The Heart'. I can't turn that song off! That's a great song.

Which DZ song would you say comes closest to being your ‘Shot Through The Heart’?
We're yet to write it. We should probably cover it, though. We've also been listening to a lot of Mötley Crüe, so maybe we should cover some of that '80s mullet rock.

When you listen to Mötley Crüe, is it because of the music or the tradition of partying they laid down?
It's an ode to both, really. I've always known about Mötley Crüe, but both of us just started listening to their 'Best Of' over and over again. We went away to the snow for a few days, and all we listened to was Mötley Crüe.

Nice. You guys just went over and spent a fair bit of time in New York - what was the best thing about that?
The best thing about New York is that you can play any night of the week. You can play to five people or you can play to 120 people. It's non-stop. You can go out and there's always something on … Another good thing is the venues. In Brisbane you've got smaller venues like Ric's, and, you know, there was The Troubadour. But if you're a smaller touring band, the next step up is The Zoo, which holds, like, 400 people. Over there they've got venues that hold 75 people downstairs in the basement. You can play to 75 people, and it's packed, and people are going nuts. And you can do that every night. It's really good that there's that middle level … in Australia, it's either really small or massive.

DZ play the 4ZzZ 35th Anniversary show at The Tivoli on Saturday December 11.