A.Z.

1. What made you decide to call your band, A.Z.?
A.Z. stands for Absolute Zero. Which was the name I came up with in 9th grade biology class. I was sitting at my desk, contemplating how to take over the universe with my rock music and infinite knowledge at the age of 15, when I looked up at the white board and saw "Absolute Zero" written on it. I liked the way it looked written out. Simple logic in a world based on appearance, I felt that was a pretty important trait for a band name. Then some many years down the road we started the process of recording our "Sweating Bullets" EP and got into the legal woos of the music biz, realizing there were about a million bands around the world named "Absolute Zero". Most of which were not related in genre, however if we were to ever get lucky enough to "make it" we could eventually run into a lot of legal troubles. SO... Everyone had been calling us "A.Z." for quiet some time anyway, so the new official name was born and trademarked. By the way, It has to have the punctuation or that rapper will sue us, so get it right people. And Arizona can get over it.

2. Where do you draw your inspiration for your music from?
A woman scorned may be a dangerous thing but a songwriter scorned will document every stupid thing you did for the world to hear. I just came up with that, haha, you like it? Death, pain, betrayal, lies, anger, sorrow, loss, sadness, darkness, fear, depression, insomnia, exhaustion, hopelessness, take that and snow ball it down a hill and you get an A.Z. song. You want to see inside my soul then listen to my music.

3. If A.Z. could share the stage with any other band, who would it be and why?
Sevendust. We have idolized these guys as a band since the very beginning of A.Z. and have followed them throughout their career. Watched them grow and progress. The first show I saw them live at I was blown away. I immediately knew that was how I wanted to share my music with people. Not through a small speaker bolted into a car door but through blood, sweat, and tears as I look into their eyes. That is the only true way to understand the meaning of our music.

4. I know you guys are currently working on your upcoming album Brutally Beautiful, what has been the greatest challenge in the recording process?
You would think losing our bassist during the writing process would have been the biggest challenge but it turned out to be quiet the opposite. Through his death lyric and song began to pour from me like turning on water faucet. I wrote around 20 songs after we had already began the recording process. But the hardest part has been the time it takes to do an album from start to finish. We did not want this to turn into a "Too Many Words" process where it takes us 2 and a half years to get it done. For this reason I had to basically close my store in order to get this mountain of work done in a reasonable amount of time, and it still has taken approximately 9 months in studio. So releasing this album is of the utmost importance to start hopefully making a living off our music.

5. I know you had lost a band/family member, Gant... My condolences again for yours and his family's loss... Was it difficult to find a replacement for him since he was such a huge part of A.Z.'s history?
You cannot replace such an important part of A.Z. such as he was. He was my right arm. We had this yin & yang type symbiosis on stage. We shared this energy throughout our shows. It could probably best be described as balancing a scale. I would turn it up and he would back down and then he would counter with his own energy. With him being gone those scales will never balance again. But you cannot focus on trying to restore what once was, you start a new. You evolve into something new. This new chapter has begun to unfold and we are all extremely excited to see the reaction from all our A.Z. family and new fans alike.

6. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why?
The digital music age killed live music. 10 years ago a band could hone their craft, make a killer album, and start touring and make a name for themselves. People came to shows and discovered new bands. People supported local and indie artist. That is almost not an option now. You have to play all the political games and know all the "right" people. The industry has became incredibly lazy. They want a band who has done all the work themselves and THEN and only THEN will they consider taking you to the next level. I'm not saying it's impossible but we know from experience. When you see major label artist filling bankruptcy left and right...somethings wrong. And it's not turn key horrible musicians either. These are amazing, talented, groups who have been established many many years and they can't mak - Destiny Dyingsupernova Promotions

1. What made you decide to call your band, A.Z.?
A.Z. stands for Absolute Zero. Which was the name I came up with in 9th grade biology class. I was sitting at my desk, contemplating how to take over the universe with my rock music and infinite knowledge at the age of 15, when I looked up at the white board and saw "Absolute Zero" written on it. I liked the way it looked written out. Simple logic in a world based on appearance, I felt that was a pretty important trait for a band name. Then some many years down the road we started the process of recording our "Sweating Bullets" EP and got into the legal woos of the music biz, realizing there were about a million bands around the world named "Absolute Zero". Most of which were not related in genre, however if we were to ever get lucky enough to "make it" we could eventually run into a lot of legal troubles. SO... Everyone had been calling us "A.Z." for quiet some time anyway, so the new official name was born and trademarked. By the way, It has to have the punctuation or that rapper will sue us, so get it right people. And Arizona can get over it.

2. Where do you draw your inspiration for your music from?
A woman scorned may be a dangerous thing but a songwriter scorned will document every stupid thing you did for the world to hear. I just came up with that, haha, you like it? Death, pain, betrayal, lies, anger, sorrow, loss, sadness, darkness, fear, depression, insomnia, exhaustion, hopelessness, take that and snow ball it down a hill and you get an A.Z. song. You want to see inside my soul then listen to my music.

3. If A.Z. could share the stage with any other band, who would it be and why?
Sevendust. We have idolized these guys as a band since the very beginning of A.Z. and have followed them throughout their career. Watched them grow and progress. The first show I saw them live at I was blown away. I immediately knew that was how I wanted to share my music with people. Not through a small speaker bolted into a car door but through blood, sweat, and tears as I look into their eyes. That is the only true way to understand the meaning of our music.

4. I know you guys are currently working on your upcoming album Brutally Beautiful, what has been the greatest challenge in the recording process?
You would think losing our bassist during the writing process would have been the biggest challenge but it turned out to be quiet the opposite. Through his death lyric and song began to pour from me like turning on water faucet. I wrote around 20 songs after we had already began the recording process. But the hardest part has been the time it takes to do an album from start to finish. We did not want this to turn into a "Too Many Words" process where it takes us 2 and a half years to get it done. For this reason I had to basically close my store in order to get this mountain of work done in a reasonable amount of time, and it still has taken approximately 9 months in studio. So releasing this album is of the utmost importance to start hopefully making a living off our music.

5. I know you had lost a band/family member, Gant... My condolences again for yours and his family's loss... Was it difficult to find a replacement for him since he was such a huge part of A.Z.'s history?
You cannot replace such an important part of A.Z. such as he was. He was my right arm. We had this yin & yang type symbiosis on stage. We shared this energy throughout our shows. It could probably best be described as balancing a scale. I would turn it up and he would back down and then he would counter with his own energy. With him being gone those scales will never balance again. But you cannot focus on trying to restore what once was, you start a new. You evolve into something new. This new chapter has begun to unfold and we are all extremely excited to see the reaction from all our A.Z. family and new fans alike.

6. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why?
The digital music age killed live music. 10 years ago a band could hone their craft, make a killer album, and start touring and make a name for themselves. People came to shows and discovered new bands. People supported local and indie artist. That is almost not an option now. You have to play all the political games and know all the "right" people. The industry has became incredibly lazy. They want a band who has done all the work themselves and THEN and only THEN will they consider taking you to the next level. I'm not saying it's impossible but we know from experience. When you see major label artist filling bankruptcy left and right...somethings wrong. And it's not turn key horrible musicians either. These are amazing, talented, groups who have been established many many years and they can't mak - Destiny Dyingsupernova Promotions

Hello and welcome to the very first issue of Valley Voodoo! We've been very excited about this for quite some time, and I hope you all have been too.

Here's the really cool things about Valley Voodoo that you won't find in other "publications" floating around the valley. First, we're all about the music. We're not pushing restaurants or tourist attractions or all that other crap that you'll find elsewhere. Second, when we post a new issue, that's not the only thing you're gonna see all month. We arrange it so that you get a little here and a little there, so it doesn't get stale. Therefore, be sure to check back frequently to see all the new things posted.

So to start off our debut issue, here is the first 10-Q. What we have noticed is that a lot of our friends on our friends list are friends of a certain band from Arab. They are one of the best live bands I have seen in the area and have a VERY loyal following. And for good reason; these guys seem destined for great things.

That's right! I'm talking about the one and only Masters of Melodic Metal... A.Z.!

Valley Voodoo decided to give our friends what they really wanted. So we emailed A.Z. 10 questions (some of them might tell you more than even the hardcore fan would know) asking things that we wanted to know. Here's the email in its entirety. Enjoy!





Hey guys! Thanks again for the support! Seems a bunch of your fans have noticed us and we've been adding some friends. Can't thank you enough!

So, I figured since we have so many A.Z. fans (I got it right this time Thompson!) on our page, I thought they would enjoy a 10 Questions section with A.Z.. Are you up for it?

Here goes...


1) So, what's new with A.Z. these days?

Well, we have a ton of irons in the fire right now, so were gonna finish out this round of shows, and work on new material. hopefully, by this summer we will have a new album , we can be extremely proud of!

2) What were the best and worst things about recording "Sweating Bullets"?

The recording process itself, was in its own right rewarding. We finally zeroed in on our style and apparently a lot of folks like it. I guess the only thing that sucked about it, was not having a producer on site, we did 95% of this album on our own

3) OK, this is a rumor that I've heard and I gotta know if its true. Did you guys really have 20 bass players before finding Gant?

Well... 20 may be exaggerating a little bit, but 6 or 7 sounds about right. What sucked about the whole thing was he was under our nose the entire time!

4) Another rumor that I need some resolution for... Was Thompson REALLY the prom king of his senior class in high school or is that just a really fucked up joke?

nope not a joke, unfortunately, its true..LOL

5) Back to "Sweating Bullets"... Do you guys have a favorite song?

Well "Ragged" would have to be my fave. Clark's is number2.


6) This is killing me. Clark, I have listened to "Number Two" about a hundred times and still can't figure out what you're saying after "Can you see my face" (at least I HOPE that's what you said). What the hell is that part? It kinda sounds like something about "out of ideas". Don't hate me for asking this. It just bothers me.

- "all of my blood, all of my tears," He gets that a lot--lol

7) OK, a trip back in time. The first time I saw you guys live it was before you released a rough demo of some of the songs on "Sweating Bullets" so I picked up your first album, "Too Many Words". It was a great album but it had MAJOR differences in sound from what I heard on stage. Why the change?

Oh man, "Too Many Words" took "TOO DAMN LONG" to get out! Between studios burning down, getting robbed, and producers goin to jail. It took 2 years for it to be released. we wrote the majority of those songs when we were 16 and 17 years old. So by the time we got it out, we had matured and heavier became more of our style. we didnt really have a chance to play the songs off of TMW, because we had already had the music for Sweating Bullets, and was trying to promote its release.


8) You have referred to your style of music as "melodic metal". What is your definition of "melodic metal"?

Metal music, with melodic vocals. If sevendust and mudvayne had a love child it would be us.LOL

9) What direction do you see the band moving in the future?

I can honestly say, we will be moving on to bigger and better things, one way or another...

10) OK, last question… Gant used to have a message taped on his bass. What did it mean? I couldn't make it out.

"bookin' WhOBe" thats was the basses' name. LOL I'll let him tell you what it means....


THANKS GUYS! - Valley Voodoo