ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

The Zero Brothers are a new collaboration from the original musical visionary of Alternative Rock band Remy Zero, Shelby Ray Tate (a.k.a. Remy Zero, his legal name since 1990), and original Remy Zero primary singer and younger brother August Cinjun Tate.

Shelby was the primary composer of Remy Zero, eventually along with Cinjun Tate, and the other musicians in the band, and he was also the occasional lead singer. Here, both brothers compose about half each on this natural maturation from that band’s sound and style, at once more comfortable, colorful and confident, all while spanning compositions covering the entirety of their career. 

Remy Zero the group was founded on Shelby’s songs and musical adventurism in an old wood house’s atmospheric living room in Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1990. Their evocative self-recordings would soon bring interest from both Capitol and Geffen Records’ Todd Sullivan. Capitol’s young A&R person, Amiel Morris, won the band, but by the time this finished lost gem of a gorgeous, ghost debut album was ready, (“Chloroform Days” 1993) a change in the company’s leadership resulted in the album being shelved, still to this day. (Yet, they managed to win the invitation of Capitol contemporaries Radiohead to open two large shows in Toronto and Montreal, before the record was even slated for release.)

With that album’s devastating implosion, Remy Zero dug in to create a whole collection of brand-new material and win a new record deal for their Geffen debut album (“Remy Zero” 1996) with A&R V.P. Tony Berg.

Remy Zero went on to release two more strong albums, “Villa Elaine” (1998, Geffen/DGC) that featured the intense rocker and KROQ-format recurrent track Prophecy, and Cinjun’s tender song Fair, which would be featured in the highly successful film “Garden State” (Fox Searchlight), and its Grammy-winning, million-selling soundtrack album (2004, Epic).

Their final album (“The Golden Hum,” 2001, Elektra) with A&R V.P. Leigh Lust, yielded the song that became the perennial theme for the 10-season-running TV show “Smallville” (the WB, later, the CW), fittingly titled Save Me.

After the dissolution of Remy Zero the group, Shelby and Cinjun made a collaborative low-fi album independently (“Spartan Fidelity,” 2004, Excavation Records). Two songs from “Zero Brothers” are sourced from that work, a new full-band recording of Such Green Velvet Pants (renamed Elixir), and Cinjun’s beautiful balm, Now/Here.

Cut to recent history, some 15 years after the last Remy Zero album, and Shelby reacquaints with original A&R person and first Band Manager, Amiel Morris, and a near-instant pact is made to make a new album, to feature not the reunited group, but primarily the work of Shelby and his brother Cinjun Tate. Original RZ drummer Louis Schefano is invited to drum and strum, along with sometime Remy Zero touring member (and drummer on the explosive studio cut and closing song on final album “The Golden Hum,” Impossibility), Leslie van Trease, on additional guitars, some bass, and also drumming on several tracks. LA studio whiz Mark Lane also played bass on most of the songs. The album’s multi-talented Engineer, additional Producer, Mixer on many tracks, and super-tasteful instrumentalist, Jason Soda, was an essential creative collaborator throughout. Recording commences in Los Angeles with Audio Engineer Jason, and basic tracks live to 16-Track analog tape along with Asst Eng ‘Tape Op’ Alex de Groot, followed by digital overdubs and vocals with Jason at his own Palomino Sound Studio.

However, at this crucial and tragic moment, Cinjun discovers he has a very serious cancer, and goes into treatment so quickly he is unable to fully participate as a player and creative leader in the recording process. The recording moved to be near his New York-area home to track his vocals (with Eng. Travis Harrison) between Chemotherapy and Radiation sessions. His relentless treatment has been quite effective, so with hope, look for new solo Cinjun music soon.

Louis contributes a forever favorite song of Amiel’s, the warm if sad memory piece, Watchtower, reclaimed and renewed from the still unknown and undiscovered treasure trove of pre-Capitol Remy Zero home recordings. Cinjun sings, as he did originally, on this elegant, classic-feeling song, reminiscent of Buckingham/Nicks/McVie-era Fleetwood Mac.

As for Shelby’s songs, they run the style spectrum, far ranging both in terms of color, tempo and texture, and are pulled together from his earliest creative rushes, to songs written just months before the recording began. They move from the Smiths do the Clash guitar-pop glory of You’ve Turned (to Gold), the cinematic and hypnotic R.E.M. meets Beck feel of brothers Duet Your Bad Dreams, the Glam-Rock thrill of Elixir, and very early RZ song with the metallic Sci-Fi sound of David Bowie’s Blackout, to the Hollywood party uplift of Lamplighter’s Parade, and the emotionally vulnerable album centerpiece, subtly and accidentally echoing the late great Prince, Kry - War Out There.

Cinjun’s other compositions and lead vocal songs range from the opening 60’s-70’s Cambodian pop icon Sinn Sisamouth cover, conceived and produced by Shelby while exiled in Cambodia, with an English-language re-interpretation given the name Flowers, (originally Nowte Brathnea / Still Wishing) to Cinjun’s very old first lyric and vocal melody, with Shelby’s music, Summer, and on to the more recent incendiary bomb burst echoing The Who and Pink Floyd, What I Have Become.

The album closes with a spirited cover of T-Rex’s Spaceball Ricochet, a lesser known song from their stone cold classic “The Slider,” and featuring the expressive slide guitar of Jason Soda.

So, from this unity of sound, and integrity of purpose, Zero Brothers was born.

(Written by Arthur X.)