New beginnings sometimes arise from chance, other times by necessity. It was the latter that drove Vancouver pop maestros The Zolas into existence.
The fact is the duo that make up The Zolas (Zach Gray and Tom Dobrazanski) started making music together while they were teenagers, eventually going on to form the group Lotus Child. That group earned much critical praise and a devoted following of fans in their hometown of Vancouver before going their separate ways.
According to Dobrazanski, “Everything seemed hard with Lotus Child, much harder than it should be. It was our first real band and while we had grown and matured over the years, it was tough to get people to re-evaluate the band and what we had to offer.”
“With Lotus Child, we made the mistake of making music that we really didn’t love anymore and not having real success in what we were trying to do.”
Gray is more succinct in summing up their motivation to get away from the Lotus Child name and become The Zolas:
“It was so much easier just to start from scratch.”
If the duo were quick to find success with their former band, it is more than reasonable to expect success to find its way to The Zolas: Their debut record Tic Toc Tic (released in November 2009) has earned them accolades on a national level from high-level publications such as The Globe & Mail and Exclaim. Apparently, the duo’s knack for infectious pop songs is, unsurprisingly, extending itself beyond the Lotus Child name.
With the group’s momentum and popularity picking up steam, Dobrazanski seems content to note that things do indeed seem to be falling into place for The Zolas:
“We have plans for two videos in the works,” he notes before his comrade politely adds that plans to tour Canada are being worked on as well.
“We want to get east again quite badly,” Gray says. “Lotus Child played an awesome show in Fredericton on one of our first times driving across Canada so we are anxious to return to the Maritimes.”
“Touring Canada seems to be a rite of passage,” he continues. “Making acquaintances in all these different cities and towns across the country is super nice.”
Visit The Zolas online: www.myspace.com/thezolas