Q&A: The Zebecks

We caught up with Dan, Hayden, and Aiden from The Zebecks to chat about their incredible year so far. From playing packed-out sets at Liverpool Sound City to releasing their raw and honest single “Persona,” the trio opened up about their songwriting process, influences, and the importance of using their platform to spotlight meaningful issues. With new music and exciting shows on the horizon, The Zebecks are showing no signs of slowing down.

Check out the Q&A below:

Q1. Hey! How are you all? We saw that you played at Liverpool Sound City back in May, it looked amazing! Was this your first time playing in Liverpool? How was this experience for you?

Dan: Wonderful thanks! Just chilling in the very rare Scottish sun right now so no complaints.

Aiden: Vibes are good yeah!

Hayden: Doing great, thanks for having us!

Dan: Yeah Liverpool was amazing. It was our first time in the city and also our first full-band show down south. We had the venue packed to capacity, one-in-one-out, which was mental, and Sound City properly looked after us.

Aiden: We felt very welcomed and smashed our set. Had a fun night out in Liverpool and caught some great artists. It was nice to experience another city’s music culture.

Q2. More recently, you were shortlisted to play the Wake Up Festival in Wakefield, another great achievement! It’s a stacked lineup with up-and-coming bands Keo, Do Nothing, L’objectif, etc. What are you looking forward to about this? 

Dan: I know! Finding out we were shortlisted to Wake Up was insane enough, and then hearing we got picked for the slot was such an unbelievable feeling. I mean, the fact we are playing alongside some of the best upcoming bands in the UK right now is so validating to me and to be honest, I am just looking forward to playing on a huge stage in front of a brand new crowd in a new city. 

Aiden: We couldn’t believe it but at the same time, we’ve put in so much work this past year applying for these festivals and getting our live show perfected - so it’s great to have that recognised on a bigger scale. 

Q3. Previously, you’ve played lots of exciting headline slots for bands such as Been Stellar, Declan Welsh and the Decadent West, Slix, etc. These are all great bands! What are some takeaways from working with touring artists? Have you received any meaningful advice?

Dan: We’ve supported some of our absolute heroes these past few years but I think the best advice I've gotten from supporting touring acts came from our tech Ben. He helped me understand the importance of a support band - your job is to turn up, deliver a great performance, get the crowd warmed up for the headline, and come off stage quickly and efficiently. I feel like for ages I was trying too hard to perform as if I am the headliner - as a punter as well I just really don’t think this translates into picking up fans. Your best bet is to just perform well, be likeable, and let the music do the talking!

Aiden: Back in 2023 we supported Personal Trainer at Tunnels in Aberdeen. At the end of their set they started to put their instruments down and sang acapella which I thought was a really cool and unique ending to the gig - it wasn’t until afterwards that we realised the venue had a powercut and that the acapella part was all improvised. The confidence of the band and how in-sync they were with each other really gave the impression it was rehearsed and just part of the show. I’ve picked this up and taken it forward - as long as you do something with enough conviction and confidence, the audience are going to assume it was meant to happen even if it was a mistake.

Q4. Alongside live dates, you’ve also been busy with new releases. Your new single “Persona” came out in April. It's a deeply personal track driven by honest lyrics accompanied by an indie sound. How did this song come to life?

Dan: To be honest this track came from a period in the band where we really weren’t on the same page. A year of playing gigs and just life getting in the way meant that we barely had any time to write. We had studio time booked and didn’t even have a song. Personally, I had quite a difficult second-half of 2024 mentally, and the lyrics from ‘Persona’ came from multiple little poems and ideas I had in my notes app from this time. A lot of it is about resentment growing in the band towards each other - it’s a regular ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ for all you Libertines fans. We turned our frustrations and disagreements into art. In the end, our misalignment ironically brought us closer together than ever before so I wouldn’t change a thing.

Q5. Aside from your punchy guitar sound, lyricism is an integral part of your music. Can you tell us about your song-writing process?

Dan: I write a lot of poetry, mostly introspectively, often with a focus on sound and rhythm. This has always played a part in how we write our music as I use the soundscape the band creates to express my innermost thoughts in a cathartic way - often shouted or sung in the highest register I can reach. Writing poems has always helped me situate myself in the world around me - when I feel confused or lost they can almost be a journal-like tool to exert these complicated feelings. ‘Persona’ is the closest we’ve ever gotten to merging the worlds of my poetry and songwriting as I am literally performing spoken word at the end. The vulnerability I tried to express in this song has definitely developed our songwriting as I now feel a lot more open within the band dynamic and this has led to more directed songwriting sessions where we all play a part in the construction of lyrics - knowing that The Zebecks is a really safe space surrounded by my best friends means I feel comfortable bouncing ideas directly off them in real time. The process is becoming a lot more streamlined and cohesive nowadays with everyone playing a crucial role in the vision.

Q6. A lot of rock influences can be heard in your sound. Whilst recording “Persona,” what were you listening to? Are there any artists in particular who get you into the writing/recording zone?

Hayden: We are really into a lot of pop punk stuff right now which I think shines through in the choruses. Bands like Neck Deep, Paramore and blink-182. I had Title Fight’s album Shed playing when we were recording the demo to help inspire some of the guitar lines and tones. I'd also say Frightened Rabbit really helped inspire this song - I had been writing a lot of wee riffs that had that sort of feel to them so it was great to be able to merge all these sounds together.

Q7. Themes surrounding toxic masculinity, alcoholism, and mental health in Scotland can be heard in your music. Why is it important for you to highlight these societal issues? 

Dan: We are really serious about this band and are hoping to have a future in the extended sphere of prominent Scottish bands and artists. Our future is gradually becoming a reality and we are picking up new fans every day. With this in mind, I have always been a firm believer that those with a platform should use it for good - especially in the modern era where the right-wing adoption of identity politics and the rise of grifters has led to huge demographics of disenfranchised young men being led astray to hate, misogyny, and violence.

The band that changed my life growing up was The Clash. Through their music, I was educated at a young age about progressivism. The Clash and their politics were the catalyst for the formation of my world view and it played such an important role in my development as a young person. 

Writing about the issues you’ve mentioned has always felt incredibly authentic to me and through expressing that vulnerability publicly, I hope to encourage other people, especially men, to feel validated in their feelings and to open up themselves. In contrast with these harmful influencers - if we can become a positive example of healthy male role models then I genuinely believe we could make a difference to young people in the same way music helped me as a teen. In fact, I believe as a male-presenting band it is our duty to do this!

Q8. Coming from Elgin, you are rightly proud of your roots! Tracks like “Roseisle” touch on your Highland background. How has your hometown shaped your sound? What is the music scene like there?

Aiden: Elgin has definitely seeped its way into our music through the years. Moving to Glasgow and experiencing a vibrant music scene for the first time changed our sound in many ways and gave us a lot of inspiration, particularly because we were experiencing so much live music and performing to audiences regularly for the first time. It also enabled us to look back on our upbringing and write about it from a new perspective. This came across most obviously in Roseisle which was a very personal song directly reminiscing on the past and looking ahead to the future. In terms of the sound, we realised early in the writing process that it had a trad feel which we decided to capture and incorporate in an authentic way. Growing up, I went to many highland games and I always enjoyed the sheer spectacle of a live pipe band so we decided to take a leaf from their book and added a marching style snare drum beat and bagpipes to create a rousing climax for the song.

Hayden: The Elgin music scene is definitely pretty small! There is a big difference compared to Glasgow of course. In Elgin, there’s really only one proper music venue which is Elgin Town Hall and it’s closed for refurbishment for the next few years. But we actually went back last Christmas for a homecoming show and played in a wee pub to an amazing crowd of music fans - so I’d love to see more artists coming up to play our hometown in the future!

Q9. We’re already halfway through the year, which is a scary thought! What is lined up for The Zebecks for the rest of the year?

Aiden: We’re currently rehearsing the final touches for our Wakefield set next month. After that we are going to try to carve out some time to really focus on writing and demoing new music.

Hayden: I’m really excited to get back in the studio with some new songs, and get a few more singles released later this year.

Dan: Our plan is to stockpile as many bangers as possible over the next year so we have a backlog of songs to pitch to labels and publishers.

Aiden: We have a couple more slots towards the end of the year as well which haven’t been announced yet but we are really looking forward to. It’s been almost a year since our last headline gig so we are starting to put things in motion for that as well - we are working behind the scenes to make sure the next one is above and beyond any performance we have put on yet.

Dan: 2025 is the year that the world gets the first taste of our vision and the band we are becoming. It started with ‘Persona’ but we aren’t finished there - we’re looking forward to releasing more music before the end of the year.