ZOQUO

The short ‘n sweet bio:
Zoquo are a band. They write songs and then play them live. They then record those songs and go out on the road in the hope people will enjoy those songs so much they will buy a CD.
After a while they write some more songs, perform them live and eventually record them too. They then go back out on the road and…. well, you get the picture.
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The “we’re so awesome” wankfest/bio that EVERY band has had at some stage:
(Insert name of band) sound like all your favourite bands but are completely original and fresh. They write brilliant songs with thought-provoking lyrics and are definitely going places. If you don’t listen to this band your penis will fall off and your dog will bite you. Hard.
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Personally we think most bands suck at describing their own sound. So for this reason we have asked some musician friends of ours to do it for us. It’s probably just as biased as the crap some marketing guy at a record label comes up with but at least this comes from some real musicians who have rocked, sweated and drunk with us.
“A fuse pot of rock reminiscent of Tea party, Muse and late 80’s guitar bands with slight middle eastern feel in melodies and harmonies. A fucking rock band with traditional grooves, fused with progressive elements… in my unexpert opinion.” – Tim “Chimey” Fogarty, Master Tang
“Progressive minded alt/hard rock through to sombre balladry and at times glimpses of classic rawk and metal. Strong vocal melody, mature composition and intelligent lyrics with a pinch of dirt. Live show is big sound, big vocals, big solos, big moves without the big hair.” – Josh Liston, The Third Estate
“Those fuckers are cool and funny.” – Luke Klepiak, Littleman (Thank you alcohol)
“Why do you have to play so loud? Can’t you play some country?” – Ray Harding, Cam’s dad.
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The story of Zoquo (for use on VH1’s “Behind the music” following a band member's death, a drug addiction/rehab cycle or a Nobel Prize - whichever comes first):
Zoquo were formed in mid 1999 in Albury by guitarist/vocalist Cameron Harding, drummer Tim Cartmell and bass player Jess Southurst. They played the occaisional gig around the Albury-Wodonga area until early 2002 when Jess decided to leave the band to pursue other projects.
Josh Reid, a former bandmate of Tim’s, was subsequently recruited to play bass and they recorded a three-track demo, “Cosmonaut one” at Jam Tin Studios in Melbourne. The demo landed the band a gig at Melbourne’s legendary live music venue, The Espy, and soon they were playing anywhere and everywhere that would have them.
Throughout 2004 they recorded another nine songs at Hi Fidelity Studios in Wodonga. Seven of these would eventually be released in 2005 as the “Gravitation” EP on the band’s own label, Control Records. Gravitation featured the songs “Island” which remains a live favourite with it’s proggish arrangement and extended guitar solos and “North”, a song that was a top-ten finalist in the Rock/Metal/Indie category of that year’s Australian Songwriters Association national songwriting competition.
The band played throughout Victoria and NSW including return gigs to the Espy and another of Melbourne’s legendary venues, The Tote. They supported the likes of The Butterfly Effect, Bodyjar, Thirsty Merc, Dallas Crane, Evermore and The Spazzys.
Zoquo returned to Hi Fidelity Studios in late 2006 to once again record some new material. Songwriting growth and mixing duties from Davin Pidoto at Mainstage Studios resulted in the more focused and polished EP “Songs from an empty room”.
Founding member Tim Cartmell was to leave the band prior to the release of the EP and Hi Fidelity’s Damian Kondic filled in on drums for the launch. Eventually Andy Marotta, who had played with Cam in the band Naked Scream in the late 90’s joined as Tim’s replacement.
The current lineup of Cameron Harding, Josh Reid and Andy Marotta continue to play throughout Victoria and NSW and the band’s sound evolves with Andy’s addition to the songwriting process. They hope to return to the studio in early 2009 to record the next chapter in Zoquo’s musical journey.
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