Interviews/Articles -  There will be more soon!

Watt, Jarrod, 1997, 'Hellenic Zeal', Beat Magazine (Melb.).
Guitar rockin' gives birth to vinyl release, all with that psychedelic gleam in one's eye... Hellenic Zeal frontman Dave Butterworth gets all lysergic with Jarrod Watt.
So what does this band have in common with Greek viguour? Four-piece outfit, space-rock, tripped out graphics on the record cover...
"Nothing to do with Greeks. Eddie [lead guitarist] is Italian... We thought the name up four years ago. We never really knew Hellenic meant Greek. It was in one of those books describing acid experiments, and Eddie found this word. This bloke was describing his trip, how we thought he was surrounded by Greek gods and shit, and then the word zeal was somewhere a couple of paragraphs below that," says Dave, to an interviewer doing his best Mike Moore 'Hmmm'.
 "Doesn't mean a fuck of a lot, but there's a story behind it," Dave admits finally going on to qualm fears any readers may have about the band's LSD intake - they don't, having read of the powerful hits taken in the '60s, compared to the fairly lame '90s imitations.
    Anyway, who gives a rat's arse about how they got their name, can they rock? The Powder Monkeys, Cosmic Psychos, and The Celibate Rifles are among the bands who can attest to this, having shared stages with HZ over the past couple of years of this band's existence. Anybody with an ear to the radio on Thursday nights would also know Mr Butterworth is part of the mine-meld delivering The Galactic Zoo, midnight 'till two. This man  is personally responisble for the continued playing of Iron Butterfly's Inna-Gadda-Da-Vidda (the whole 23 minute version) on Australian radio, and for this he must be applauded. And why is he listed as 'stun guitarist' on the HZ bio?
"I'll take the opportunity to throw in a Blue Oyster Cult reference, and that is one. Their singer/guitarist Eric Blooms was listed as playing stun guitar, so there's a reference for the minimal amount of Blue Oyster Cult fans out there," he says.
    And why a three-track vinyl release?
"We're not really a flared trouser band. We all love vinyl, and it's the first thing we've done, so we decided to make it fun. And it's more of an event; if you're turntable's broken you have to go around to a friend's house to listen to it; we've only got limited money, so we did our best to get the most value from it," he says, and 300 pressings of Hellenic Zeal's record should ensure it's desirability - hell, see them play this Friday at the Tote along with The Martians and Naked Eye!

Tauschke, Steve, 1997, "Hellenic Zeal - Neptune's Horses", Beat  Magazine.
The local troupe's ruthless four track recording style pays dividends on this three song vinyl 7" debut. Bracing, Stoogian rock bursts that sound impressively unsubdued.

'Hellenic Zeal', 1997, The Buzz magazine.
Hellenic Zeal began some four years ago with Ed and Dave jamming high on their love of blues rock. After several rhythm players, Myles and Tim joined the band early last year. The guys have played the usual places including the Punter's Club and The Tote, but record  their most memorable gig at the Conti Hotel in Sorrento, which saw the show being stopped after every song. "The management regarded us as having an excessive sound level.Thus the set ended in a cranking of volume knobs and a wall of noise." (We wonder should we blame these guys for no bands at the Conti now - Ed.)
    Their debut 7 inch single is being released in stores in May and the launch will be held at the Punter's Club soon after. The release features three tracks including Neptune's Horses, Ocean Liner and Broken Princess. After the release expect to see the guys around town.

Hobson, Franki, 1998, 'Hellenic Zeal', The Buzz Magazine.
Hellenic Zeal's guitarist and lead singer Dave passionately believes that the louder, dirty rock'n'roll is the better it sounds. 'I get inspired with the volume behind me. I don't feel any inspiration to set free and be intense without feeling the ass of my jeans shake to my amp,' he says, defining Hellenic Zeal as 'rompous, dirty, twisted and with plenty of him guitar action.' For Dave it is the volume that fires him up and releases him from the daily pressures of modern life. 'We don't drown ourselves out, but loud is beautiful. Rock'n'Roll to me draws on influences like AC-DC, takes the blues element and turns it up to eleven,' he says.
    Hellenic Zeal's line-up consists of Eddie (guitar and backing vocals), Tim (bass), Myles (drums and percussion) and Dave. After three years the guys have just released Last Chance Again, a five track collation of twisted lyrics that's hard, heavy and loud. Dave says it's 'In your face music that's gets your booty pumpin and ass shaken.'
    The guys are influenced by everything from the Stooges, The Rolling Stones, 60s and 70s garage music and even Patti Smith. Dave explains what gets him going while reliving Smith's version of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World", at the recent Bob Dylan concert... 'The guitarist in her band was so god damn awesome that I just couldn't move. I was totally mesmerised by the power they generated,' he says. 'They cooked the stage. You could see that they were naturally mesmerised by what they were creating and were really into it for the soul of the music. It would be really nice to do that to people.'
    Hellenic Zeal's method for doing this is simple. 'When we get up there we lock into each other, plug it in and pelt(?) (belt?) it out,' he says. 'It's how we have fun.'
    Technically Hellenic Zeal are a touch ambiguous. A couple of tracks off Last Chance Again use a pedal steel, giving them a nice edge with a 'country sad sound.'
    Venus (?) (C and S?)a vinyl recorded track is more psychedelic with a warmth across the sound.'It has a set pattern at the beginning and the end is free fall' explains Dave. 'I like to play with the mind a bit. I'm prolific in riffs,' Dave assures me. 'I store them all up and then put them together like a big jigsaw puzzle. With the lyrics, I twist things into them so people perhaps think they know what the songs are about, but they really don't. Only I know the real meaning behind it all.'
    But it's not all tricks and treachery for Dave. 'We put our heart out every time we go on stage, when the four of us get together playing, the music just comes naturally. We just let go and see where it ends up, normally on the floor or something like that.' Dave laughs. 'We don't go overboard.. oh sometimes we have,' he adds. Hellenic Zeal has already been banned from The Continental and The Falls gigs for details I can't go into, but Dave reckons they've learnt their lesson - not!

Tauschke, Steve, 1998, 'Hellenic Zeal - Last Chance Again', Beat Magazine.
Some real, raw rock n roll authenticity here from the band who I seem to remember took a liking to vinyl recently. Reminds me in parts of early Sunset Strip, it roots buried deep in fine rock tradition unswayed by passing trends. Try the thigh-slapping "Revolution for One" and its prize bass lines, the rollicking "See Saw", its only fault being that it ends in less than two minutes and the nine minute Crazy Horse-style closing piece "C and S". Bravo!

Hickin, Kerrie, 1998, 'Hellenic Zeal', Beat Magazine.
Kerrie Hickin from Beat chats to Hellenic Zeal's axeman Dave Butterworth.
Hellenic Zeal - They've been gracing the traps for a couple of years now, stomping eardrums with a full-on dual guitar attack in a quest for the ultimate rock'n'roll high. They've released one 7" single and are set to launch their second recorded outing a mini-album entitled Last Chance Again.
The band's name comes from a book, a journal full of acid experiments. "One guy said that he felt full of Hellenic Zeal during his experience. It sounded good - we were so young we didn't know it meant Greek! says Dave Butterworth, vocalist and guitarist for these practitioners of hair-shaking heartfelt good time rock.
"We started out really just to play with bands like the Celibate Rifles, Freeloaders, Powdermonkeys, Sunset Strip - bands that 99% of the population has never heard. We'd love to see the Lazy Cowgirls touring here. The Hellacopters tour should be a shot in the arm for all the underground rock bands" (Hellenic Zeal are playing with the aforementioned 'Copters at the Tote on October 13th). While lauding overseas rock kings he laments the unrecognised status of many of his contemporaries. "No matter how good the music is, there's too much 'product' in Australia. Local bands don't get much respect here. You can only play off what vibes you get back from the audience. That or just turn inwards and just feed on each other. For the launch we're bringing in an organ player for a different feel on the night - something special."
    While the band's for all things loud and hairy is evident, don't be too quick to dismiss them as mere copyists. "We didn't set out just to sound like the bands we love - we got sick of being compared to the Stooges and MC5. Recently reviewers recognised more diverse elements in our music - Crazy Horse (that totally boned me up!) and Sunset Strip - one of the best bands in this country ever - even Mudhoney. Everyone in the band has different personal taste. You could write twenty-five pages on your influences."
    Dave's own record collection defies the constraints of mere numbers to measure its volume, spanning many eras and genres. "I'm aware of so many songs, I give the boot to any riff that reminds me too much of something else - I don't rip stuff off." While the sound may have taken its aegis from the wild rock that the band loves, the songwriting is stamped with an instrinsically personal approach. "Songs take on metaphors, you know? Abalene is like that. It's about finding a place where you can be yourself - your little desert world, driving, hanging out the window - a place to escape to. C&S (recorded at the same time as the 7") is about how the city swallows you up - that's the wig out bit."
    Dave has recently moved to Rye - where the CD was recorded - a relaxed-paced haven far enough from the city to put some distance between self and it, but still close enough for a commune if required. The decision to record locally was a convenient one. "We recorded the first four songs in a 24-hour session - eight hours of that was just setting up. I did the vocals at 3am, and we had to wake the keyboar player up at 6am. Really we had a party in the studio. Looking back, it was probably the WRONG way to do a recording. We mixed it a week later in another 24-hour period. Again...
    Hellenic Zeal and launch gig support band Red Shift are instrinsically linked, even having played together as the all-in supergroup Red Zeal. "We were starting at the same, out looking for members through answering the ads in record shops, and jamming with each other. So we did a few shows together on the same stage - two drummers! Me and Eddie (guitar) started playing together about five years ago. Myles (drums) had played in She Freak, where we first saw him, and the Sub Zeros (with Shindigger Steve Agar). Tim (bass) was playing in the garage with his brother. This band lineup has been together at least two and a half years. Our single was released about a year ago in... was it May?" The track Broken Princess was unintentionally prophetic, "actually, things have happened after a couple of songs we've written..." he asides mysteriously. "We've probably got a bit harder since the single. I don't like the perfection in music. If your too clinical it just saps the life. I believe that too always push the edge. Sometimes it works and sometimes... Playing live is the whole essence of it - the wildest fun. We don't juggle on stage or anything. We just sweat." And the secret to his gnarly guitar sound? "Heavy strings." He grins. "John Nolan (Powdermonkeys) taught me that. Nasty!

Johnson, Neala, 1999, 'The Zeal - You're Gone', Beat Magazine, p38
You want to rock? Loudly? With long hair? With bum notes and all? Well, you might just want to Feel The Zeal.
     Feel their music, that is; pounding through the floorboards n'that. It's rawk'n'roll just perfect for the little piece of black vinyl it spins off, with both tunes, You're Gone and Hot Rails to Hell, providing big choruses to shout along to, lots of hot licks, much beer-jiggling head-nodding abandon and most importantly, lots more hot licks! Bill and Ted would be in heaven.