Begin At Zero have been here before. You might remember them. The story of how we found the band is unforgettable..or at least memorable.

The band has returned with a new album and we were fortunate enough to grab some of their time for this interview to discuss the new project, what’s been going on during their months of silence, and much more.

The reason I love Begin At Zero is they are the perfect example of a band in the “right here, right now”. They are not concerned with your opinions other than the fragments that help them improve as a band and as musicians/songwriters.

These guys have adopted technology and the tools of the web to put themselves out there, taking the beating of critique and feedback they receive, then turn around like it didn’t phase them to pump out a new, improved album.

Case in point, here’s a {harsh} review of their first album from another blog that ripped their art to shreds.

With that in mind, you have no choice but to respect the band’s ability to take the punch and keep on rockin’!

Full Q&A, links, and streams below.

Welcome back! What should we be prepared for when we click play on the new album?

Chris: Thanks, we’re glad to be back! I’d say expect a collection of songs that have more of an “old school” heavy metal sound with a rock and roll mindset. Conceptually, it’s an anthology of short stories about an evil high priest, the sky falling, insomnia, battling a sea monster, overpopulation, human sacrifice, and the apocalypse (in that order).

Janelle: There are influences from more contemporary genres of rock. Much of what defines Fiction Portfolio are things like pentatonic scales, arpeggiated chords, and a strong sense of groovy rhythm. However, it also brings in things like thrash breakdowns, metalcore screaming, and even a nod to the djent genre.

Daniel: You should be prepared for mostly music.

How much did the promotional efforts, and the resulting feedback, from your last album release influence or have an effect on how you approached this album?

Chris: I think submitting Breathing Ash for reviews helped get our name out on the internet more than anything else, so we’re obviously taking that route again. Nowadays, videos of us on YouTube seem to get a couple dislikes right after they’re uploaded, so it’s good to know we’re being watched consistently! We certainly took the feedback we got from those reviews and elsewhere into consideration and decided what aspects we wanted keep and change, particularly in terms of the recording and mixing processes.

Janelle: The reception allowed us to identify the main weakness we had in our band at the time: our lack of identity. While I wouldn’t call Fiction Portfolio the definitive definition of what Begin at Zero is, this album is more of a complete thought and less a random collection of songs.

Daniel: I personally wasn’t involved in the first album but I’m very happy with how this one turned out artistically.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on Fiction Portfolio? How is it different than your last album?

Chris: We simply had more songs to record and wanted to continue the band. Whereas Ash was a combination of mine and Janelle’s songs that our original lineup practiced together and played live, I wrote all of the Portfolio tracks on guitar for Janelle and Daniel to build off of while recording. Most of these songs were never rehearsed as a band until after all of our parts were tracked. Structurally, the songs are generally longer and have more focused instrumental sections. Soundwise, it’s more raw and from the source – for instance, we mic’d our guitar amps instead of using amp modeling software.

Janelle: My main objective was to focus on an evolution of writing style. Before Portfolio, I was essentially speaking an alien language I could only describe as some sort of dioctave scale. This time around, my writing style lives in the standard monoctave scales: major, minor, Dorian, etc… but with some interesting twists I brought over from my old writing style.

Daniel: I know one big difference is that I’m playing drums on this album.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s? Cassettes? …8-tracks?

Chris: CDs. I think it’s the best medium between having something tangible you can hold and getting the ability to skip to tracks you want to hear, though many times I like to play a CD straight through. Whenever I listen to an album for the first time, I’ll get it on CD, find a road trip to pop it in my car, and play it start to finish without any pauses if possible.

Janelle: MP3s – they can be transferred to any of your other preferred media formats. I’m very much a function over form kind of person.

Daniel: The blood curdling screams of small children.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Chris: Bandcamp. It has a clean, customizable design and centers on artist-audience relationships. A lot of the music I listen to these days comes from Bandcamp, mostly St. Louis bands. Also as a listener, I enjoy having a Pandora station on while I’m working. Lately, I’ve been jamming to Darkthrone, Dashboard Confessional, American Football, Fall Out Boy, and John Williams – and similar artists.

Daniel: YouTube honestly, it allows me to give feedback through comments and usually provides a fun video to watch too.

Janelle: No preference for me!

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you guys are facing when trying to expand or staying connected with your fan base?

Janelle: Our largest challenge is maintaining a media presence. We don’t expose ourselves enough to leave a truly lasting impact, and that’s mostly due to the immense amount of time a band has to spend exposing themselves. Working one job isn’t enough for somebody my age, and working just one job can take too much time from a band.

Daniel: Yeah, the challenge is not only keeping ourselves relevant in the fans’ eyes, but also finding time to be able to do that.

Chris: Agreed. Playing more live shows again might help. The majority of our band time these past couple years was dedicated solely to recording Portfolio. I have been trying to attend local shows when I can, though – not only to network but just to have a fun time and see musicians do their thing. I’d like to note that St. Louis has a great scene and community behind its music!

Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?

Chris: Thank you for interviewing us again! I’d like to give shout outs to my fiancée Jessi for all of her support throughout the production of Fiction Portfolio, as well as to my dad Kevin – I don’t think I’d be this passionate about music without him. I deeply appreciate everyone who gives time to us and our craft.

Janelle: I’m very excited to see MTM’s response to Fiction Portfolio. While I think some songs will be abrasive for you guys, there’s a lot I’d call right up your alley. I hope you guys find yourselves critiquing not just production, but also things like composition as this is, to our belief, our most compositionally advanced album to date. Love you guys and thank you for your time!

Daniel: Hail the all-father. *throws up metal horns*