Underground Zero - Powerplay (2005) Re-up

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Underground Zero Biography

UK outfit UNDERGROUND ZERO can trace it's history back to 1979. At that time Andrew Rix (bass, vocals), Adrian Rix (keyboards), Judi Griggs (vocals), Brian Savage (drums) and Karl Dawson (guitars) were members of cover band Roko, an active entity in the club and pub circuit in the Norfolk area of England.

In 1981 the first evolvement towards becoming an original act took place. The band started performing their own material, and the first line-up change occured when Savage left to be replaced by Mike Melnyk (drums). Paul Holden (guitars) joined the band at that point in time too, and they decided to change their name to Ground Zer0.

In 1982 the band hit the studio for the first time. In the words of the band's historian:

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In 1982 a man approached Adrian in a pub in Norwich and offered to make us all Super-Stars! We said, OK. So he took us to a studio in Ipswich, (arriving himself in a red bimbo-driven Porsche (the Porsche not the bimbo) - very impressive), recorded four of our songs (in what he thought was the way it should be done), took some posy photos and then disappeared, leaving us with a box full of cassettes and promo photos.
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It turned out that the tapes became rather popular at gigs, and even if the band weren't really satisifed with the end result they hadn't spent any of their own money making the tape. Thus it was a pretty good investment after all.

Sometime later a promoter wanted to know if they were interested in a 10-date tour of France. The band accepted, but for some reason or another never heard from him again. Sometime after that they were asked to open for Marillion though, which was a great experience for the band.

In 1983 they felt it was time to hit the studio again, to record a demo with a sound presenting them in a better way than the previous years tape. Four tracks were recorded, and although the end result weren't exactly up to the standards the band wanted to achieve it did represent their stylistic expression in a better manner. They sent out the demo to labels and radio stations, got a bit of airplay and several reviews, some positve and a few more on the harsh side. But one of the guys who fancied it was BBC's Tommy Vance, which brought quite a lot of attention to Ground Zero.

A direct result of this was that the band started to connect with the crowd of people connected with UK's leading space rock outfit Hawkwind, with Nik Turner joining them on stage at an event later that year, recordings of which subsequently were used for the band's first live tape.

1983 was a really eventful year for the band. Melnyk left the band due to other obligations, replaced by Sean Holden (drums). They also found out from frustrated fans that there was another band in the UK using the Ground Zero moniker. A brainstorming then lead to a new band name: Underground Zero.

1984 was another year with many events unfolding - for better or worse. A 12 inch single was issued in September, Hawkwind asked for a contribution to volume III of their Friends and Relations series of albums, and the band recorded a session at BBC Studios for the Friday Night Rock Show. The latter was planned to be issued on the debut album they were working on the same year, but at the last minute the Musicians Union stopped that from happening; and as the band scrambled for solutions it became 1985 before their first full length effort, Never Reach the Stars, was released.

In 1985 Underground Zero got involved with various local follow-up concert events after Live Aid, and later on got some tracks included on various samplers. In 1987 they had planned to record a sophomore album as well, but for various reasons this never happened. A more serious event for the band was that Paul Holden had to pull out, and as he was one of the major songwriters for the band this was major blow. A replacement in the shape of Fil (guitars) was found to cater for the instrumentation side of affairs though.

In the next two years the band set up their own studio, and in 1988 one of their tracks appeared on yet another edition of Hawkwind's Friends and Relations series of releases. Then in 1989 a new line-up change was in order, as Fil left the outfit, while Paul Holden returned.

For the next few years outside events hampered the development of the band, limiting their efforts to select one off events from time to time. In 1994 they made a video for their track Forlorn & Lethal, and was again featured on some of the Friends and Relations series of albums in 1994 and -95.

Then Karl Dawson got an offer in his work life that kept him abroad much of the time in 1996, effectively sending the band into a hiatus.

A re-release of their one and only full length album was isued in 1997 though, with additional multimedia features added - including the video of Forloron & Lethal.

Then in 2005 a compilation CD, Powerplay, was issued. News also surfaced that Underground Zero were planning to make a DVD. And after a lengthy pause, they also started playing live again this year.

Then in 2007 it looked like Karl Walden would leave the UK on a permanent basis. As finding a replacement for him would be out of the question, it was decided to fold the band when this was goinf to take place. Fortunately for the band it was not to take place imminent, which gave the band the chance to perform at Hawkfest 2008, as well as a few more selected gigs.

The latest news of the band was a live performance in August 2009; but what the future has in store for this aptly named outfit time will have to tell.

~ progarchives

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Underground Zero - Powerplay (2005) Re-up

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Underground Zero - Powerplay (2005) Re-up

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