Ctrl Zed
Cool Stuff May 16th, 2006I belong to a two-man band called Ctrl Zed. I play the guitars and Nigel plays the drums. We both sing . . . or at least try to. What began as a way to reduce stress during lunch while animating on a tight deadline two years ago has turned into a rock phenomenon with a small cult following.
We released our first album, “Hello, Julie. This is Pete” to critical acclaim in late summer 2004. Our first hit, “Couch” received considerable airplay on the highly exclusive Waterford intranet and was followed by “Robo-Nerd,” “Who Stole the Blue Powerade?” and our biggest hit to date, “Zombie Bomb,” which was responsible for the album going triple platinum early in 2005.
Though I left the company in late 2004 amid jeers that Ctrl Zed was just a one-album wonder, the legacy continued last summer when Nigel and I reunited for album number two, “Ninjas, hiya!” which went Gold that same month, due to the word “Ninjas” being in the title. The hit “Father Frostcookie” could have powered a rocket to the moon from the shear power of the performances.
The incredible demand for this second album spurred countless emails demanding a greatest hits album, which we released in the fall of last year.
Now the secret is out. We’re gearing up for our fourth album, tentatively titled, “Little Tommy Edison Discovers Gunpowder.”
Several songs have already been written, and the following list contains some of the titles that we’re considering for inclusion:
Batwing Pegasus
All I Smell is Snot
Sidekick Secretary
18 Charisma
Squirrel Jeans
Firebath
Wookie River Jamboree
Powervomit
Untitled Mistborn fan song
Me and My Attack Panda
These are only ten of the thirty plus titles that we’ve come up with.
So far we have two possible covers for this one. Which one do you like better?
This is not a joke! Ctrl Zed is a real band with real rock muscle. I’ll try to get a player up here soon so you can hear some of our awesomeness.
Hats off to the incredibly talented Nigel Style for these cool covers!
May 23rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Great to see a quality underground band progressing towards international stardom. As I pondered the artwork of the prospective covers of your next platinum record I realized both are missing something. The red panda’s there. check. The ctrl zed logo. Check. A clever album title. check. Than it hit me. These are INTERNATIONAL records that must appeal to all audiences. The first cover mentions the Russians, the next one’s background shows a background that is similar to the Japanese flag, but neither of the proposed album covers have any referenfces to a nation or heritage in one way or another. Perhaps a red panda shaking some maraccas or a red panda in German military fatigues might be more fitting. Even a can of campbell’s soup held by the panda in the last cover using his large incisors to open it could reference America’s obsession with a Warholized-pop culture. Whatever CTRL.ZED does I know it will be platinum for sure. DROP A ZOMBIE BOMB!!!
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:21 pm
I like the saber-toothed red panda. It reminds me of an imaginary cat I used to pretend that I owned.
May 24th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Otterpop: Thanks for dropping by and adding your comments. CtrlZed is set to start on the new album in June. Maybe we can get that can of soup on the cover for you.
TAB: I remember that cat of yours, too. How’s he doing?
May 24th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Unfortunately, he got run over by a steamroller. He still chases mice, but he’s too flat to swallow them.
May 24th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
That’s gotta be a rough life. What do you feed him?
May 25th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I feed him mouse-flavored rice cakes. I have to special order them from Cambodia, but he seems to like them.
Actually, I’ve come up with a great idea of how to re-three-dimensionalize him. All I need is a bicycle pump.
June 26th, 2006 at 10:48 am
[…] Some of you may remember the post I wrote about Ctrl Zed a few weeks ago, complete with album covers. Well, I received this press release about the new album in my inbox this weekend. The Wait Is Almost Over […]