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Sister act

Sibling duo Zeztra told David Hennessy about their new music, getting early support from Maverick Sabre and Damien Dempsey and gaining John Reynolds, who has worked with many big names including Sinéad O’Connor, as a mentor.

East Wall, Dublin singer/songwriters Avril (28) and Lorna (25) Meade form the powerful sister alt-pop duo Zeztra.

Zeztra have already gained support from Damien Dempsey and Maverick Sabre.

In fact someone well known for collaborating with Dempsey and the late Sinéad O’Connor has taken them under his wing.

The sibling duo are set to play London next week.

The Brixton show follows the release of their single Always On My Mind- a touching song about personal loss.

Hot Press described them as “A polished, alt-pop sound with an international outlook – marking them as a thrillingly unique force in Irish music.”

It was shortly after they formed that Zeztra caught the attention of Maverick Sabre, who invited them to open for him at the Academy Dublin.

This would lead to tours across the UK and US with him, including Brixton Academy and Brooklyn’s Rough Trade.

Continuing to gain support from prominent Irish artists, Zeztra would go on to support Damien Dempsey at his sold-out run of shows at Dublin’s Vicar Street in December 2023.

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They have since graced the stage of the prestigious Ruby Sessions alongside a myriad of some of the world’s biggest names.

In fact just this month they played Rock Against Homelessness at Dublin’s Olympia once again alongside Damo but also Pillow Queens.

Critically acclaimed, award winning producer John Reynolds (Sinead O’Connor/ Passenger/Indigo Girls/Seun Kuti/Andrea Corr/Belinda Carlisle) picked up on the duo and invited them to record at Big Tree Studios.

He said: “I fell in love with the Zeztra sound when they played Vicar St supporting Damien Dempsey. Their exciting harmony vocal arrangements and great composition made me want to work with them. There’s something very special when siblings sing together.”

Where did Zeztra come from? I’m guessing being sisters you’ve always been singing together since you were very small..

Avril: “Well, we’ve always been in in different stage schools and stuff like that, like the Billy Barry.

“I think I was about eight, and you (Lorna) were about six when mam and dad put us forward for the Dublin Docklands.”

Lorna: “A local competition.”

Avril: “Yeah, the judges were like, ‘Would you not put the two of them in together?’

“We won the competition actually.

“We sang Sisters from A White Christmas, so I think from there then as we got a bit older, we started doing things together.”

Lorna: “I’d say it was from when I was about 15 or 16 that we kind of started thinking about doing something together but it wasn’t until 2018 really that we took it seriously.

Avril: “Lorna got into BIMM and started writing songs so from there then, that’s where Zeztra kind of formed.”

You say Zeztra became a thing in 2018 but of course COVID happened in 2020, did that give you time to really work on your sound and who you wanted to be?

Did that give you the space to do that?

Lorna: “Yeah, 100%.

“We opened up for Maverick Sabre in 2019 and things started happening.

“And then when it started happening, COVID happened.

“Obviously it was a big knock because people were starting to go, ‘Oh, I know that band’.

“And then COVID happened so everybody was losing their minds and we were obviously quite like, ‘Oh god, how will we build this momentum back up again?’

“But really, COVID was a blessing in disguise because if we had have launched from 2019, we didn’t fully know our sound yet.

“So really COVID for us was like a blessing in disguise.

“I’m glad that we’re launching now and not back in 2019.”

Avril: “Our sound wasn’t there.

“We wrote all our songs in COVID really.”

Lorna: “Yeah, we wouldn’t be the band we are without COVID giving us that break to really write and discover ourselves, I’d say.”

What was it like to open for Maverick Sabre?

You went all around the UK and to the US with him, didn’t you?

Lorna: “It was deadly. It was a huge opportunity.

“It all happened very fast but we were so glad for it and it really showed us what the industry is like.

“It just made us want it more really.

“We had to share a dressing room in London- a tiny, little dressing room- with Jorja Smith.

“That was like my ‘I made it’ moment: Sharing a dressing room with Jorja Smith.
“But it was getting to be around these people.

“Olivia Dean was on the tour and at the time, she was small enough.”

Avril: “Starting out.”

Lorna: “Yeah, she probably had maybe 3,000 followers and now she’s gigantic so it was just mad to be there when it all kind of started, you know?”

I have interviewed Maverick and he seems a really nice guy, is he?

Avril: “Yeah, he’s lovely.

“He really helped us a lot with our music and stuff.

“He was letting us kind of send him the demos and giving a bit of feedback so we’ll always have a space for Maverick.”

Let’s talk about the recent single, Always on my Mind.

It clearly comes from a very personal place. It is an emotional track, isn’t it?

Avril: “Yeah, it is. I think it’s the first song that we wrote kind of together because we both experienced something in our lives that was very close to us and obviously we don’t have that person anymore.

“I suppose we were both able to reflect on the situation and kind of get to talk about it in our own way and also experience it at the same time.

“And obviously with the different types of instrumentation, we like to bring hopeful melodies and stuff into the songs instead of them being so dreary.

“Lorna wanted to bring kind of like ‘kid sounds’ into it.”

Lorna: “I think the story behind the song: The family member that we obviously both had was like a cousin of ours and they were there from when we were growing up.

“So when we were talking about like ‘we were just kids, playing with our toys’ while we were doing the production it was like- I don’t know which one of us said it- but we decided to bring in kind of child-like percussion.

“That’s kind of the best way of describing it even though that’s maybe not the right words, but like playful percussion and then we had little sounds of kids playing in the background.

“It’s quite faint but we know, we notice it.”

Avril: “Yeah, like in the school yard.”

Lorna: “If you listen to the end of the song, you’ll hear it.

“It’s quite hopeful in a sense and the song ends on, ‘I’ll always wait, my love remains’.

“We always try make these more kind of sad songs a little bit more hopeful so people are like, ‘Oh, this is sad but there’s a bit of hope there’.”

Was it therapy for you, in a way, writing that song? And does it remain very emotional when you sing it live?

Lorna: “Yeah, 100%.

“I always say without music, I don’t know what I’d be doing.

“I know I’m working (in a day job) now but that’s just to pay the bills.

“Music is definitely a form of therapy for me.

“I actually did my thesis trying to figure out was music a form of therapy for people as well.

“Songwriting definitely gets your feelings out completely so for us, singing that one was quite emotional.

“And for our family as well.

“I mean, they all come to our gigs: Our nanny, our granddad, our great aunt, they’ve all experienced the same thing with the same person so for them, this is their favourite song and it’s definitely an emotional one to hear and they’re delighted that other people can hear it now.”

You speak about family being there for your live gigs. I imagine it was a very special one when you played Whelans recently…

Lorna: “Oh yeah, it was brilliant.

“It was packed.

“We were really nervous because we haven’t done a headline since before COVID.”

Avril: “Four years.”

Lorna: “Yeah, we’ve done small things but we were nervous to see who was still following us, who was still gonna come but we had a great turn out.
“Like I said, all of our family was there,

“We reserved a little table for all the elderly to sit.

“They had a great time and they love it.

“They’d come to every gig that there was.”

I saw a video of you performing on Grafton Street. You were actually singing Always on my Mind. Do you have a busking background?

Avril: “Not really, no. 3 were doing a city stages event so they asked us to play but we don’t really busk other than that day.”

Lorna: “You had to get a busking pass just for that one performance. We don’t busk but we were thinking of maybe doing some pop up shows and when we’re releasing new music so people can keep an eye out. We’ll put up a location. That’s the plan but we don’t really have a busking background.”

But did you enjoy it that time you did it, seemed like you, and the audience, were having a good time..

Avril: “Yeah, we definitely think that we seem to perform better with a crowd live than we do on social media.

“Our personalities kind of shine through when we’re live and we seem to connect with people better that way.

“We definitely love performing live anyway so any chance we get to perform live, we’ll do it.”

Lorna: “But we have quite good banter together, so people like watching the relationship that we have…”

Avril: “Unfold.”

Lorna: “Yeah, we did have a great time doing that performance, it was really good and 3 gave lots of different opportunities outside of that.

“You got to kind of audition for other things.

“They’re really trying to help independent artists over here.”

You say you take any opportunity to perform live, you even did a wedding, didn’t you? What was that like?

Avril: “Oh, that was mad.”

Lorna: “That was unreal because we just got a message on Instagram saying, ‘Would you perform at our wedding?’

“And we were like, ‘Yeah, as what?’

“And they were like, ‘As Zeztra’.

“And we were like, ‘Okay’.

“They’d seen us perform at Ruby sessions so they wanted a Ruby Sessions like vibe.

“We got there and they were doing the speeches and, like every wedding, it kind of ran over time and we were kind of waiting.

“Then they said, ‘Oh, there’s a special guest’.

“And we were like, ‘Oh God, what time are we going to perform at if there’s a special guest as well?’

“They were like, ‘You’re the special guest’.

“So they set up chairs and they all just sat there and listened.

“Some of them actually came to our gig on Friday night so that was lovely as well.

“It was probably the most special moment that we have had.

“Well one of the most special ones anyway where people actually asked us to perform at their big day.

“It was unbelievable and they knew the songs.

“It was just such a mental experience.”

Avril: “Then they were asking us for autographs and pictures and all at the end of it, and we were just like, ‘Listen, we’re actually not famous’.”

Lorna: “No, they believe. That was the best part of it.

“They were like, ‘You will get there’.

“So they’re with us which is all you ever want, support.

So that was amazing. That was unreal.”

Does that mean you’re available for more weddings now then?

Lorna: “Well we don’t want to get in the wedding scene but if you want us to sing at your wedding because you like our own music, definitely give us a message.

“But yeah, it was deadly.”

I saw you talking on social media. I think it was plugging the Whelans gig. You said something like you would be in the 3 Arena before too long and I was wondering, Why the 3 Arena? Why not Croke Park?

Avril: “I think the 3 Arena because we live in East Wall so obviously, we grew up beside the 3 Arena.

“That’s one of the dreams.”

Lorna: “But Croke Park is also beside us. We’re quite central.

“I think, for that video the 3 Arena was in the background so it was convenient as well to be like, ‘We’ll be in there’.

“Our usual word is Coachella but Coachella wasn’t in the background so we couldn’t use that.”

Avril: “Yeah, you have to think big.”

We spoke about Maverick Sabre already but you’ve also got to play with Damian Dempsey too. He was good to you, wasn’t he?

Lorna: “Yeah, 100%.

“He asked us to open up for one of the shows in Vicar Street and we were so nervous because it was the biggest place we had performed with our own music so we were so excited but we were also really nervous.

“He came into our dressing room before we were going to go on and was like, ‘Listen, everything’s going to be great. People are going to love you’.

“He was so supportive and that was one of the best experiences ever.

“And his show- obviously, we watched after- was amazing.

“That was actually where we met his drummer and manager, John Reynolds.

“That was where we first met so that also brought us all these other experiences because now John is the mixing and mastering engineer and-

Avril: “He’s like a mentor.”

Lorna: “So Damien didn’t just bring us that gig.

“He brought us so much other support.”

Avril: “It’s always great to see other artists be down to earth and to kind of help out smaller artists.

“That’s something that we’ll always bring with us if and when we get bigger.

“We’ll always try to help out the ones that need a hand because it is a hard industry to be in.”

Lorna: “We’ll just provide a platform.

“That’s exactly what they did and it was brilliant.”

You say John is a mentor to you. You couldn’t hope for a better mentor than John Reynolds because in terms of being there and done it, he’s the man really, isn’t he?

Lorna: “Yeah, exactly. He’s definitely been there and done it, done it all.

“When you think of Damien Dempsey, you think of him being down to earth and really friendly which he is all those things.

“So is John.

“As well as being a mentor, John is just such a nice person to be around, so friendly.

“He invites you into his home, into his studio with his little dogs.

“Well, they’re big dogs.

“He’s just great and he’s just helped us so much.

“We couldn’t have asked for anymore.”

Avril: “Yeah, it’s very easy to fall off track in this industry.

“It’s a constant roller coaster. You’re on a high, then on a low, then on a high so to have somebody backing you up and believing in you is amazing.”

Of course John produced some of the late Sinéad O’Connor’s best known albums. Has she been a big inspiration to you?

Lorna: “100% as a female artist that has definitely come out of Ireland to speak her truth, and her music will just live on forever.

“Absolutely.”

Zeztra play The Windmill in Brixton on Monday 3 February.

For more information, click here.

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