Cheshires are a new collaboration from the original musical visionary of Alternative Rock band Remy Zero, Shelby Tate (aka Remy Zero, his legal name since 1990), along with original Remy Zero drummer and additional singer-composer Louis Schefano, and sometime RZ touring guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Leslie Van Trease.

In this interview, we chat with Remy Zero about the new project, influences, and more.

Full Q&A, links, and streams below.

What led you back into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?

After Remy Zero broke up, I traveled as far as I could from Hollywood – to Cambodia! But after coming back to the USA, I really felt a need to make some new music, to get into that world again…I remembered so many fun things that are part of the process and I really want to taste that stuff again 😉 and I just REALLY want to travel outside the USA again 😉

Who or what influences your creativity? Do you have different influences now, than when you started out in the 80s?

I love a Lot of ‘60’s music now, more than I was really aware of before I think.

The Who, The Kinks, Love, obscure Jimi Hendrix songs…

What are you trying to accomplish specifically on this debut LP? Creatively or otherwise?

Find a way to travel around the world again, playing music!

What was the last song you listened to?

‘My Love Life’, Morrissey 😉 this morning…

Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

I never actually BUY music, I guess. I read about new things online, and just check out what sounds interesting on YouTube…mostly I just listen to get ideas, to get a spark, then try to make something new…

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with new fans and reconnect with your old fans?

No challenge. The challenge, I guess, is just in not getting sucked into the online world, spending creative time looking back instead of forward…It’s really fun to talk to people around the world who love something specific about old Remy Zero music that I never had noticed before…I get a lot out of talking to people around the world about our old music – and it really gives me so many great ideas for making new songs…

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

Cheshires is WAY Cooler than Remy Zero 😉 !!!

lovvvve,

remy zero