Zone was formed in 1988, by Andrew Cadmore & Chris Brandrick, almost alone amongst contemporary Welsh bands to explore the legacy of pioneer and visionary Velvet John Cale. Zone’s eclectic musical influences range from the intense industrial music of Throbbing Gristle, the ambient electronics of Brian Eno & early Tangerine Dream, to the experimental and avant-garde of Karlheinz Stockhausuen, Fred Frith (Henry Cow & Art Bears), Faust, & Can. On occasion gothic, forever ethereal, Zone’s music weaves across time into world music of infinite style and express wholeness.
Ever since Zone’s formation, Potentia has been the platform and label for all of Zone’s work. Since 1991 Zone’s musical releases have been handled through World Serpent Distribution, until their demise in mid 2004.
Eschewing convention and compromise, always seductive and compassionate, Zone’s isolated and deceptively primitive approach to recording music has in itself become the third mind within Zone, where the whole is far more than the sum of the parts. Zone’s work has always been a passion, never a profession.
Statement of Intent
Zone 1988
“Zone is a creative unit, based in the United Kingdom, who recognise the apparently differing individual, social and religious needs inherent in all cultures as permutations upon the central NEED for Love, Life and Light.
The constant revelation of this NEED allows one to be open to an ever expanding awareness of the communicative interconnections potentially inherent in everything. Zone’s field of work lies in the expression and communication, through varying artistic media, of this vast expanse of potential energy and the constant revelation when one is receptive to this NEED.”
The inspiration for the name ‘Zone’ was derived from the following:
- The dictionary definition of the word ‘Zone’ itself means ‘bounded’ or ‘limited’. This may only be applied when the word itself is appended. ‘Zone’ always requires further definition to exist even if only with the definite article. By this understanding, ‘Zone’ cannot but mean ‘unlimited’ and ‘unbounded’, representing everything, including nothing.
- The film ‘Stalker’ by Andrei Tarkovsky.
- The poem ‘Zone’ by Guillaume Apollinaire.