Hello again, fellow survivors. Let’s get back to it, shall we?
It’s mid-August in 2006 and Travis Stickel and I have just moved into together along with a few of my other friends. After several years in self imposed exile Travis was now back in Kalamazoo to study Criminal Justice at Western Michigan University with a semi-long term plan to apply to the police academy (We’ll get into that situation soon enough). I had just had my Rock & Roll dreams crushed when my band The Janissaries faded away (But didn’t technically break up, as I mentioned last time) but I decided to give it one last shot. I would form a new band and if that one failed I’d quit music. Now nothing against Travis, of course; he’s one of my dearest friends and easily one of the major reasons Zombie Apocalypse NOW! had any sort of local success, but at that point I was just desperate. Don’t forget that I had never heard Travis play guitar before so I had no idea how good he would eventually turn out to be. He was a convenient guitar player so I asked him to join up. Had anyone else been living with me at the time who could play guitar I would have asked them as well as I didn’t have to look very far. Now I know that sounds kind of bad but it all worked out for the best and he was happy to be asked. It went something like this:
Jay Stuart: Hey Travis, wanna join my band that I just made up?
Travis: Fuck yes I do!
And that was the formation of ZAN. Not the grandest of stories, I know.
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