Ziggy 2000 and the Girl Rock Renaissance

Zara Lewin, better known as the Bristol-based, alternative rock sensation Ziggy 2000, has had an incredible year, from being a relatively new guitar player to leading the British girl rock renaissance after a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign with her upcoming E.P. 'Obvious'. I caught up with this rising star of the UK alternative rock scene to chat about her incredible transformation, her upcoming E.P. and her plans for the future.   

Q: So Ziggy 2000 lovely to have you on the line, it's been an incredible year for you, so just recap for me again, how did this all happen ? 

Z: So, it all started just before the first lockdown, when I decided to buy a guitar on the internet. I used to be a bass player, but I knew that wouldn't have been great to write songs with, which I really wanted to do, so I bought an acoustic guitar. Then I started learning how to play using alternative tuning and writing my own songs and I thought 'OK, lets give this a go and see what happens,' and then once I started I just couldn't stop, I mean, I ended up locked-in with my Ex-boyfriend so it was like, sort of lockdown therapy for me. Then a couple of months down the line I posted some stuff up on a local Facebook group looking for someone to collaborate with and produce some of the tracks I'd written. By some sheer luck I was spotted by my current manager, Bear, and we met-up, chatted about my music, I played him some tracks and he liked them so much that he agreed to be my manager. 

Q: And where did the name Ziggy 2000 come from? 

Z:Well it actually comes from my old Club Penguin username, I'm a massive fan of Bowie so Ziggy, of course, is a reference to his alter ego Ziggy Stardust and 2000 is the year I was born, so Ziggy 2000 seemed like the perfect fit. 

Q: When you describe you music in interviews you use the term 'girl-rock,' how would you describe that?

Z:  Well I really like all those bands like Sonic Youth, Lush, Hole and also loads of female fronted J-pop and J-rock, like that female-fronted punky, shoegazing, emotional 90’s/2000’s style of rock that has come back with bands like Wolf Alice, I think really speaks to my generation. 

Q: What was the Kickstarter crowdfunding like for you, how did you find that process ? 

Z: The Crowd-funding was really exciting! I’ve never done anything like before, I live with three fantastic friends of mine that we kind enough to help me with it, so one did the graphics and photos, another helped with the pitch and another helped with getting it set-up. I mean, we stayed up sometimes until 7 in the morning just to get it all done, but it was so worth it in the end when we reached that target. 

Q: So, now that the crowdfunding has finished, what can we expect from the EP ? 

Z:OK, so the EP is going to be 5 of the first songs I wrote during that first long stretch of lockdown. It's a real mix of stuff but mostly it's a pretty chill. soft, girl-rock vibe and it's pretty quintessential of the stuff that you'll be hearing from me in the next year or so. 

Q: And what has the recording process been like ? 

Z: Yeah, its been a bit mad with Covid etc. but essentially, when we're actually allowed to record, I go to my producer/guitarist Aaron, throw some ideas at him, like, I don't know, 'I really want it to sound like (insert nebulous band/word/genre here)' and then he's like 'ok done it.' Because I'm kind of new to the production side of things, so Bear and Aaron will be firing off all sorts of really technical stuff and I'll be nodding vigorously, like 'yeah I have no idea ahaha.' But most of the actual writing process though is done by recording on my phone. I use loads of alternative tuning and I don't use chord symbols either, because I feel it's just great to make your song your own, like, put your own distinctive sound on it. 

Q: So after your debut EP comes out what's your plan going forward ? 

Z: So the next thing we'll be doing after the EP is done is a massive livestream for the launch, where we'll be playing some track from it with my backing band, which we're currently advertising for, after that we'll be looking at getting the usual interviews and radio play and hopefully by the summer (fingers-crossed with Covid), I'll be out on tour and and popping up at a few festivals. I'm also currently learning electric guitar, so I will be experimenting with that as well. 

Q: Finally, if you were going on a round-the-world trip, which album would you take ?

Z: Ooh tricky...erm.. I'm going to cheat here and say that my first answer would be either 'Dolittle' by The Pixies or 'My love is Cold' by Wolf Alice. But actually, now I think about it, if I could only take one album I'd probably take 'Weezer (Blue Album)' by Weezer, I just love that nice and simple gritty, guitar-focused sound that they have and the whole album is just an absolute classic.

If you want find out more about Ziggy 2000 and her music you can visit her website here