They’re bound for the Mucky’s top spot tonight for their first ever gig, but Perth band Zennira have been the Fair City’s best-kept secret for a few months now.
The band began with two best friends: songwriter and guitarist Mikey MacLennan, and lead singer Ronnie (Cameron) McKenzie.
Both have been well known in Perth’s wedding band circuit since their school days, but at the ripe old age of 25, the pair decided it was time to have a crack at original music – and aren’t we lucky they did?
Add in the funky rhythms of Green Room jazz night fixture Edward Hetherington on bass, and the drumming talents of Charles Bowtle, and Zennira was born.
And after releasing their infectious, soul-pop debut single Thinner back in July 2021 – which gained an impressive 2,000 Spotify streams in its first three weeks – the band has been steadily gaining word-of-mouth support in barrooms and open mics across Courier Country.
It’s easy to see why. Thinner undercuts a disarmingly upbeat, catchy tune with deft, sad lyrics full of millennial ennui.
Particularly in post-pandemic times, lines like, “I grew up satisfied, but I hit my prime and lost my stride” are as relatable as they are indulgent.
I think this is very fun music indeed.
So before Mucky’s get a hold of them tonight, October 30, I caught up with guitarist Mikey to find out if the band are as “uninspired” as their Capaldi-esque lyrics suggests.
(Spoiler alert: they’re not.)
Cool Before You Knew Them: Zennira
Rebecca: So Mikey, first of all where are the other lads? Doing very glamorous musician things?
Mikey: Well one of them’s in the Caribbean…
Oh?
And one’s in a driving lesson.
Well, half glamorous! We can just crack on then – what’s with the name, first of all?
That’s a good one actually. Ronnie’s mum’s called Zenni – but her full name is Zennira. So I guess it’s really just named after his mum!
That’s quite sweet. Can you describe your sound in three words?
Soul, pop and Scottish.
Nice! And if you guys could jam with any musician, living or dead, who would you pick?
Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones.
Let’s move on to your debut single, Thinner. What inspired that song?
So a funny thing is that I used to always write country songs – I couldn’t write anything that wasn’t country!
I kept writing things and bringing them to Ronnie and the other guys at the studio, and they kept saying: “Mate, we can’t use it if it’s too country.”
I sat down at the guitar and tried to do the exact opposite of what I’d normally do – and Thinner is what came out!”
So I sat down with the guitar one day and tried to do the exact opposite of what I’d normally do – and Thinner is what came out!
The first lyric came into my head – ‘Young and tired/am I miswired?’ – and I guess it’s just about being a bit unsatisfied with your life, you know?
Totally. So you’re the songwriter – tell me how you guys go about bringing a song together?
I do the chords and the lyrics, and then I bring it to Ronnie and he sings it, and sort of gives it life. Then the rest of the guys chip in their bit.
We’ve actually not recorded as a line-up yet – it was just me and Ronnie in the studio and then we brought Ed in after. We’ve not had a chance to make new music together yet (due to Covid).
But the single has kind of taken off, right?
Yeah! It got about 2,000 plays on Spotify in the first three weeks. Which, you know, it maybe isn’t amazing – but it’s a record for me, anyway!
What’s your favourite line from a Zennira song, released or not?
Oh, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t really want to pick one of my own lyrics and brag about it! But Ronnie says his favourite is: “Take me back to all those simpler days.”
Are you guys working on an album, or an EP? What’s next?
Yeah, so we’ve got another two singles recorded already. They’re all quite different – one of them’s got a rap section and the other one is quite soul, mowtown-y vibes.
And we’re working on another in the studio just now too, called Make A Scene. There’s an acoustic version of it on our Facebook, so that’s the one we’re working on for our next single.
Hopefully we’ll do an EP or and album in the next year. But it’s all dependent on funds, you know what I mean?
Speaking of which, you’re playing Mucky’s tonight for your first gig as a line-up. How does it feel?
I’m feeling great, aye! We’ve been rehearsing the last three weeks – well, the three of us have while Ronnie’s been in the Caribbean!
I’ve been singing just to cover for him and it’s been great, it’s really coming together. We’re bringing a lot of brand-new original songs into it, so it’ll be good.
It’s great when you write a song in your bedroom and then you hear the whole band playing it.
What can the audience expect tonight?
A pretty upbeat gig – I don’t want anyone to be bored, like! So it’s going to be upbeat and dancey from the get-go.
We’ve got a couple of slow-burners in there as well, but it’s more or less all happy, dancing tunes.
Sounds like great fun! Ok, last question – picture that you’ve already made it and got famous. What do you want to say to your future, famous self?
Oh that’s a hard one… Probably just: “F****** well done, man! Thank f***!”
Zennira are playing at Mucky’s, Perth, on October 30 2021, supported by fellow local talents Jed Gillies and Sophie Staniforth. Their lead single Thinner and its acoustic version are out now on all major streaming platforms.
To find out more, visit the band’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
Cool Before You Knew Them brings new artistic talent straight to Courier audiences. So you can say, “I knew them before they were cool.”
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