Back From Zero – For The Love of Rock N Roll

The four men of Brooklyn-based multi-generational hard rock band Back From Zero are four distinct personalities, each with their own unique set of musical influences, and with that, occasionally they clash … sometimes over The Clash.

Guitarist Austin Collins says, “I have a lot of influences, like old 1970s punk, and some old rock n roll. Very honestly, I love the whole shitty sound. I do. It’s its own unique thing. I love it.” 

Drummer Erik Samuelsen, however, isn’t necessarily a fan when Austin puts on a classic punk rock favorite while in the car. Austin remembers one ride, saying, “He’s just like, what is this? And I’m like, this is The Clash. And I’m all like, yeah, The Clash. And he’s like, yeah, you got anything else?”

When offered to have that critique of The Clash struck from the interview, frontman Dean Bonsignore said, “No, we’ve got to call him out. Erik, it’s time to answer.”

His real feelings about Erik are of admiration. “I think out of the four of us, Erik is most definitely the audiophile. He’s very much about clarity of sound, quality of sound,” adding, “That’s the kind of guy you want doing your sound engineering.”

Austin seconds this, saying, “As much as I like the sound of a 1970s punk band, it’s not what I want from Back From Zero, you know what I mean? I get it.”

This is what makes Back From Zero great. They can clash over The Clash, but when they get right down to it, they know how to take their individual influences, and mold them together to create rock music that demands to be cranked up to eleven.

The foursome of (header photo: L to R) Arthur Cognato (bass), Austin Collins (guitar), Erik Samuelsen (drums), and Dean Bonsignore (vocals), just released their latest EP, titled Five, and will be performing in the NYC area throughout the summer, including opening for Alien Ant Farm on June 9th in Brooklyn.

The lead single from Five is the blistering “Taking Back the Night,” which Dean describes as “a love letter to rock n roll.”

I caught up with Dean, and Austin over Zoom, and they opened up about the new EP, and the five years it took to write, record, and release it. They also discussed turning anger into art, what it was like filming their Warriors inspired video for “Taking Back the Night,” and what they’ve all learned from each other over the years.

You just released Five last week, so first off, since she is dominating music news right now, I have to know how many of the songs on Five are about Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriends? 

Dean: {laughs}

Austin: All of them. Absolutely all of them.

Dean: Every single one of them. Yeah.

Austin: We couldn’t help but to write about Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriends. We felt as one with her.

Dean: Honestly, even before Five, her ex-boyfriends were a big part of my inspiration.

Everyone: {laughs}

Dean: I’ve been riding their coattails for years at this point.

It’s been a few years since your last release. What were you guys up to in-between projects? 

Dean: When are we not working is the answer to that question.

We put out the first EP (2018’s Opposite, In Fact), which was almost like a crash course in how to do it wrong.

We did everything in-house, and at the end of the day, after we had it mastered and everything, we all agreed this is not the quality we’re striving for.

We knew from day one, not to sound arrogant, but we knew what we’re making is something that’s got punch, it’s got power, it’s got potential, and it’s got a future, most importantly.

When we put that one out, we’re like, OK, we don't like the sound – how do we get the sound we want?

Literally, from when we did that one to what we’re doing now, every single day we were cutting our teeth, hitting the grindstone, really zoning in on where we want to be sound-wise, and how we want to write the songs.

Honestly, a lot of the credit goes to Austin and Erik, because they were the ones that were actually in there messing around with equipment, playing around with things, learning new software, and stuff.

Erik especially, he taught himself how to mix, and at this point he is now producing studio quality recordings just from self-taught knowledge.

Austin: Also, we went through a lot.

We lost our bass player. We had to re-record the whole EP a second time because the first one wasn’t good enough. We had to do a whole bunch of different stuff just to make it happen.

The five years that it took to put out the second EP, we didn't stop. We were playing shows. We were doing everything we had to do. We were buying new equipment. We had deaths in the family. A whole bunch of stuff happened. So it was literally an uphill battle just to get it done, but we did it.

Dean: The definition of a labor of love.

This first single from Five was the high energy, fast paced song, “Taking Back the Night.” Why did you want to introduce the EP, and reintroduce the band, this way? 

Austin: Well, we wanted to remain, one – heavy, because we’re basically a heavy rock band, a hard rock band. Also, we honestly just thought it was an upbeat, fun type of song, and we had a good idea for the video. The whole thing just kind of came together, and we were like – yeah, this is right. This is what we have to do.

We could have gone with another song, but it just it didn’t fit as well as this. We had the whole rip opening, and the whole bam, in your face type of thing, and the Warriors video. We really just thought it all came together. We said – OK, this is going to be the jumping off point. This is is how we want to present ourselves.

Dean: Yeah. To expand on that, much like the name of the band, Back From Zero, it’s basically like – we’re coming back, nothing’s keeping us down, and “Taking Back the Night” is quite literally a love letter to rock n roll.

What’s more rock n roll than running around South Brooklyn at two in the morning to get to a gig that maybe one person’s going to show up to? That’s the origin of rock n roll right there, man.

How much fun did you have filming the video, which is now an official selection for the 2024 Coney Island Film Festival? 

Dean: Oh, it was fun for the first 12 hours, and then the last four was a slog, for me, at least.

Austin: It was definitely a lot of fun to record, but Dean’s got a good point, by the end of the night, we were just like, oh my God.

We were proud. We were happy. We were totally content with what we got.

Dean: Then we got home at 4:30 in the morning.

Austin: It was a 12 hour shoot, and honestly, all we did in the video was run.

The funny thing is, I’m not even exaggerating because Erik said the same thing, the next two or three days my legs actually hurt from running so much in that video, because as in shape as I try to be, and I can post all I want about being strong, my legs were killing me after that video was done. I was like, oh, I just want to sit.

Dean: Ironically enough, me, the most out of shape out of the four of us, was totally fine. I was just suffering during.

Austin: That’s funny. Here's another funny thing – when we were shooting that video, we were actually in t-shirts on the Coney Island boardwalk at 1:30, 2:00 in the morning with no coats, no anything.

We had our stuff with us, but to film the shoot we couldn't wear any (of it).

I think it was 34, 35 degrees.

It was it was the middle of December. It was cold as as whatever bad word you want to put in there. It absolutely was freezing.

“For You” was the follow up single, and it’s very different from “Taking Back the Night.” What’s the musical, and emotional range you’re exploring on Five? 

Austin: I basically wrote all the music for it. Dean wrote some of the lyrics for like three out of the five songs, but the emotion is just kind of like me – crazy. {laughs}

Basically, I guess if nothing else, what we really wanted to do is just encapsulate rock n roll.

You got like the ballad-y type thing to end it with a really, you know, boom it at the end, but throughout the whole EP, it’s a hard rock, heavy hitting, go go go, fun type of thing.

The whole thing really was just like driving rock n roll … like a Guns N’ Roses type of vibe. Dirty rock n roll. Like, yeah, we’re a rock band.

Dean: I’m of a different generation when it comes to inspiration. My parents raised me on Zeppelin, and Ozzy, and all that stuff, but then when I was old enough to explore for myself, I, ironically enough, started drifting into angrier sounds.

“For You” is a very emotionally grounded song for Austin, but the ones that I wrote the lyrics for I was tapping into that nebulous frustration of being stuck in the day-to-day. So the emotional journey for me was one of absolution, because like with “Taking Back the Night,” at the end of the song, that anger is justified. That’s why we’re taking the night back.

With “Vagrant Muse,” it’s like the anger turns into inspiration, because I’m finding things to feed the creative machine.

With “Stopwatch,” it was like the anger was changed to motivation, because the things that are in my way are actually the things spurring me forward.

That’s what I had in mind when I was writing the lyrics – how do I show this anger in a positive light, which is almost impossible. Anger is a negative emotion. But that’s what the songs mean to me. It’s like it’s a journey of absolution, and self-acceptance, in a way.

Austin: I almost take the Rage Against The Machine thing where I believe anger is a gift.

I think anger is (a gift) when it comes to the arts. I’m not talking about being angry in the street, and punching a stranger. That’s just fucked up.

Dean: I would hope you didn’t mean that. {laughs}

Austin: Yeah, no, no, no. I mean when it comes to music, and emotion. I think that’s where anger belongs, in the arts. That’s where people should be getting out their frustration.

I love what you did with everything, all the lyrics.

When Dean writes lyrics … after I read them, and I put everything together, I realize how really good, and wholehearted his lyrics are, especially with the music that we’re doing. They really go together, and whatever I’m feeling, and he’s feeling, it works together for sure. I love it.

Finally, Back From Zero is multi-generational. What kind of knowledge have you gleaned from the other generations in the band? 

Dean: I am not classically trained in music, so there are a lot of times where I will be sitting in the studio, and Austin, Erik, and Arthur are talking about chords, and regressions, and God knows what else garbly gook they come up with, I’m still not convinced half of those words are real, but one of the things they have taught me is what works. That’s not a skill set I had, even with being in marching band, and symphonic band in high school.

In high school they give you pieces that are written already, that you know are a proven formula. When you’re writing your own stuff it’s a completely different ballgame. There’s a lot of intuition, there’s a lot of instinct, and then after you get through those two things comes the formula, and the math.

They taught me how to follow the instinct without the math, and how to apply the math when you’re following your instincts.

Austin: I guess for myself, what I’ve really learned is, and this is going to sound funny, because while it has to do with music it’s not necessarily a musical thing, but what I’ve learned from both Dean, and Arthur is patience.

What I mean by that is when it comes to recording, and all the stuff in a studio, it’s Murphy’s Law – anything you think can go wrong, will in fact, absolutely 150% go effing wrong. It will, it does, and it always will.

I’ve learned to just sit back, and relax.

I let Erik, and Dean take the forefront. I’m like, okay, you do this. Otherwise I’m sitting there going crazy, because I love computers when they work, but when they don’t …

So I’ve learned the whole patience thing from Dean, and Erik.

For more Back From Zero, check out backfromzeronyc.com.