The Zou brings '60s rock back

The band's name is influenced by other critters who were made famous.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Depending on what day you ask him, The Zou singer Khaled Tabbara may give you a different story regarding the impetus behind the band's name.
"I've been known to give one of at least 14 different answers out to that question," said Austintown native Tabbara. "The one thing is my middle name is Zouhair, and I'm named after my dad. We've always called him The Zou, so that's the reason for the spelling. The other reason is we're really influenced by a lot of '60s rock -- The Animals, The Byrds, The Beatles, The Turtles. So our joke is like we're the whole zoo."
A change in image
Tabbara's journey to The Zou began a few years ago when after recording a solo album, he briefly formed a band called The Traficants, which later became The Traficants and the Mob. Naturally the title alone attracted attention, but what began as a joke to the 1997 Austintown Fitch graduate turned more serious as he discovered the image of Youngstown outside of the Mahoning Valley.
"We would just play shows in Cleveland and it was kind of shocking to hear what people thought of Youngstown," Tabbara said. "People out of town think we live in some kind of like corrupt mob-ville."
From that point on, Tabbara felt inspired to put Youngstown on the musical map, citing the rise of Omaha, Neb., in indie rock circles by the emergence of bands such as Cursive and Bright Eyes.
So The Zou began performing out; however, the foursome -- Tabbara, Chris Splain (bass), Rob Thorndike (guitar) and Adam Mamula (drums) -- discovered the metal-friendly local music scene didn't know quite what to do with a harmony-based, '60s rock-inspired band.
At first alternative venues, such as coffee shops, provided stage time but the band's creativity wouldn't be denied.
Take for instance its decision to perform material from the cult hit, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," in drag nonetheless. What began perhaps as a joke in 2002 has now become an annual Halloween event for The Zou, which is scheduled to perform this October at Cedars. In fact, it's become so popular, Tabbara thinks the quartet may take the fun out on the road for more dates.
New work
In the meantime, The Zou is busy at work finishing up its sophomore album, which is currently untitled and due out later this year.
"I'd say compared to the old album, which is a little bit more of the '60s garage rock stuff, it's a hair darker and more rocking," Tabbara said. "If the first album was The Beatles, this one is maybe more The Kinks for the '60s end of it but there's also lots of later Tom Waits and, oddly enough, Queen and Frank Zappa."
Even though The Zou has been busy touring of late, having performed more than 200 shows nationally and internationally (New York City, Montreal, Denver, Albany, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and more) over the past few years, Tabbara said the band has been waiting for the right opportunity to unleash its new material on its hometown. That time is now with the band's Saturday date at Cedars.
More so, the singer is hoping it marks the beginning of something big for not only The Zou but the entire Youngstown scene.
"Believe it or not, I think there are a lot of great things about Youngstown," Tabbara said. "I'd like it to be known as a sweet rock 'n' roll town."