Band mix of this and that

SAM BAKER/Manawatu Standard

DIVERSITY: From left, Axel Zorn, Franz Gelhart, and Fraser Greig, form Zorn, possibly the most multicultural rock band to come out of Palmerston North.

A Frenchman, an Austrian and a Scotsman walk into a bar.

It might sound like the beginnings of yet another terrible joke – but if you want to know what happens next, you'll have to be at the Royal Tavern next Thursday.

Axel Zorn, Franz Gelhart and Fraser Greig are Zorn, possibly the most multicultural three-piece band to ever come out of Palmerston North.

They're recently formed – playing together only since November – but with original material and four summer gigs lined up already, reckon they might go all the way.

The story of Zorn doesn't begin in New Zealand though. It started in Germany in 1995, where French-born Axel was living at the time.

He grew frustrated at the state of that country, and wanted to start a band to let out his feelings.

The name came first – Zorn, meaning fury in German. Then, guitarist and singer Axel began writing songs.

Settling in New Zealand three years ago, Axel began the search for bandmates, with varying degrees of success.

That's until he met Fraser, a programme director at the Access Manawatu radio station.

"He told me he played guitar, but he was busy with other matters," Axel says. "He is a very serious guy with two kids. I pushed him a bit and he made a deal with his wife – I give up smoking, and I get an amp. He saw the opportunity to play guitar and we get along quite well until now ... we see after this interview."

After approaching a total of 16 drummers in the area to see if they were interested, Axel stumbled upon Franz, who was advertising as a drum tutor in a newsletter.

The Austrian traveller was happy to be involved.

"Fortunately he is on a visitors permit so he is not allowed to work, so he has a lot of spare time," Axel says.

"Fraser and I have been practicing for quite some time, and having a drummer makes quite a difference."

Zorn – pronounced tsorn – has a number of musical influences. Fraser rattles off all the genres which can be found in their sound.

"It's very hard to pigeonhole. There's a bit of pop rock, there's a bit of progressive stuff, there's classical influences, there's metal influences."

They are looking forward to their musical debut, Fraser said.

"It will be interesting to see what other people think."

Zorn will be playing at the Royal Tavern on Thursday 17 December at 8pm, and on February 6 in The Square.

- © Fairfax NZ News