FAQs
What does the name Zrazy mean?
We do get asked this a lot. Its origin was from Maria’s Woman’s Own Cookery Book. We had to choose something really fast for an upcoming gig in Dublin and opened the book at a random page. The recipe for Zrazy a la Nelson showed up and we loved the synchronicity. After a brief tussle about which of our surnames could be in the name, we settled on the short Zrazy. The following day Maria said “Well it looks like it’s still Zrazy after all these years” we both said Yes! |
OK. We know it also means a Polish dish of meat and mushrooms or something.. The story continues....
In the early 90s glasnost was happening in the former USSR and a Russian friend said that the word ‘Zrazy’ was being used in Moscow to mean ‘Hip’. That felt good. And to cap it all, at a Chicago gig, a Polish woman told us that by splitting the word into Z and Razy we had a name that meant Unity of the Peoples. So the name has grown layers of meanings over time. Right now it simply means the musical adventures of two musicians, Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson.
How do you create your music?
We have two very different approaches. Our first creative venture which resulted in the album Give It All Up in 1992 was made in Maria’s basement flat on nothing but a Korg MI keyboard and an Atari computer. We loved the freedom of using the computer rather than live musicians. No arguments! Our first two albums were made that way. Then the next two albums were jazz albums with real live people playing real instruments.
We played a lot of jazz since then but we’ve returned with The Art of Happy Accidents to the trusty computer (no longer an Atari and no longer saving onto floppy discs!) We did all the programming ourselves in our project studio. Then the live stuff went on later in Ventry Studios. We play all instruments on the album with the exception of some guitar.
Tell us about your Irish Gold Disc. Did you really write Ooh Ah Paul McGrath?
Any Irish person knows Ooh Ah Paul McGrath, a No1 hit during Italia 90. Paul McGrath was one of the best football players ever produced by this country. We were both big time fans of the Irish national team and we were asked by Polygram Records to write a football anthem for him. Carole wrote the song and Maria put the vocal on it. Originally we asked Paul Cleary of the Blades to sing it but it ended up being too high for him to sing and Maria's guide vocal stayed put. A uniquely female vocal in the world of football songs! Paul puts in the 4-line rap in the middle of the song. What a beautiful guy.
We put the song out under the name Watch Your House, that's Irish for “look behind you!”
You two are no strangers to controversy over your career?
Our first single as Zrazy was I'm In Love With Mother Nature in 1992. This went up the Irish charts and we were getting great reaction. We made a video that included a scene of two women dancing together and RTE refused to air it on their video show. It was so radical then to be out. We were two of a handful of people in public life prepared to talk about being gay at a time when it was still criminalised in this country.
Our first album Give It All Up (for which we won the Irish Music Critics Award for best new band) had a song on it called 6794700. This was the phone number for getting information about crisis preganancy, including information about where to go in England for an abortion. Our record company at the time was run by two brothers and one refused to have anything to do with us or the album. Twenty three years later 4000 Irish women take the boat annually to England for an abortion.
In the early 90s glasnost was happening in the former USSR and a Russian friend said that the word ‘Zrazy’ was being used in Moscow to mean ‘Hip’. That felt good. And to cap it all, at a Chicago gig, a Polish woman told us that by splitting the word into Z and Razy we had a name that meant Unity of the Peoples. So the name has grown layers of meanings over time. Right now it simply means the musical adventures of two musicians, Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson.
How do you create your music?
We have two very different approaches. Our first creative venture which resulted in the album Give It All Up in 1992 was made in Maria’s basement flat on nothing but a Korg MI keyboard and an Atari computer. We loved the freedom of using the computer rather than live musicians. No arguments! Our first two albums were made that way. Then the next two albums were jazz albums with real live people playing real instruments.
We played a lot of jazz since then but we’ve returned with The Art of Happy Accidents to the trusty computer (no longer an Atari and no longer saving onto floppy discs!) We did all the programming ourselves in our project studio. Then the live stuff went on later in Ventry Studios. We play all instruments on the album with the exception of some guitar.
Tell us about your Irish Gold Disc. Did you really write Ooh Ah Paul McGrath?
Any Irish person knows Ooh Ah Paul McGrath, a No1 hit during Italia 90. Paul McGrath was one of the best football players ever produced by this country. We were both big time fans of the Irish national team and we were asked by Polygram Records to write a football anthem for him. Carole wrote the song and Maria put the vocal on it. Originally we asked Paul Cleary of the Blades to sing it but it ended up being too high for him to sing and Maria's guide vocal stayed put. A uniquely female vocal in the world of football songs! Paul puts in the 4-line rap in the middle of the song. What a beautiful guy.
We put the song out under the name Watch Your House, that's Irish for “look behind you!”
You two are no strangers to controversy over your career?
Our first single as Zrazy was I'm In Love With Mother Nature in 1992. This went up the Irish charts and we were getting great reaction. We made a video that included a scene of two women dancing together and RTE refused to air it on their video show. It was so radical then to be out. We were two of a handful of people in public life prepared to talk about being gay at a time when it was still criminalised in this country.
Our first album Give It All Up (for which we won the Irish Music Critics Award for best new band) had a song on it called 6794700. This was the phone number for getting information about crisis preganancy, including information about where to go in England for an abortion. Our record company at the time was run by two brothers and one refused to have anything to do with us or the album. Twenty three years later 4000 Irish women take the boat annually to England for an abortion.