Interviews - Jasun Tipton of Zero Hour '06

Zero Hour was founded by Jasun and Troy Tipton from San Franciso, California. Their blend of soft and extreme elements with precise technique makes them one of the most interesting bands in the Progressive Metal genre today. They have released three albums on the Sensory Records Label "Metamorphosis" (re-release of the self titled debut with two bonus tracks), "Towers of Avarice", and "A Fragile Mind". The band also has plans to release a new album "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond". Guitarist Jasun Tipton has been kind enough to grant me an interview about the band and it's plans for the future.

ALFW: I'll start of with questions about "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond". I hear you have recorded seven tracks for this album already. How many tracks do you plan on releasing on this next album?

Jasun: "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond" will be 7 tracks and here's the titles.
1. Face the Fear 2. The Falcon's Cry 3. Embrace 4. Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond 5. Zero Hour 6. I Am Here 7. Evidence of the Unseen

ALFW: Is there any targeted release date or season?

Jasun: The CD will be released Worldwide Oct 10th 2006.

ALFW: Dino Alden is the producer/engineer for this album correct? How did he alter your sound in comparison to previous studio efforts?

Jasun: Yeah Dino is the man and he's done all the Zero Hour CD's. The production is extremely clean and very Heavy. Lots separation on all the instruments and I would say he got good amount of warmth out of this disc which isn't easy. Sonically it's perfect.

ALFW: The first two Zero Hour albums seemed to have a slightly different style from your last release "A Fragile Mind". Where will "Specs From Pictures Burnt Beyond" fit in the Zero Hour catalogue?

Jasun: I think Specs more runs into "The Towers of Avarice" style but has it's own identity. We always strive to be a little different on every disc and this disc just grabs you like "The Towers of Avarice". You can listen to it many times and hear something new in the music and vocals. This disc is very exciting from every player in the band.

ALFW:Should listeners expect more compact compositions like those on "A Fragile Mind" or longer epics like those on "Towers of Avarice"?

Jasun: The songs are long and leans more towards "The Towers of Avarice" material.

ALFW: Zero Hour has been through two vocalists already. Are there any reasons you would like to communicate to fans for the departures of Erik Rosvold and Fred Marshall, both of who gave the band stellar perfomanes?

Jasun: Erik is a great singer and writer. His mom passed away and that was tough for Erik. I think Erik needed to take care of himself instead moving forward with the band. He wanted to move forward but I just think it was a little much for him. Erik is a good guy and we wish him well. Fred is a good singer just wasn't the right fit for the band and for what the band wanted to achieve in the future.

ALFW: Zero Hour will be touring in support of the new album. How many cities or regions do you plan to hit? What are the expected dates of touring (first and last)?

Jasun: Right now we're going to do a show in our area and play down South for the Power Prog West festival in LA with Nevermore. We'll be playing ProgPower USA VII in Atlanta GA which is the biggest Progressive/Power Metal festival going. Very excited to be doing these events. Once the CD is out we look to hit the East Coast, do some shows in the West Coast, Texas and playing shows in Europe next year. It's a Very exciting time for Zero Hour.

ALFW: Now just a few general questions about the band.

ALFW: Zero Hour has quite conceptual lyrics, do any lyrics relate from one album to another? Is Zero Hour more of a constant concept, or is there no on going relation?
Jasun: There's nothing in relation but that would be cool to maybe do in the future. When you get a feel for new material sometimes you can build a story with the whole CD or just a long composition that's divided into concept formats.

ALFW: Both yourself and Troy have released instructional videos from Chops From Hell. Was this an attempt to get closer to those fans of yours that are musicians?

Jasun: Bobby of Outworld (An awesome keyboardist) asked my g/f if my brother and I ever thought about doing an instructional. He got us in touch with Chris of Chops From Hell and Chris was very cool to work with and did an amazing job with finished product. Troy and I have been asked by many players and fans how did we develop our sound and this was a great opportunity to share what our playing is all about. If you would like to see a sample clip please check out

http://www.myspace.com/zerohourband - http://www.myspace.com/zerohourband

and please check out www.chopsfromhell.com on how to order a copy. The Instructional's are available on DVD, VHS and ROM. Here's all the links

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_dvd.html - http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_dvd.html

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_dvd.html - http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_dvd.html

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_rom.html - http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_JT1_rom.html

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_TT1_rom.html - http://www.chopsfromhell.com/advert_tipton_TT1_rom.html

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_tipton_TT1sampler.html - http://www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_tipton_TT1sampler.html

ALFW: One final question. Do you mind telling me about the meaning of the band's name Zero Hour? How did the band decide on this name?

Jasun: One day Troy and I are were writing material at rehearsal and it was getting late for everyone and we all had to work the next day. I said to Troy it would great if we could just always work on music. He said Zero Hour and the name just stuck. So to us it means never ending time towards your dreams.

ALFW:Thank you on behalf of all the collaborators and users of Progarchives.com for contributing to our site!

Jasun: Thank you so much bro for help spreading the word about Zero Hour, we really appreciate it. Please visit

http://www.myspace.com/zerohourband - http://www.myspace.com/zerohourband

for the latest updates...YOU ALL RULE!!!!