Nick Zinner

Nick Zinner
Nick Zinner at Virgin Festival 2007
Background information
Birth name	Nicholas Joseph Zinner
Born	(1974-12-08) December 8, 1974
Origin	Sharon, Massachusetts[1]
Genres	Alternative rock, new wave, art punk, indie rock, garage rock, hardcore punk, thrashcore
Occupation(s)	Guitarist Songwriter Producer Photographer
Instruments	Guitar Keyboard Bass Drum machine Piano
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	Interscope Shifty (formerly) Three One G
Associated acts	Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head Wound City, The Blood Brothers, Bright Eyes, Scarlett Johansson
Website	www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
Notable instruments
First Act Guitars Fender Stratocaster Fender Jaguar Dewey Decibel Flipout Guitar.

Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is the guitarist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He is known for his "unmistakable"^[2] wild hair, skinny physique, and pale appearance. Zinner is an accomplished photographer^[3] and a vegan.^[4]

Musical career

Before forming the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs with Karen O and Brian Chase in 2000,^[5] Zinner attended Bard College where he played in the Boba Fett Experience, who later changed their name to Challenge of the Future because of concerns about being sued by George Lucas. The band moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the late 1990s and broke up in 2001.^[6]

Since 2001, Zinner has many collaborative efforts with such acts as TV on the Radio, Har Mar Superstar, Ronnie Spector^[7] The Horrors, and Scarlett Johansson. He contributed guitar and keyboard to several tracks on Bright Eyes' 2005 album Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and went on tour with the band as part of the rotating roster.

In 2005 Zinner formed a band Head Wound City along with members from The Locust and The Blood Brothers.^[8]

Zinner produced the re-mix of the track 'Compliments' on British group Bloc Party's 2005 album Silent Alarm Remixed, and has remixed The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower's song, "INRI," on their INRI ep. Zinner has also remixed Single Frame's song, "People are Germs," in addition to appearing in the music video.

In 2007 he also re-mixed The Hives's song, "Tick Tick Boom", which was used as a B-side for the release of their single "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S".^[9]

In August 2009 Nick was included at number 16 in NME magazine's future 50 list.^[10]

In early 2011 Zinner contributed guitar to the song "Go" by Santigold.^[11]

In May 2011 Zinner was commissioned to curate, compose and lead a performance 41 Strings in NYC to celebrate the 41st Earth Day. The performance, in which he collaborated with musicians Hisham Bharoocha and Ben Vida, involved 41 players of various stringed instruments, plus additional percussion and synthesiser parts. 41 Strings was performed at Sydney Opera House in Australia as part of Sydney Festival 2012, and Royal Festival Hall in London UK as part of James Lavelle's Meltdown in 2014 with guest guitarists from The XX, Savages, Deap Vally, Damon Albarn band, Magic Numbers and The Verve.^[11][12][13]

In 2013, Zinner reformed his college band Challenge of the Future in order to play a benefit show at Union Pool in Brooklyn to raise money for the daughter of a friend who died.^[14] Challenge of the Future then released the single "You Can't Call Off the Dog," which was recorded at Adrian Grenier's Wreckroom studio in New York.^[15]

In 2013, Zinner produced and recorded Santigold's contribution to the Catching Fire soundtrack 'Shooting Arrows at the Sky'.

Photography

Zinner studied photography at Bard and also in Paris, France. He has released four separate collections of his work: No Seats on the Party Car (2001), Slept in Beds (2003), I hope you are all happy now (2004) which features an introduction written by director Jim Jarmusch, and Please Take Me Off the Guest List (2010).

An exhibit – 1001 Images – of Zinner's photographs was mounted in NYC in October 2010^[16] and in San Francisco in February 2011.^[17]

In January 2011, Zinner was commissioned by Lee Jeans to shoot their Winter ’11 advertising campaign.^[18]

In May 2011 A further exhibit of his photographs was mounted at the Anastasia Photo Gallery in New York City, featuring shots of the crowds at his concerts.^[11]

Album appearances

• The Blood Brothers – Crimes (2004) – "Wolf Party"
• Bright Eyes – Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (2005 · Saddle Creek)
• Head Wound City – Head Wound City EP (2005)
• Bloc Party – Silent Alarm Remixed (2005) – "Compliments (Shibuyaka Remix By Nick Zinner)"
• The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower – INRI (EP) (2006) – "INRI (Nick Zinner Remix)"
• Scarlett Johansson – Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008)
• Nickel Eye – The Time of the Assassins (2009)
• N.A.S.A. – The Spirit of Apollo (2009) – "Whachadoin?"
• James Iha – Look to the Sky (2012) – "Dream Tonight"
• Head Wound City - A New Wave of Violence (2016)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

• Nick Zinner at Discogs
• Free Williamsburg Interview with Alexander Laurence (2003)