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Zed rocker Nathan tells: ‘Why I had to put my family first’

The musician reveals why his kids are his harshest critics – and his top priority!
Nathan King with his wife, RachelPictures: Amalia Osborne

When Kiwi band Zed performed their song Future You, their first new single in two decades, at a gig recently, it was the first time 13-year-old Arlo King had seen his dad Nathan singing on stage – and it blew him away!

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“Arlo stood beside my friend and kept saying to her, ‘That’s my dad!’ like he couldn’t quite believe it was him,” says the musician’s wife Rachel. “Our kids have found it fascinating because they didn’t know Nath was a famous rock star once. They’re all really proud of him.”

Zed lead singer and former Popstars judge Nathan was also surprised by the reaction of the youngest of his three teenage kids. He grins, “For the next 24 hours after that gig, Arlo was a bit in awe of me. He saw me a little differently. But that wore off pretty quickly!”

After releasing Future Memory, three of the four members of Zed are now dads and all feel the same way. They’re excited to introduce their children to both their old and new material. It’s the band’s first album in 20 years.

Nathan with his biggest supporters (from left) Arlo, Rachel, Ruby and Theo.
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Arlo, his brother Theo, 14, and sister Ruby, 16, are now big fans of their father’s music. However, they’re also his harshest critics. “Nathan has his own panel of judges at home,” smiles Rachel, 45. “They have strong opinions about the new songs they like and they don’t like.”

“They keep me grounded,” adds Nathan, 45.

Over the past 20 years, life has certainly changed for Nathan. He formed Zed in 1996 while still at Cashmere High School in Christchurch with bassist Ben Campbell and drummer Adrian Palmer. They were later joined by second guitarist Andy Lynch and lived on the road, touring Australia, the US, Europe and the UK.

With Zed bandmates Ben Campbell, Adrian Palmer and Andy Lynch in 2003
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“When we got married, I went on tour with Nathan,” recalls Rachel. “He would buy a loaf of bread and a jar of hummus, and that was our food for the day.”

After a string of top-10 hits – including Renegade Fighter, Hard To Find Her and Glorafilia – Zed disbanded in 2005. Nathan went on to make solo albums and set up Hum Studios with Andy, creating theme music for film, TV and ads. And, of course, he became a parent.

“Being a dad certainly shuffles your priorities,” he says. “In those early days with the band, our complete focus was on making music and performing. The band came first and the rest of our lives came second.

20 years later, the band is back together!
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“Once marriage and family come along, we quickly realised if we kept everything as it was, everything else would crumble. The band has had to reassess what needs the most attention in this season of our lives.”

The Kings, especially, have been through challenging times as a family. Doctors diagnosed Theo with autism and ADHD, and he was struggling to fit into the school system. He’s now a “free-range learner”, studying at home.

“We had a pretty tricky journey in those early years of parenting,” says Rachel. “Our absolute priority was family and, as a couple, we needed each other to get through that. Theo’s really growing into his own skin now. We’ve learned how he rolls and to go with him, rather than try to change him. He often tells us how grateful he is for how we parent him. It’s changed the dynamic of the family for the better.

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“Emerging from those harder years gave us a kind of energy and motivation to go, ‘What else do we want to do now?’ Nathan returning to songwriting is so good and I love him singing songs around the house – it’s beautiful. I probably don’t tell him that enough.”

With three teens now in their central Auckland home, Rachel has been able to gradually return to her career, running her own business in HR and workplace productivity.

Rachel says she needs to remember to tell her hubby how “beautiful” his singing is.

And as she’s segued back into the corporate world, Nathan has been able to “pick up the slack a little” at home, ferrying the kids to school, music lessons and sport, and spending more time with them.

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On Saturdays, he takes Ruby to horse riding, then goes for 20km runs on the country roads. In the past couple of years, Nathan has been more focused on his health and fitness – which became even more vital when Zed got back together again.

“When we toured late last year to kick things off again, I was very conscious that I wasn’t in my twenties any more!” Nathan laughs. “In a couple of songs where there’s a lot of lyrics, I was running out of gas. I was puffing by the end of the song.

Nathan’s wife Rachel jokes it’s good to have him “pick up the slack” with the family.

“So I’ve been doing a lot more running for my aerobic fitness and really enjoying it. And Theo, who’s super-passionate about going to the gym, has convinced me to go with him and lift heavier weights than I used to. I’m eating, sleeping and exercising better than when I was first in the band.”

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Nathan also takes more satisfaction from working with his fellow band members, performing on stage and touring again. They’ve been back in the studio with musician Nic Manders, who produced their number-one debut album Silencer in 2000.

They’ve got a hectic schedule of summer festival gigs on the horizon, including headlining the Mackenzie Summer Sounds concert in Twizel, with Dragon, Hello Sailor and the Jordan Luck Band, on New Year’s Eve.

Zed’s album Future Memory is out now.

“We’re all playing together so well and enjoying it probably more than we ever did,” Nathan says. “Without the stress of having to make a living from our music and now doing it for the love of it, that just comes through when we play live. It’s been magical.

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“We’ve also really been appreciating that people still remember our music and hearing us brings back great memories from their teenage years. You see it on their faces when we’re performing – it’s one of the great joys in my life.” That and, of course, being a dad.

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