We caught up with Benji and Dan from Skindred before their headline show at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton to talk about their new mini-album, their new found sponsorship with Jagermeister and so much more.

Can you give us a bit of history about the band such as how you got together and came up with the name The Zico Chain?
The name is about inspirational people, zico being one of them for one of us, and chain is the chain of inspirational people, that we've met in life and will meet in the future

You released your debut album ‘Food’ back in 2007, were you happy with the final result of the album and how it has gone down with your fans and press since it was released?
Yeah its been good, we got good press reviews, especially with genre specific ones, its just took too long for it to come out, we recorded it 2006, and it was out in oct 2007, we just sat on it for a year, which was a daft thing to do.

So you guys have been working on some new tracks and the first new track that you are releasing is ‘These Birds Will Kill Us’ how does the song compare to your older material and what response has it got so far?
The response has been great, the fans seem to enjoy it and to where were moving musically, and it shows an expansion in our sound and what we do, and its different to what we've done so far.

Can we expect a new Zico Chain EP or album in the near future? If so can you give us a little bit of information on the progress so far?
There will be a digital release of 3 songs on October 18th then hopefully a new album in the new year, we have the tracks written just need to record them.

Since you formed back in 2004 you have toured with a wide variety of massive bands such as Alkaline Trio, Cave In, Billy Talent, Deftones, Velvet Revolver, Disturbed and so many more great bands, how did these opportunities come up and which band have you enjoyed touring with the most?
We did a small gig in London and a massive booking agent came along, we had an awful gig and smashed the stage to bits, but she seemed to enjoy it, and she started booking us big gigs and we toured for about 18 months with some big bands and did some festivals too

You also opened the main stage at Download Festival back in 2007, that must of been one hell of a good experience and a good highlight of your time in the band so far?
We were away for two years and that really put us on the map

You are currently half way through your headline tour, how does it feel like to back out on the road and how have the shows been in general?
It feels good to be back on the road, we've spent some time shut away writing the album, so to get out and start playing it live is pretty cool to find out what works and what doesn't and so far none it does lol, we've had a few problems so far band trouble on the first night, broke a few bass guitars broke in one night but luckily Yamaha sorted us out! paul got ill, we took a while to get going but we've got a week of a gigging, so we feel like we've got the momentum going!

You are playing at The Flapper in Birmingham tonight, have you played here before and what kind of set can we expect tonight?
We played here once as a college project once before we were Zico Chain, but not many people know that, we've played Birmingham a few times academy 2.

Your currently headline tour finishes on the 3rd October, what do you guys have planned after this?
We've rented Steve harris's villa, so were heading out there for a holiday, then we'll be coming back round here again touring!

I understand Slash and Duff claimed the Zico Chain to be their favorite new band, how did this make you feel knowing that some rock superstars are massive fans of your band?
The velvet revolver tour was a good , they watched alot of our sets from the side of the stage and to find duff in our dressing room before we were was nuts! they were fantastic, it was a case of meeting your heroes and they lived up to it! They were great and not wankers like some other bands we've toured with.

What do you think about the current state of the music industry?
Well its been difficult for us to find our place in it, and in the UK as it is now, its even harder for bands like our selves now to push through so were glad to be still be going and touring, and that people still want to see us. The Uk can be quite faddy with the big singles culture at the moment people seem to be less into the album experience!

Where do you see the Zico Chain in 5 years time?
X-factor (laughter), we dont know where we'll be but we'll be happy as long as were making music.

One last random question that we ask everyone, if you could be an animal out of an Zebra and a Giraffe, which would you be and why?
(Paul) Giraffe, because i'm tall!
(Ollie) a zebra, because i wouldn't want to look anything like Paul (laughter)
(Chris) Giraffe because my feet smell so id be tall so i wouldn't be able to smell them! (laughter)

Thanks for your time is there a message you would like to leave for your fans who read this?
Buy a Yamaha bass! (laughter) Buy the single on the 18th, come see us on tour, start a band!

Interview By Robert Lawrence