Daily Inspiration: Meet Zoya Brou

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoya Brou. 

Hi Zoya, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been obsessed with pop songs. I was not a good student growing up, and instead of doing my work in class, I would come up with song lyrics and story ideas or draw. When I was about 12, I started performing my songs at open mics. I got strong, emotional reactions and tons of encouragement at first, so I just kept going. In high school, my dad gave me his old 4-track recorder and I recorded a cassette tape of songs, featuring various friends from school as guest stars. Some people liked it, and some people thought it was terrible, but the process of writing and then recording became a passion for the rest of my life. 

These days I enjoy the ups and downs of being in a couple of rock bands. We book shows and practice our setlist every weekend. Usually, I write a song in private, then bring it for my band members to flesh out. We’ve recorded a couple of albums together, both of which we’re very proud of. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not by any means been a smooth road for me. I think very few artists can say that it has. Being an artist means that you have to reject any path that is conveniently laid out for you. It means that people will expect you to turn your art into a successful, capitalist venture and that if you don’t, you are a “failure”. 

When I first left home in 2011, I had the idea that I would get a random job and support myself as a musician. But the jobs themselves were sometimes soul-crushing, not because of the work but because of the degrading treatment I had to endure from managers, co-workers, and customers. I think I’ve lost about 16 jobs in one decade. Luckily now I have a steady job that I enjoy at the local Pie Hole. 

I used to go out and perform a lot by myself, but over time it got to be difficult- having an “off-night” and performing badly was tough. I would often drink a lot to ease my anxiety, but of course, that made my performances worse and also caused rifts in my relationships with others. On top of that, I was suffering from depression, PTSD, chronic pain, and social phobia, turning everything into a nightmare. Deciding to work with others and form a band was a good choice for me because we support each other and have more fun. 

I realized that there is almost no real way to make it in the music business unless you want to “sell your brand” on social media. I think it’s cool to know how to do that, but I just don’t have those skills. It’s best for me just to make art, and I am perfectly happy with that alone. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Currently, I play in two bands, Rabbit Fighter and Lazarus Horse. In Lazarus Horse, I just play guitar, but I really love the songs Eddie Durkin (frontman) writes and I just try to contribute something unique to them. I’m really lucky to get to be in that band. 

Rabbit Fighter is my songwriting project from 2017. Before that, I had a couple of acoustic, dark-country albums. After that, I wanted to try something really different, as I was getting inspired by these experimental, post-punk bands in the Denver music scenes, such as Low Body, Bipedal Approach, Accordion Crimes, and Midwife to just name a few. I wrote a slew of songs that were extremely personal, which was not something I normally wrote about. I ended up talking directly about my troubles with chronic sexual pain and anxiety and the relationships they destroyed. Then, Brook Theis, Dan Sayers, and my partner Matt Tillson became my awesome bandmates, and they took the songs I had written and brought them to another level. They all write in a way that is dynamic, varied, and super punk. Together we wrote and recorded our album, The Vulvodynia Guide to Dating. We just released a 5 song EP called Fatally Flawed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rabbitfighter.bandcamp.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabbitfighterdenverband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rabbitfighterdenverband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdFDIwmYkyE
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marjoryrazorblademusic 

Image Credits
John Sayers