The name Zealand is not only a nod to Phil Joel’s native New Zealand, but it’s also representative of the frontman’s charismatic zeal for life. While Phil assumes lead vocals—having recently traded his bass in for guitar—Zealand’s line-up is rounded out by Ben Garrett (guitar), Phil’s cousin Roger Angove (bass) and Ben Bugna (drums). At the end of the day, he simply wants his music to hit the mark—the heart of listeners. “We think of most of our songs as little arrows in the quiver,” Phil offers, “tools to use when we get in front of people.”
Whether that means he’s playing to thousands in a massive arena with Newsboys United—the heralded tour bringing Phil and Peter Furler back to the Newsboys’ stage to showcase many of the band’s career-spanning hits—or playing to a room full of students at a conference, Zealand’s mission remains the same. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
