We made our first two CDs using the technology we had available in our small project studio. Right back in the beginning of Zrazy we had a six piece band which collapsed under money pressure. We decided to take the computer/sequencer route, which neither of us knew much about but set about mastering (or mistressing). We enjoyed the creative freedom this allowed... a sense of moving from black and white into full colour. Both Give it All Up and Permanent Happiness were made on minimum budgets with no additional musicians involved. Then in 1999 we received an Irish Arts Council Award for contemporary composition in the field of jazz/new music and proceeded to make a purely jazz album. This was something we had spoken of for a while and it gave us the opportunity to work with excellent musicians. Private Wars also gave us both an opportunity to explore greater subtleties in voice and saxophone.

Carole: I started playing piano as a child and continued with classical lessons till I was eighteen. I had an inspirational teacher who traced a line of tuition back to Lizst, Czerny and Beethoven. Although I loved playing classical music I was more drawn to pop and rock and began playing by ear and making up songs at an early age. I was encouraged to think about studying music at university but I was too wild for that world. I loved Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell. At seventeen I was asked to join a touring/recording all female rock group called Mother Superior but I couldn't defy my parents expectations of getting a degree.

The story of the name Zrazy is still unravelling itself. Years ago, when we had a band but no name, a show coming up and one day left to decide, we had some friends round to dinner. One friend suggested opening a book at any page and seeing what came up. Maria took up her trusty Woman's Own Cookery Book, which she had been using that evening, and it opened  at "Zrazy à la Nelson", a beefy dish from Russia or Poland. On seeing the name Nelson, Carole's second name, our friends threw up their hands and said "It's a sign!" Being ever ready to recognise signs along the way, we pondered Zrazy à la Nelson, then Zrazy à la Walsh, then settled for the short but perfectly formed, Zrazy.

The next day, the day of final decision, Maria said "well it looks like it's still Zrazy after all these years" and we both went "YES!"

Soon, another meaning came along. A Russian friend of our then manager informed us that Zrazy was slang for 'right now!' or 'hip' in Russian beat circles. That felt good.