Call Her Daddy - Zayn: Being Single is Freeing

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

Join Alex in Vegas as she catches up with Zayn at his residency! Zayn performs a new song and opens up about his past relationships, learning the difference between love and lust, and his current approach to dating. He also talks about fatherhood, giving too much money as the tooth fairy, gardening, and overcoming anxiety. Enjoy! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It is your founding father, Alex Cooper, with Call Her. Zane, welcome back to Call Her Daddy. I can't believe, I was thinking about this morning, I'm like, it has been, I think, almost three years since I last saw you. It's good to see you. How have you been? I've been good, yeah, just being a doubt when I'm not working. Aside from that, yeah, we've done another album, Conoco, got it together,

I did like pretty much after I did the Stairway to the Sky Tour, felt the vibe, you know, on stage and stuff, seeing what people were like responding to. And then got home back to Pierre and was like super inspired to like make another record. I think I did it in like two weeks. I love it. You're like, I'm a dad. And then like when I'm not working, like, oh, right casual. Like you're on stage performing. And then you're just like back in Pennsylvania in your like little cozy.

It's a bit of a contrast. Yeah. Just a little bit. Slight one. To anyone who isn't familiar or doesn't remember. The first episode that we ever recorded together was in my parents' house in Pennsylvania, which is still a little bit of a mind fuck to me that we were, I remember when you left, there were kids in the cul-de-sac being like crashing into the tree, being like, is that Zane?

Did people see me? Yeah. Yes, there was like little kids in the cul-sac being like, wait, that's not. I didn't know it's any kids. Well, because no one in Pennsylvania ever gets like a star-studded moment. So the fact that you're just casually leaving- That's why everyone's thinking so weird that lived there. Everyone's always like, yo, you're such a weirder.

Why do you live in Pierre? I just love it there. I love it. And now we're in Vegas because you have a residency here. So like from like Pennsylvania Coldzac to Vegas, like the vibes are just like a little different today. Just a little. I was thinking about it in that first interview.

That was your first time really talking in almost seven years. So we kind of went through everything. We talked about your rise to fame. We talked about you walking away from one direction. We talked about your early relationships. We went to almost everything. So today, I think we just hang out and catch up and have a little bit of fun. How long have you been in Vegas?

Being here coming up to two weeks now. Yeah, not too long. What have you been doing? Have you gone to the strip? No, I've been to the strip. Could you even go? I probably could. I don't really go out with security and stuff.

I kind of just like keep it located, it's me, like a couple people from the team or whatever. So I think it like a, a try. tracks less attention that way. So yeah, I probably could go out. I just, it's not really my vibe. Yeah. I'm getting a bit old. Like when I'm not working, I just want to go home and relax. Oh, older are you again? 33. He's like, I'm such an old man. Every 33-year-old is like, everyone's like, keep that energy to yourself saying you're not old, you're young. Wait, have you gone to the casinos? Yeah, we had a little look because obviously they had like the tables with my face on and stuff. So we went to go check that out. That's fun. Yeah. But I'm not really a gambler either. It's not really my thing.

Did you lose any money? Never really lost a big amount of money in my life. Like I bet on fights and stuff, like UFC fights, boxing fights here and there, if I know somebody's going to win. How much? I've won some decent money. I don't dare to disclose, but I've won some decent money. Anthony Joshua won me some money.

So you're doing well for yourself in the betting arena. Okay, last interview. I obviously in my parents' house, I have sad news. sold that house. Really? So I'm not privy to the information of like what is going on in Pennsylvania these days. Like are you like do you have any hot gossip for me? Like what's going on? What's going on in Pennsylvania? Not much to be honest. That's why I lived there. It's real quiet, calm out there, you know what I mean? There's not much going on. I don't really leave my got off. I'll be honest with you. I kind of just stay there out. Do you have neighbors? I do have

neighbors, yeah, but they're quite far away. Have you ever interacted with them? Yeah, I have. Yeah, we've got I got a new neighbor, next door neighbor, within like maybe, I want to say about five, six months ago now. So I sent them cookies and, you know, welcome to the neighborhood. You sent them cookies? Did you bake them? No, no, I sent them next door, but they sent their number back. Like I said, if you ever need anything, you want us to watch the house or whatever.

Oh, sweet. Yeah, it's nice. What do you think they think of you? I'm not sure, you know. I did have some of quite funny up, and recently I was working at the house. I was filming something for Bordelance for the video game. We did the song. And we had like a whole thing going on in the field, like smoke grenades and crazy shit.

And somebody complained. It was like, Zain doesn't own Pierre. I was like, I'm aware I don't own Pierre. But. They're like, hey, what's going on in the backyard? Yeah, they thought I was having like a crazy festival in the back garden, but actually was just working. Okay, so you were causing like a little bit of a ruckus, but for the most part, you're usually

dead silent. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So you really give me a break. I'm not throwing party. Just like throwing grenades. That's why I like the space because I can put the music as loud as I want and I'm not really disturbing anybody, you know? Mm-hmm.

Something that went so viral from our last episode together, which I thought was so wild, was you talking about your animals, the internet lost their minds. Okay? We talked about your cats, your dogs, your turtles, your chickens. Who do we have now? How are the animals doing? They're all pretty much the same. Yeah. Yeah, I've got turtles, chickens, dogs, cats.

I lost one of my cats actually recently. Which one? V-O., one of my Sphinxes. Yeah, it was kind of sad. I'm so sorry. You said that for the chickens, you also kind of stopped naming them at one point because it was too traumatizing when you would lose them? If something happens to them, yeah.

So now they just call the girls. That's it. So you're not naming them anymore? No, no names. So when you see your chickens in the morning, you're just greeting them as like... What's going on girls? They're a collective now. Hey girls.

I'm trying to think of your fashion sense, right? You're kind of known as like you've got some swag going on. When you're on the farm, what are you wearing? Uh... Like, are you an overalls? Sometimes, actually, yeah. Sometimes they do wear overalls are fully leaning to the farm thing, but yeah, not just relaxed, casual stuff, you know, jeans, t-shirt, checkered shirt from time to time. He is so Pennsylvania, it's crazy.

You're wearing full flannels. Yeah. It helps you blend in there. Wawa's. Oh my god, I forgot we talked about Wawa last time. And I was like, honestly, you're a real one that you actually go there. Do you leave your house a lot and go around in Pennsylvania? Like, are you shopping?

I'm not going to be a dick. I'm not going to lie to you. I like Dordash and Uber Eats quite a lot. Yeah. You're like, I've never, you don't even know what McAfree's is, do you? It's the grocery stores. Okay. No, I don't know what McCaffrey's is.

So you just give me Wawa because you're like, I know that's a Pennsylvania staple, but like I've probably never even been. No, I've been to while. I've been in there a few times. Yeah, but I prefer to order from there because usually when I'm getting food from there, it's like three in the morning. So. Let's talk about gardening. Yeah. I heard you've been up to gardening lately, which I feel like you weren't doing when I first met you. What are you growing over there in your overalls? I actually have been growing stuff for a minute since I moved out to be here, maybe about a year after I was living out there. I just realized there's so much land. Like, you can just mess around in the mud and shit. So yeah, I grow all kinds of different stuff.

Melons, tomatoes, carrots, onions, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, all kinds of chilies. Like chili plants grow really well there too. Yeah, all kinds of stuff, jalapinos, bullet chilies. And then are you taking these and then you're cooking? Yeah, take them. I freeze a lot of the chilies because you can't use them all at once, you know, unless you want to die. But yeah, we freeze a lot of stuff and keep it. have been wanting to do that. Like, I probably will never do it, but I'm like, in a dream world,

I'm like, I should be gardening. But like, what has, what's the plant that's really frustrated you the most? Frustrated me? Probably either cucumber or pumpkin. Why? Because it's like an aggressive plant. Like, it's invasive, I think is the term they use for it. And it just overtakes everything else because it's got vines. And they kind of have a mind of their own. And they just strangle. your other plants and suffocate them for the light. Okay, good to know. So like I shouldn't even try with cucumbers. Don't put tomatoes or cucumbers in there or anything.

They have to be by themselves. I'm gonna need to get a list from you of like if you're gonna put these in this area. Okay, so you're pretty like expert at this point. I won't say expert. I'm all right. But yeah, is you about to ask me some questions about it? No. Maybe off camera. I'm like, okay, for an idiot like me, what's the first thing that's the easiest to grow?

Um, probably some simple like onions or carrots. They tend to grow quite well. It don't really matter what the climate's like even. See, these are the important things we need, Zane. Like, I know this is called her daddy, but, like, you've got a brain of your own over there that I feel like you have a lot of weird wisdom. And this is what I'm trying to soak up, okay? Let's talk about woodworking.

I heard from a little birdie that that's also a new hobby of yours. What are you doing? Yeah, I like to carve things out of wood. Yeah. Like small pieces of wood, not like big projects or anything. like small blocks of wood and I like carved like bears out of them and stuff. A bear? Bear.

I can do bird now. Hold on. So walk me through that. You've got a knife or how do you do it? It's a carving knife. You can get like sets that are specifically made for that, like for soft wood. Yeah. And I just watched like random YouTube videos of people doing it and they just copy it.

Are you just like hoarding all of this stuff or are you giving it away as gifts? I was actually at one point thinking it would be really really. sick to like give them to people's Christmas presents or whatever because it takes a lot of time and it's thought and effort. But the only ones I've done so far, Kai hats like I did them for Kai and she keeps them on a shelf. Cute. Have you given her a bird or a bear? She's got like four bears because they're like practice, you know. Right, the first one's like so bad. It just got better, yeah. That's really cute. And yeah, bird, she's got like a little bird. I'm interested to know, I feel like a first date, a lot of people, that's a classic question.

Someone would be like, tell me about your hobbies. Like, what's a hobby of yours? It's like a classic question. What do you think would be one of the most attractive hobbies someone could have? Because you obviously are a man of quite interesting hobbies. Yeah. The most attractive hobby that I think somebody could have is probably reading. Because you get information from that, you know.

It gives you some stimulus for conversation. You want an intellectual woman? Yeah. Maybe someday. You're like, Alex, stop it. Wait, so would you ever start a little book club with someone? A book club? Yeah, maybe.

Yeah, when it get a bit older, yeah, it would be kind of cute. Wait, why do I feel like in Pennsylvania? I'm going to see you in the next three years and you're like, Alex, that idea sparked something. And I have a full Pennsylvania book club. And it's going to be just you in a book. She went to have some friends in PA now. Thank you, Alex. I love how you think that people wouldn't want to be your friend in PA. Like, everyone wants to be your...

You just have to leave your house. But a book club is an easy way. Maybe you start with the old couple that lives next to you. Yeah. Let me know. Let me know if you get into it. I'll let you know. When you start something new, obviously there's like a bit of a learning curve.

And I think you're someone who is so successful and you're obviously a very talented person. But how does it make you feel when you maybe are kind of at a beginner's level? with things that you're taking on and it takes time to get good at something. Do you like that? That's, yeah, why I get into so many weird random things. I enjoy that feeling. I enjoyed the beginning stage of not being good at something and then seeing the progression, you know, like over the years, putting that time in. Even when I was a little kid in a weird way, like when I was like eight, nine, that was what it was that it ties me about wanting to do music. I wasn't great, you know, you don't just come out and you know, you're amazing at things.

I was really rubbish, you know, I couldn't sing at all. Like, I had to work hard and practice. You actually think you couldn't sing at all? Oh, shit, man. Well, eight, nine-year-old me. Yeah, terrible. Yeah, I won't put that kid on stage. Okay, but terrible by your standard or if a video came out of you at eight?

They might think it's cute, you know? Like, I was quite cute, but it's definitely not good. Yeah, talent level has definitely increased, I'd like to say. The pitch wasn't there. No. What is your relationship to perfectionism? Again, closely related to the previous question, you know, I enjoyed this idea of striving for perfection.

I'm also very aware that it doesn't exist. So I just drive myself a little bit insane with it. But I feel like it's healthy because it pushes you further, you know, pushes the boundaries, makes you give up. You said in an interview that you like leaning into simple things where there's no infiltration from other people's expectations. How much pressure do you put on yourself to live up to other people's standards? None.

Yeah. Have you always been like that? Yeah, I really don't give you shit. Yeah. That's why I kind of like stick to myself, just keep to myself. I'm not doing things for other people's approval. You can't keep everybody happy, you know? It's not really a thing that you can achieve.

Some people are going to like you, some people are not. At the end of the day, I think it's more important to like yourself. That's a really incredible quality. quality to have because I think, I mean, I've sat down with a lot of people and I feel like a lot of people would say I've gotten to that point, but I haven't always been that way and to hear that you have. Like, how do you think you've always just been kind of secure and comfortable with yourself? Like, what do you attribute that to? Yeah, I don't even know if it's so much I would say I am secure and comfortable with myself. I strive for that, you know? And that's the most important

think for me, like if I'm cool with myself. And yeah, like, I guess you do that by just, you know, living in your truth, like, and not really caring, you know, about impressing other people. I don't know where it comes from. I just, yeah, it's just never been a thing. It's really incredible to hear you talk like that, though. I feel like as someone who's so public and you've been obviously in music for so long, I'm curious to know what your and how you would describe your relationship to masculinity.

I think my relationship with masculinity is unconventional in a way. I'm very aware of what toxic masculinity is and I try to stay away from that. And I like to do things that, you know, people wouldn't necessarily think that I would do, you know. Give me some examples. Like in, you know, in a cultural sense, I feel like in the last like 10, 15 years things have changed, you know, like what's appropriate for guys to do and what's appropriate for females to do. Cooking, you know, things like that. I don't think, you know, 10 years ago people, dudes are really out here being like, yo, I like cooking, you know, in my spare time or I cry, bluey, or, you know, whatever. Like, just being honest, you know what I mean, with the things like, you don't have to always be the, you know, I'm not.

cool macho dude. You know, I guess that's my relationship with masculinity. I feel like there's much more strength in vulnerability and honesty, yeah. Are you sitting there crying at Bluey and Kai is like, Dad, what are you doing? Occasionally, yeah. She's always a little bit embarrassed with me. Yeah. Always my emotional feels as a parent. That's actually amazing. Like, I can picture the visual and you're like, oh, sorry. Yeah, whoops. Didn't mean that. How do you think having a daughter has impacted the way that you think about how society and men treat women? That's a very interesting question.

For me, personally, I feel like I've always thought about that anyway because I have three sisters and five aunties and it's a big, you know, female family. So I've been forced to hear nothing but female opinions for a very long time. The, you know, me having a child becoming a father has definitely amplified. it further and I guess just made me be more consciously aware that any woman I am of an interaction with or speaking to her is somebody's daughter or sister, you know, and just makes you approach that with a little bit more respect, I guess. Yeah.

As a dad, what is your biggest wish for Kai? Honestly, I just taught that she gets to do in life whatever she wishes to do and she's happy, yeah. I remember last time we talked, you were saying how she was, you would sing to her and like she was enjoying that. Like, what currently does she want to be when she grows up? She definitely wants to be a K-pop star. So, yeah, she's big into K-pop. Oh my God, how do you feel about that? I'd like to keep her away from it, you know?

But at the end of the day, she's happy, like I said, you know, I'll support. Can you imagine you be like, no, you can't be in a girl group? And then she's like, really? Dad? You're a hypocrite. Yeah, I won't be able to say that, yeah. So I'm just going to have to support her. But me personally, yeah, I would like to keep her away from some of the headache that this job entails, you know?

Keep her in the Pennsylvania world. That's it. Keep her on the farm. With the chickens and animals and shit. Keep her with the girls. I see it. Okay, last time we also talked, you said that you took Kai to the Nickelodeon theme park and you guys had the best time.

What is another fun or special thing that you've got? to do with her since then? We've done quite a bit since then. I took her to Monster Jam not long ago. What is that? The Monster Truck Show, which I was convinced that they were going to be slamming into each other at 100 miles an hour. They don't do that.

They just kind of like do like bounces around on the sand for like an hour and a half. So it's a little bit anticomatic for me but I enjoyed it. And then I think we went to go see Black Pink live, took her there. How good. So good. I just saw them in. Japan and it was amazing. It's so fun. They're really good. Wait, so did you suggest the Monster Jam thing or did she? She actually suggested it. I think somebody in school told her

about it and she was like, Dad, we should go here and I think she knew I was going to kind of like it too. So she's like, I'll take my dad somewhere where he'll enjoy it. Yeah, it was fun. She was right. We had talked about and you had shared with me about growing up with financial instability and insecurities. What does it mean to you to be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to to be able to provide so much for your daughter without that level of stress? I'm so glad you asked me that question. It's everything. Even to the degree that, like, you know, I'm raising her in an environment that, you know,

isn't the same as everybody's, you know. Her dad is a pop star. Her mom is a model. And certain things that she does in life might not, you know, always reflect what other people's understanding of reality is, you know. So I think I gave her a bit too much money from the tooth fairy. How much are we talking? 500 quid?

Zane. It's her first tooth. Hold on. And her mom gave me shit about it. And I was like, at the end of the day, like, I work my ass off. And like, I should be able to give my kid what I want to give her, you know? Hold on, hold on. I may have to agree with her mom on this.

Hold on. Yeah, a lot of people do. $500 for one tooth. Yeah. It's a first tooth, though. But then what's going to have to be? with the second one. She gets five. Yeah, that's it. The first two, I'm going to keep that one and frame it. She's like, Dad, what is this shit? It's like a $1 bill. She's like,

yeah, that's it. Two fairies gone broke now. She's not giving you anything else. Oh my God, $500 is so crazy. But also, every person is so jealous right now being like, wow. She's my first kid. I know. Give me a break. Somebody. Please. Okay, I do give you a break. Not you. I'm just saying people in general, like, obviously look at a set type of way, but look, at the end of the day, I was looking if I got anything from my teeth, you know? And I've worked really hard for everything I've earned, so I don't feel like I should have to

answer for them things, you know? I think it's a great point. I think I obviously don't have kids yet, but I think a lot of becoming a parent is trying to write the wrongs of things that you wish. And there's definitely that too, you know what I mean? That like feeling of, you know, I didn't get to do this, so I want you to be able to feel this. And I overcompens it a little bit too much sometimes for that. Yeah, for sure.

All my hands up. Well, it's also coming from such a genuinely good place, like you saying, like, I'm so excited that I'm able to give this to her. To do it for her. Yeah. No one ever did that for me. You said she's obviously like your only kid. Like, would you want more kids ever? I do. Yeah.

It's not something of like I'm like actively trying to pursue. But yeah, for sure, I would like more kids. Obviously, Kai would have to approve, too, because she's got the highest opinion, you know. But yeah, never say never. I love that, too. She'd be the full head honcho, like she's the oldest. Would you want big or smaller?

Like, would you want a lot of kids? Like a big family. Oh, yeah, definitely. I come from a big family. I've seen some in a stand-up show the other day, and this guy was talking on stage, and he was like, you know, When I used to watch Full House, like, as a kid, if that was any other ethnicity family,

it would just be called House, not full house. And I was like, it's so true because we had like 15 people in the house all day, every day, you know. So, yeah, some I'm used to, I'm enjoying the, you know, the peace and quiet of it, just being me and Kai. But eventually, yeah, like I'd like to lean into that. Yeah, maybe I'd say like, maybe four. No more than four. Okay, no more. Yeah.

And then you get four and you're like, okay, one more. Maybe. We'll see. We'll see. I guess I'd have to find a partner first. Yeah, wait, shit. We'll get there. We'll get there. We'll talk about dating. I have to ask her as well. It's not really on me. You're like, we can pretend all day, Alex, but... It's really up to the woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you think, though, your upbringing has also influenced your parenting style now? I thought my upbringing was going to influence my parenting style in a way that I would be super strict and, like, you know, a regiment.

with everything and it's a complete opposite. Like, um, I do not care to admit that I'm a complete push over when it comes to my daughter. She looks at me a type of way and I just kind of just like melt a little bit and then just give it to her. Like what is an example she gets away with? Uh, whenever she wants like a candy or something that she's not meant to be having or it's a bit late and she don't want to go to sleep. She's like, can I watch one more cartoon and I'm like, yeah, you can't. Yeah. Yeah. I love that for Kai. Um, you told me that. Um, you told me that spending time with your daughter has helped you reconnect with your own inner child. What has that looked like for you over the years?

My own inner child has always been pretty loud and prominent in my personality. I think it's the reason I'm a creative. I like painting and doing things that might be more appealing to people of a younger age. But since doing it with her, she's just kind of brought a lot of things back for me. like how much I enjoy doing them things, you know, during the day watching cartoons, things like that, like watching films and just enjoying kiddie stuff with her, you know, messing around with Play-Doh and sand and all the messy shit. All the good stuff. No glitter, though. Glitter's not allowed in my house. Why?

Because I hate it. I hate clitor. So she came to you and said, Dad. She's not allowed. She won't even ask me. She'll be hiding little vows of glitter to put on her artwork. What bad experience did you have with glitter? Glitter goes everywhere, it gets on everything, gets stuck on your face and your eyes and your nose. Okay.

So that's where you will not be a push-over. So I draw the line. Okay. Good to know. It's glitter. Glitter. Glitter. Zane's line is glitter for his daughter. Got it. You became a dad at 27 years old. That's pretty young. When you look back, what do you remember feeling?

Like, were you scared at all? Were you nervous? Yeah, definitely. I was very nervous. Yeah. It's something I always really looked forward to. And I remember my parents even saying to me, my father used to say to me, oh, when you have a kid yourself, that's when you're going to grow up, you know. So it was always like this hinge point in my mind where I was like, oh, when I get there, this

will happen, you know. So I was kind of just expecting a lot of things to happen that didn't and kind of, you know, over-empting or pre-empting what, you know, was going to be the situation and just putting, you you know, 80 years of pressure over a lifespan on myself in five minutes to finding out that my girlfriend's pregnant, you know what I mean? So it was a lot. But in reality, it's been, it's been completely different, you know, you take it a day at a time. And she's such an amazing human being that I just feel honored, really, without sounding too cheesy to just be her dad and be around it. Yeah. Isn't that so weird, though, like when you grow up,

you have these ideas of adults and then you become an adult and you're like, wait, being an adult It's kind of like you're not actually an adult. Oh, nobody has a fucking clue what they're doing. No one ever did. Everyone was just lying to me. It's so crazy. We look at our parents and we're like, oh my God, like you're so old. I'm going to be like,

all figured out. You know everything. But yeah, they don't know anything. They don't know anything. They're just as scared as you. Right. So I do think it's also weird. It's like when you hit these milestones in life, we have a expectation of exactly what

we're going to feel like, oh, I'll be changed. I'll be better. I'll be this. And then you get there. And it's like you're still the same person. Like your life doesn't just change completely. overnight like that. So it is helpful as you go through those big life stages to kind of give yourself grace in those moments to be like, huh. So then everyone must feel this way. It's not just me,

right? You would hope so anyway. Okay, we have to talk a little bit about dating, which I already feel like I know your answer. De Dea. No. What? We have to talk about D-Day. What did you just say? Did you just say D-Day? No, dating. Dating. I thought you said we have to talk about D-Day. I was like, what is this? I don't even know what this is. D-day. D-day. D-d-d-d-d-ing. Which maybe to you feels like me asking about D-Day because you're like, that's like Freudian moment. You're like, no, wait, what? DJ. Fuck.

Are you seeing anyone right now? No. I knew you were going to say that. Not even like texting. Okay. That's fair. You're not dating. You're just talking.

I've got a few friends, yeah. But no, no, I'm not dating anybody. Okay. So a few friends. You went on Tinder one. right? Did you ever make it out of the app? No one ever believed it was me, to be honest with you, so it didn't really work for it. But yeah.

What was your profile picture? Of me? But like was it from Google? No. No, it's no app, like camera or pictures? Okay, so like it wasn't online that you could find it? No, no. Well, that's like the tell. They should have known it was doing. Yeah, but what they're going to do, search online?

Is this photo from online? So dating apps are not for you anymore? Not really. How has being a dad impacted the way? that you approach dating right now? I don't know if being a dad's changed to where I approach dating. I guess the only difference with that is the time, you know? Like I said, when I'm not working, I'm with Kai.

So, like, finding the time to even go on dates and do that kind of stuff is a bit difficult, I'll be honest with it. What would it take for you to introduce someone to your daughter? I think I'd have to be really serious about that woman. and like maybe plan on marrying her before she'd be introduced to my daughter. But before the woman gets a ring, she's going to meet Kai, right? You're like wedding. I'd have to decide.

No, man, like maybe like on the third day I'm like, yeah, I'm going to marry this woman. Nah, you can meet my bird. You can meet my daughter, sorry, yeah. My daughter can meet my bird. Or you can meet my chickens. It's up to you. Hold on, hold on. You're saying that.

Bird is a northern... You call bird. female your bird. Okay, okay. I was like she's meeting the chickens. No, she's meeting my girlfriend. Maybe the girlfriend first meets the girls. Yeah, the chickens. Then the turtles, and then slowly, if the vibe is right, Kai one day. I just feel like it's a lot of pressure, you know, like, call me old school when I said this, but like, I won't want to ever put that kind of pressure on somebody else even, you know, like meet my daughter, have a relationship with her, then don't work out between me and you, and then you've gone somewhere, my daughter's got this relationship

with you and she don't get to see you again, kind of sucks, you know? Like, I wouldn't want to put her through that. It's kind of on me, so I feel like I have to be smarter about that. And obviously, I'm joking. Like, maybe if I was dating a bird for, like, a decent amount of time, five, six months properly and we'll get serious. And I'd say, oh, yeah, like, do you want to meet my daughter, you know? When I know she's not crazy.

Yeah, yeah. You need to, like, really make sure you're, like, putting her through tests. And finally you're like, okay, you have passed the not crazy test. Now is the next step. You've obviously been in a public relationship before. Would you be open to that again? Or are we going full private? No.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm not looking for a public relationship again and just out of experience, no, you know, offense to anybody that I have been in public relationships before. I've just learned from it that it don't work for me, you know. I'm quite a private person. I don't really strive for people. you know, approval or attention. So the relationship should really be between me and that person. And I think that personality type would somebody who doesn't want to do that would be more

suited to me, you know. Oh man, maybe you're going to find like a Pennsylvania batty. Because like girls in Pennsylvania don't expect, you know. Some bad Amish bird. Yeah. And they're like, oh, I didn't expect this life in like the limelight. Like, it's fine if we never leave the farm. Yeah. Okay, keep me updated. Good to know. All the girls in Pennsylvania are like, I must find him back on the dating apps. For 10 really formative years of your life,

from 17 to about 27, you were in serious relationships. This is kind of the longest you've ever publicly been single. What was the scariest part of being alone for the first time? Again. You didn't care. I don't find being alone scared. Like, again, I think it links to the other question you asked me about, like, how you cool with yourself.

I'm cool with myself. I like my own thoughts. I like to do things myself. I like to be in my own company. I'm not codependent like that at all. Even with my parents, like, I love them, I respect them. They're always there if I need them. But I'm not codependent on them.

You know, I don't need to speak to them every single day and check things with them. So it wasn't really scary for me. Honestly, again, no disrespect to all the past relationships I've been in because people tend to take things out of context. No disrespect at all. It was freeing. Like I am that type of person who, you know, runs on my own clock, answers to myself. So it was so freeing to me. I could just do things, make plans, sleep into whatever time I want. You know what I mean? It's nice. Like go to bed whatever time I want, eat what I want, like eating the bed.

All kinds of shit, you know, that like is not cool when you're in a couple. So, yeah, it's just being freeing for me and no pressure, you know. Like, I can't really get in trouble that way either, you know. Tend to get in trouble in relationships too, because I was young and, you know, did certain things, you know, spoke to other females when I shouldn't have been, as most people do. You live and learn from it. But this way, there's no guilt, you know?

I can just be free and speak to whoever I want. And, you know, hopefully if I meet somebody that I want to be serious with, I'll have spent enough time in this place to know that I want to be with that person and be committed to them. It's a great point. Like, you can acknowledge you messed up when you were younger and you're not proud of it, but also, like, unless you're ready to get into a relationship where you know you can be faithful. I don't keep doing the same thing, you know. Yeah.

But, okay, I feel like there's a difference between enjoying your own company and then self-isolation. Have you ever intentionally? Self-isolated? Yes. To a certain degree, I think I did a little bit, like, after the band, you know, like I took a bit of time to myself. But I wouldn't say it's complete isolation. I always still have people around, you know.

My manager's always around that works with me and, like, my best friends come out and see me from time to time. Not as much as I'd like, because it is quite a long flight. But I wouldn't say it's like self-isolation. It's more just, like, removing myself from the noise for a bit. You said that you're finally in a place now where you don't need another person to identify or find yourself in. That's what we're talking about. How in the past were you losing yourself in past relationships?

I don't know if I was necessarily losing myself. I just felt like there was so many things I had to do in order for this other person to be happy. And things that I didn't necessarily find enjoyment in, you know, like I'm not the type of dude that likes to go to five-star Michelin restaurants every night and get pictures. and, you know, go here and go there. This person's invited you and they're really famous, so you should go hang out with them. I'm like, you know, because we've both got the same job, you're just going to put us on a play date.

Yeah, for me, like, it doesn't make sense like that. Yeah. So, yeah, I just tend to just stay away from them things. It's actually the best thing you've said today. I don't want to go on a play date with other famous people. Sue me. It's refreshing. But I think it's hard to not get caught.

up in that because I think there's so many people that can be like, this is how it goes. When you get famous, this is what you do. So many people have so much value on that too. You know, the way the world runs is like, you know, who you're associated with is a reflective reflection of you. And people use that and, you know, social media to put off a false portrayance of whatever their life is and everything's hunky dory and fairies and rainbows. And in reality, it doesn't quite work like that.

I'm happy that I feel like enough people now are starting to see through that. like so many people doing things for social media. And then the minute it happens or it's posted, a lot of times if you know the person, you're like, we, that is like not, they're not even that happy. Like that's literally bullshit. Like I just saw them crying at the club the other night, but they're like, they're miserable. So it's like that is such a sad and isolating life to live. And I have actually empathy for it because it's probably like feels very validating in the moment,

but it's almost like a quick dopamine hit and then it's over. And so it's- It usually stands from insecurity, right? Yes, yes. And so you're sitting here being like, you've done so much work on yourself. You've always felt pretty good alone. And so now you need someone that can kind of meet you there instead, which is amazing. I'd like that, yeah.

I also feel like your 20s are all about making mistakes and figuring yourself out. And now in your 30s, you're really coming into your own. I asked you when I first interviewed you to describe yourself in three words. Yeah. What do you think you said? I have no idea. I probably said that's really difficult. I think you did say that, but then I forced you to answer.

Okay, give me three words that you would describe yourself as now. Then let's see if it's the same. I think one of the words was definitely chill. I don't know if it was. Correct. Chill is on there. Two more. All right now I would say chill, chill, chill and chill.

Zane. No, I'm joking. It's hard for me. I don't really like to talk about myself in that way, you know, like to give myself an adjective. Well, you did it three years ago. Did it? Do you want to know? Yeah, I do, yeah.

Chill, funny, loving guy. Oh, there you go. Yeah, I like that. That's my guy there. You're like, hey, I like him. Do you still relate? Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Okay. I think so. Love that. You said in an interview that you don't know if you've ever truly been in love. Do you still stand by that? Yeah. Yeah. Because, like, my understanding of love is always developing, you know?

at that moment in time, I might have thought it was love, but as I got older, I realized maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was lost, maybe it was this, maybe it was that. I don't feel like it was love. And to be fair, just to say this on record, I will always love Jay because she is the reason my child isn't on this earth and I have the utmost respect for her.

I will always love her, or I don't know if I was ever in love with her. ever in love with her. Yeah. I mean, I can imagine there's so much pressure. I agree. And I'm, and even you having to clarify, like, everyone's always probably like, what, like, what are you because before even when I said it, I think people took it a type of way. So I'm just like, yo, I have so much respect for this woman and I do love her a crazy amount. But yeah, no, but I don't think I was in love with her at that point. Otherwise, I would have been a better version of myself. Yeah. I think that's fair to say. Um, anxiety.

We talked about it when you came on the show last time. How are you managing those feelings today? Again, I think I said this to before, but anxiety is a thing that I think all of us are dealing with. We just now have a word to explain it. And you feel that in small increments throughout your day. Certain situation might make you feel something. But one thing I've learned since becoming a father is that it's good to overcome them feelings and push through it. because, you know, I'm sat here all the time telling my daughter to do things and, you know, just get over it, you'll be fine, you'll be cool.

And I'm a bit of apricer if I'm not doing that myself. Yeah. You went from disappearing from the public eye, essentially, to now coming back, doing a Vegas residency and a full stadium and arena tour. What shifted for you in that headspace? I think it was around like 2020. I was wanting to go back on tour anywhere. Like whenever I drive past the arena or something, I was like, I won't mind performing there?

What's this arena called? I kept asking the question and it was kind of going to happen. And then COVID came and destroyed the entire world. So, you know, that old saying, if you want to make God laugh, try to come up with your own plan. And then when that happened, it just spurred me further. this want and desire to like kind of be back on stage. And again, I know I always bring it back to Kai since she's being born,

but it's kind of just wanting to show her that like I can do it. And like, this is what your dad does, you know? This is my job. Yeah, I don't want it to be watching old videos of me in the band, you know? Like, it doesn't even really look like me anymore. You're like I'm way more handsome now, guys. I appreciate it. Do you think that your vocals have gotten better since then too?

I'd like to think so. Yeah. I think so. Appreciate it. When you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, what does help calm you down? Weed. Okay. Are you growing that on the farm too?

I'm joking. Is it legal? No, I aren't growing that on the farm. No, I don't think that's legal, actually. But, yeah, no, honestly, meditation, mindfulness, you know, being grateful for things. Are you doing meditation apps or are you doing it just alone? Myself, yeah, just sit and breathe and think about things in nice, quiet, you know, contemplative place and think about things. And I think it always is helpful to name like three things you're grateful for and everything else kind of like subsides a little bit. Should we do that right now?

Yeah. What are three things you're grateful for? For Kai. First and foremost, grateful for my career. and I'm grateful for my family. Wow, beautiful. Throughout your career, there have been instances and kind of like what you were just talking about,

like so much pressure on you where people are going to take things out of context and looking at you, like, there have been a few instances where people are looking for you to respond publicly during an emotional, personal situation. Like, how do you handle that pressure?

Again, it's not really a pressure. Like, I feel like there's a pressure on you if you feel a need to argue a point or, you know, you feel so adamant that you, you know, you need to rectify what's being said. Me personally, if it's not true, I don't give a shit. Like, there's so many things that people say that are untrue. And if I were going to sit there and go through all them things, I won't have any time in my day to do anything else.

Like, so I just try not to think about it. I'm not really a social media person. I don't have social media on my phone. If there's something that's going on social media, I speak to my manager or my assistant and say, put this up on social media. I don't scroll, don't do the doom scrolling shit. So don't see anything.

You know, I just kind of live in my own world. And it's nice. There isn't no pressure for me in that sense because I don't allow that pressure to be in my life. That's great. Obviously, you have been on massive tours before, but during those you were on the stage, with other people, this time you're out there by yourself.

How are you approaching it? And how does it feel different than having four people standing next to you? Yeah, the first couple of shows I did on the stairway to the sky at all, it was kind of weird, you know. I'd done a couple of odd songs here and there, like on TV shows and stuff, like one song, but I'd not done like a whole show. So yeah, it was a little bit strange, you know. I took a little bit of adjustment, not being able to look to somebody else singing, but I

I have my band on stage with me. But yeah, not much conscious decision-making, like, oh, I'm going to do this different from the band. What can fans, if they haven't been, expect from a Zane show? Hopefully, some decent vocals. Not too much movement. Me just kind of stood, center stage. Would you ever do a little dance?

It's not really my thing. I've self-professed always to never really be a dancer in that sense. I don't think I take myself serious enough to like pull that up, you know? Why can I like not picture you dancing? Because it's just a weird thought. Even even if you put me on AI dancing, it looks a bit weird. You're like that just that's definitely I. You're like if you see me dancing online, that is AI.

That was never me. You recently are, I know you said you don't have social media, but I'm assuming this has come back to you. You are all over the internet right now because you made it. joke the other night on stage about people's high ticket prices. I never specified no names, you know? People have high ticket prices all over the place. Could we be talking about anybody? Take it as you want.

There. Okay, can we talk about your new music? What themes are you really diving into on this album? Yeah, so the new album, Conoco, is the derivative of, a lot of inspiration from, you know, my Indian heritage and culture. I've always put, you know, like little soul things in there, little ad libs here and there, even on Dustal Dome with Sia. And it's something I've always liked to show the world, you know, like I can sing like this too.

So we went into that a little bit more. Conoco is, in its definition, is the act of creating percussive sounds with your voice. So like drum sounds. So I made a lot of the production out of my own voice. So I'm singing like layers and layers of different vocals to make the beat. And once we started doing it, like first three, four songs, I was like, yeah, the whole record needs to be like this. So just letting into that and drew a lot of inspiration from that, yeah. So when we're listening to this, we can know that a lot of what we're hearing is actually your own voice.

Is my voice, even the drum sounds and stuff. on some of them. Yeah, like they're being affected to make them sound like a drum, but I'm singing it. Oh, that's sick. Da, da, da, da, da, da ma-d-da, da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da that's the drum rhythm too. Wait, that makes it even, even, this is just giving me even more color to what to expect. That's incredible. Can you tell me a little bit about your new single die for me? I've had that song for years. Okay. I've had that song for like five, six years, I think. I had it even before room. Um, caught it a while ago.

And it was just a great song, but it didn't feel like it fit on Room, because Room was such a raw, like, different kind of like single songwriter project thing. Um, that it felt too, you know, produced and too clean and crisp. But I didn't write that song. Yeah. I have no problem professing when I don't write songs either. It was just a banger of a song. I heard it and they asked if I wanted it.

So I said, yeah, and I caught it and it turned out really well. Yeah. Did you relate to any of the themes of like... For sure. Yeah. I'd be silly if I didn't relate to the themes. I did, definitely. But I also felt the power of the song.

It feels like it's a big radio song. And I wanted to come back with that kind of energy, you know. When you are personally writing and you're writing about a specific situation or a specific person, like, have you ever shown people music ahead of time that's going to be about them or are you like, no way? If it's about them, never. No. Yeah.

Have you had people call you and be like, Zane, is this one about me? Honestly, I think if anyone knows me, like, they know it was about them, you know? Like, they don't need to call me. Like, they know me well enough at that point. They're like, this song's definitely about me. They're like, oh, shit. Yeah. What song of yours from this album were you the most nervous to have be released?

That's interesting. There's a few songs on there. There's a song on there called Side Effects that was a bit like, I don't know if I want to put this out. And then the more and more I listened to it, I was like, you know what, it's, it's honest, you know, it lives in reality. And I'm sure so many people have felt this way. So for that reason, I was like, it needs to go on there. Yeah, it's real. The theme of that one, I'm pretty sure, is the one where you kind of talk about the shortcomings. Is that one of kind of being someone who has... Yeah, like the side effects of loving me, you know,

instead of like how you made me feel from loving you. It's like, I understand that I might have made you feel the type of way too, you know what I mean? It's pretty mature. Self-admittance. Yeah. It takes a lot to admit that it does take two to tango. And when there's issues, it's not just one person. We have obviously discussed your pretty private person.

Like, how do you decide when you want to share parts of your life in music? Because that, again, like people can read into things. Like, how much do you put thought into that? For me, it's like, at the end of the day, I can. could right now after this interview go on Twitter or I could go on Instagram and I could put some a real cheap up on there, you know what I mean, get a quick reaction. For me, with the music, it has so much more class to it. It's poetry. There's thought going into it. There's production. It's classy, you know? So that's why I'm like, yeah, I'll talk about these things here

because it's art and it stays there. It's not just a random fucking text. You know what I mean? It's not a tweet. No, it's not a tweet. You're like, just listen to it in the song, okay? I said enough. How do you feel when people try to connect the dots of, oh my gosh, speculating about these lyrics must be about this person? People are always going to do that.

You know, even if I bring the song out next week about, you know, I always wanted to be a clown and be in the circus, people would be like, oh, shit, so they wanted to be a clown in the circus, you know what I mean? Yeah. I don't really feel the type of way about it. Like, they're always going to say something. And the music that I use and the songs that I write myself usually have some correlation to my reality too. So I'm cool with that.

Yeah. They can connect the dots wherever they want. They might not always connect them correctly, but that's what makes it interesting. Yeah. Okay. Top three favorite songs from the album. Top favorite three. Okay.

Used to the blues is definitely my favorite, I think. It's just different. It feels a bit different. for a Zen song. So it got a bit more of a hip-hop production to it. That really liked side effects and there's another song called Sideways. Okay. Favorite lyric? I miss looking at you sideways. When did you come up with that one? A while ago. It's been in your notes app. You were wondering when you should...

When do I release this to the world? And when you write something like that, is that you sitting, on the farm, daydreaming or meditating, having a thought and being like, that's an interesting line and then you write it down. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much, yeah. When do you think you have those revelations of a new lyric the most? Like, are you, is it when you're in the studio? Is it when you're just chilling at home? Usually the best lyrics, yeah, they don't come like when you've planned to be in the studio.

You can plan as much as you want, but my lyrics usually come to me late at night. Like, I'm a bit of a night owl. That time just before you go to sleep is a weird one for me, because I don't go to sleep. I just stay awake, like writing things, because my mind's just going crazy at that time. But in this, like, studio run, I managed to get a lot out in the studio session. So I think it just really depends. You know, if you've got a bit of information,

information pent up, ready to go, it'll be there for you. If you're not really living in any life, doing anything, then probably not going to have shit to talk about. You know what I mean? Yeah, I just thought about that. As you're saying, a lot of things come to you at night. I'm like, okay, I miss looking at you sideways. I'm assuming is basically you're like laying in bed and you're staring at each other while your heads are both on the pillow and you can't help but think like, yeah, that may have come to you while you were laying there wishing that person was there. Yeah. Okay. Love that. Okay, what are you most proud of with this album? Honestly, the fact that people still give a shit. I'll be honest with you, like five solo albums now. I was just buzzing that, you know, I got to do a first one.

Like after the band, like, people seem to care, you know. Some five records deep now. So I guess I'm really proud of the progression and just the development and understanding of myself. through my music, you know? What do you want fans to take from this album? I want them to get a bit more insight on, you know, maybe my culture and heritage, and maybe even, you know, find a new word. I don't know if too many people are

familiar with the word Conoco. Yeah. Okay. When you think back to who you were, when you first started your career, to who you are sitting here today, how would you describe your evolution as an artist? Fucking huge arc, you know. From standing on stage in Manchester, singing Mario, let me love you. Acapella, not knowing what production was, anything, wearing my uncle's clothes.

There's been a bit of progression, you know, I'd like to say, I've developed my own style a little bit, I know a bit more about music, I know what keys now, I know what pitches, all these things that I had no clue of yeah so there's been a lot of development but I think again just to bring it back there the most development has been in me as a human being you know like just growing yeah what do you think overall when you look back at that young boy on that stage singing Mario let me love you to now like what do you wish big balls no literally big balls 70 you okay don't have a clue he's so

confident what is you doing? So cute. Is there anything at that point you wish you could have told your younger self now? I say it all the time. Yeah. I wish I could go back to that 17 year version me and say well done like for being that brave like because I don't know if if somebody asked me in my 30s if I had no experience before would you go standing singing front of Sam and Carl or I would have done it you know I would be like no no way. Wow and look where it got you yeah it was an honor to sit down with you again. I think back to being in Pennsylvania with you. I remember, well, first of all, that was just so weird because you literally walked through my parents' house. And I was like, I'm struggling. Like, you're walking through my parents' doors and like, I grew up here.

It was so nice, though. It was so cool. It was such a different environment. Like, for me to be in, like, a house and doing an interview. I think that's why the interview went well. It felt good and and relaxed and sure. It didn't feel like an intrusive interview. It felt like we were just chatting as friends. It was really fun. And you were so sweet. And you brought me a housewarming gifts, I got you some more stuff as well. Zane, you got me so much stuff. My team was like, do you want to come see all this? I was like, you bought me basically everything I could have thought of and more.

I heard that you like all the same stuff as me, so I was like, yeah, I'm going to have to send you some stuff. All the snacks, all the merch. I pull up loads of British stuff in there. I know. I saw it. Trust me. I've already gotten into it. I was eating the chips.

I was like, you're a real one. Thank you. But no, it's been really cool to get to know you. And I think like my favorite thing about my job is to get to progress with someone where it's like we met at a certain period in time and then to now sit here with you like you feel more relaxed. Like you feel more at ease. And I don't know what you would attribute that to, but like I can feel it in you and it's really cool to see that. I appreciate you saying that. Yeah.

No, obviously that interview that we did was like one of the first interviews I've done in a long time. So again, it's that like anxiety, you know, preempting what. what the situation is going to be and then you're there and it's very different, you know. It has been three years since then. I've been working a lot more, been getting into the rhythm of things, and I feel a lot more chill and a lot more confident, you know, in this environment. And I'm enjoying myself for it. Well, I'm happy you called me and I think we're going to have to do this again in three years.

Let's do it. You guys didn't actually think we were done yet, did you? Zane and I obviously have a little surprise to end the night. So, let's go. You have to stop giving you gifts. Zane. It's just noodles. It's not nothing that expensive.

It's some crisper noodles. I'm dead at this. Yeah. Stick the chips in the noodles. Yeah. And I got you this too. Jane, how much have you spent on the boo-boos? We won't discuss that on camp.

Don't know. Welcome. Oh my God, wait, Zane, this is sick. It's like the calm before the storm. I am so happy we got. out to reunite. Thank you so much for just letting me into the behind the scenes of your world. I'm so happy for you. This has been such a massive success. I can't wait for the album. And more importantly, I can't wait to see you out there tonight.

Thank you so much. Love you. You're the best. I hope you have a good time tonight. Oh my god, I will. I'll put on a good show for you. Dance for us out there. All right, yeah. I'm like not a chance. Bye, Zane. See you later, Alex.

All right, who wants to hear my next single? Die for me. Here it is. everything I tried and I tried to love you through anything talk to each other we never be what would you say that to me lines to your face and this was just the truth