REWIND to 1996, and the Citizen has been asked to find a band to support New Jersey stadium filllers Bon Jovi, at the National Bowl.

Naturally, we come up trumps, employing the help of music ace (now MK Dons Chairman) Pete Winkelman and celebrated producer GGGarth Richardson among our listening panel.

We had more than one hundred bands try their luck for the prestigious gig, but as they say on all those naff big-bucks, small produce television shows of late, there could only be one winner.

The band were Seven (later to be re-christened Fono), and that competition set them on a musical path and a half.

They released albums, toured with the Goo Goo Dolls, and locally were responsible for giving the new city a rehearsal facility to be proud of. Suddenly, bands had a space to call their own,

But time stops for no-one, and Fono didn’t want to jump off the musical ride.

So instead they rode it all the way – relocating to San Diego in California.

Perhaps it was the weather that swung it...

That was the best part of a decade back though, and though Fono have since bitten the dust - the band called time in 2008, front man Del Currie is still making music and having a ball.

So now it is time for us to introduce you to Zoo Seven, a new solo project from the fella, and things are going decidedly well for the former new city dweller.

The debut album Lifesaver is available to Download and the title track is a stomping, taut rock proposition if ever there was, but then Fono were always a band that knew how to pen an infectious tune, as some of you will no doubt recall.

Zoo Seven is having an exceptional time of it all too, with plenty of buzz surrounding this new opus.

In recent weeks the animal happy video for the track (if you’ve never before seen a moshing pig, you simply have to check out this striking animation...trust us) was featured on the Yahoo homepage. In one day alone more than 1000 viewers shared the footage back to their Facebook sites.

That isn’t media hype, just good old fashioned punter power. More exposure is coming via the Rock Band brand which has added the Zoo Seven track Painted to its repertoire. Although this is a one-man band so to speak, for recording purposes Del called on his former Fono ally, Andy Ridley. We will bring you more Zoo Seven details in the coming weeks, but there ain’t nothing like bending your ears and hearing the material to raise excitement, is there?We strongly suggest that you make tracks to www.zooseven.com where you can watch the video, catch up with all of the latest Zoo Seven happenings and – best of all, get your hands on a copy of that aforementioned album, which you can download for free.

You can thank us later.