Zarathustra was formed in 2001 (though it was not officially named until later) by Nash Courville and Sam Gilkey, who met at the University of Southern Mississippi. Looking to challenge themselves as well as their audience, Gilkey and Courville decided to attempt a style that would connect music with literature, art, and ideas--an ambitious concept which gave rise to the name Zarathustra, in reference to the work of philosopher Friedrich Nietzche. The band began as a 3 piece with Courville on guitar and vocals, Gilkey on bass, and friend Joshua Staunton on drums.

In 2002 the band acquired Jordan May on keyboards, and Staunton left the band to be replaced by drummer Adam Brown. May's unique keyboard style and Brown's dynamic drumming aided the group in defining their original sound, and after a year of writing and rehearsing, the band recorded their first self-produced CD in the fall of 2003 and began playing shows locally. In the spring of 2004 Brown left the band, and the following 6 months were spent finding a capable replacement. This position was filled by Rob Delmas, whose skillfull drumming helped the group to further refine the sound they had already begun creating.

In December of 2005 the band began recording another self-produced EP featuring new material and the updated line-up. This was completed and released to live audiences and local radio stations in June of 2006 and found rave reviews by new listeners and fans who had enjoyed Zarathustra’s live shows for years. The band is currently working on setting up a series of live regional shows and has plans of going into the studio again in 2007…