Going under the name Zenxith (pronounced zenith), Newcastle upon Tyne-based Daniel McGee has only been making music for around four years or so but has somehow already managed to record a staggering fifteen albums of his own songs, including “Magnifying Glass” in January 2023, “From The Cold Corners Of My Room” in September 2024, and on through to “Curse Of The Atom,” a brand new album release this month, August 2025.

He sings and plays all the instruments himself as well as putting together each of the albums for release. The recording and mastering is all done at his basic home studio, and he also creates each of the album cover designs. All Zenxith albums are available through Bandcamp as online digital versions or, as physical items, on limited-run cassette tape and CD. In addition, a number of songs have also been selected for release on lathe-cut 7” 45 rpm singles which come in a picture sleeve. So far, these have only been pressed up in very limited numbers. The first of the lathe cut singles, “Control Pad,” featured a contribution from Andy Blade from original London punk group Eater. Daniel’s own label, Salt Mine Records, is responsible for issuing all Zenxith releases.

I first became aware of Zenxith after seeing a post advertising a cassette copy of one of his albums, so I duly visited his Bandcamp page and, after hearing just a few songs, I was impressed enough that I wanted to hear more… and now I’m kind of hooked. Charm and naivety are in plentiful supply throughout his music; many of the tracks I’ve heard also have a kind of blue, almost fatalistic, or rather melancholic spirit going on behind the jangling guitar, tambourine and shakers, and basic drum tracks which are used to build up each of the songs. Well, all of this really struck a chord within, as well as kind of reminding me of the original DIY punk scene and its afterbirth, including some of those groups that can effect a cool garage/indie-pop or mod-psychedelic sound, none more so than one of my all-time favourite groups, the Television Personalities, who incidentally also happen to be one of Daniel’s top faves too.

So a few months later, in September 2023, the group which I sing and play guitar for, The Thanes, were opening for the now Dan Treacy-less Television Personalities in Edinburgh. They had already played a couple of gigs in London to celebrate the love lots of us have for Dan Treacy’s awe-inspiring song catalogue, and this was the first time the new-look TVPs line-up ventured north to play. Anyway, one of the group told me during the course of the evening that this young lad, Daniel McGee, and his dad (a TVPs fan from back when the group were indie-pop-art heroes operating with the classic line-up of Dan, Jowe and Jeff circa 80s/90s) had turned up at the gig they’d played the night before in Sunderland and introduced themselves. And then, as I began to explore more of Zenxith’s music, I also began corresponding with him, where we would discuss lots of stuff like the great punk records from the late 70s and beyond, as well as the designs on some of those groups’ record covers, plus our mutual love for the Television Personalities. Seeing as I too am foremost a TVPs fan and have been since hearing them on the John Peel show as a teenager in 1978, I also shared with him that I played drums for the TVPs between 1993-95, on tours across east coast USA, plus a short tour of Japan, as well as playing a bunch of gigs in the UK.

Anyway, as mentioned above, Zenxith has a brand new album out right now called “Curse Of The Atom,” and this one includes a track which I myself have contributed some guitar and backing vocals to, called “London Town.” I think it’s a really great little song, one that really harks back in a great way to that early TVPs sound. Anyway, I thought it would be a terrific idea to ask Daniel (Zenxith) a few questions so that our lovely readers here at It’s Psychedelic Baby can get to know and understand something about how Zenxith came into being and, perhaps, there will be some amongst you who will become so curious as to want to check out the music of Zenxith and maybe find out a little more for yourself. So, without any further digressions, here we go.

“I think the DIY part of it is really important for me.”

Lenny: So Daniel I’m just going to ask the most obvious question first and that is where did you come up with the name Zenxith, and can you tell us what it means?

Daniel: The name Zenxith actually comes from my old Xbox username from years ago. I must have been like 13 or something when I made it up. Based on the math and timeline of it all, it must have been 2015, and I’ve just kept the same name ever since. It was originally going to be just Zenith, but that was already taken, so I put an X in the middle, sorted. It also has no meaning, I just liked the way it looked and sounded, and I still do.

When did you begin listening to music for yourself, and when did the idea of playing music first come to you?

I got into music a little late I think. I was 15 when I first got into it, and my dad helped a lot with that. The first band I liked was The Stone Roses, and I was mad about them. That’s also when I got the fringe haircut, because I wanted to look like John Squire. In fact I even went into the barbers with a picture of John Squire on my phone and told them that’s what I want. Ever since then I’ve just got more and more into music. The first idea of playing was when I was 19 in late 2021, this is where I started writing and recording my own stuff, which is strange since I got my first guitar for my 16th birthday. Guess it took me 3 years before I started writing.

You’ve now made something like fifteen albums, and these are all pretty much done by yourself playing and singing everything, recording and mixing everything, and also physically creating all the CDs these albums are on. Can you tell us a little about some of the process that goes into this manufacturing of your own music from beginning to realising the end product?

Yeah I think the DIY part of it is really important for me. I just record everything into my phone in my room. The songs come from nowhere, just when I randomly pick the guitar up and I get an idea, I will sit down to record it with a drum machine loop behind it all. It normally takes me like an hour or two from start to finish. I produce and mix and write everything, basically I do everything myself. I’ll finish one album and instantly start on another just out of habit. It normally takes two or three months per album. I burn the music myself from my laptop to the discs and then stick the labels on and then put them in their covers and sell them on Bandcamp. I also ship everything myself.

About the only thing you don’t do entirely on your own is when you get some 7” vinyl made up as limited lathe cuts. Tell us a bit about that and how many of those you’ve made so far?

The records are really fun for me. I will design the sleeve and labels and just send off to a record pressing plant to make them for me. It’s been great doing them and I have the most fun with them. The first one I made was “Control Pad” (feat. Andy Blade). This only had 10 copies as it was the first time making them, so it’s pretty hard to get a hold of. In total I have made 7 records. I normally do around about 40 copies of each and I don’t plan to stop any time soon.

<a href="https://zenxith.bandcamp.com/album/the-curse-of-the-atom">The Curse Of The Atom by Zenxith</a>

You’ve only played a couple of gigs since you’ve been creating music as Zenxith, including one opening for Andy Blade, lead singer of original London punk band Eater, which I believe was in your home town Newcastle. How did this go and what are the difficulties in promoting your own music through the medium of live performances?

That gig was great yeah, a lot of fun, although I was heavily drunk and I think it affected my performance, but I don’t think anyone noticed or cared, just me. I don’t really enjoy doing the gigs as I don’t have a band and the music I make is layered with loads of stuff, so a live performance is just me and my guitar. It doesn’t really capture the same sound. It’s like an acoustic set but with an electric. I only did that Eater one because Andy asked me, and another I opened for some friends. Other than that, I’m a bedroom musician. I don’t think there are any solo indie pop musicians that do gigs, and if so I’ve not heard of them. Mostly it’s just full bands, I don’t think I fit.

With some of your early songs such as “I Wanna See Zenxith Dead,” “Die,” and “Do You Want To Kill Me” (all from the 2023 album “Magnifying Glass”) having quite a bit of a death trend, I just wondered what was going on there? Was it youthful existentialism or was it genuinely a troubling time? I have noticed a few more such themed songs throughout your albums but for the most part things appear to be a little less bleak than those. Would you like to elaborate a bit on that or is that something you’d rather not share?

I’ve always been afraid of death, growing old and dying. The song “Old Death” is a great example. As for the others I think I’ve just naturally sang about death, I’m not too sure why really. But that was the early stuff. Not so much now I talk about death, but I am still scared of death. Death is my biggest fear.

(As Daniel points out in the song “Old Death” from his 2023 “Electric Liberation” album, “I am so terrified of death.” This is followed up by the line “There is nothing that I can do,” which he repeats nine times as if truly trying to get a reasoned point across. Well, whether rational thought processes or otherwise, we can only hope Daniel McGee aka Zenxith will continue on for many years to come, sharing with us his singular musical vision and recording and releasing many more albums as he goes along.)

You use a lot of 1950s and 1960s images for the designs of your albums and singles. How did you get into all this old stuff and what are your most favourite images you’ve used so far?

Yeah literally pretty much every cover I’ve made I’ve used an old picture for it. If it’s a movie star or an old building or an old train station or just an old picture of casual life back in those days, I also take pictures from old books. In fact the first single I released back in 2022 titled “This Is Where It All Begun,” the cover art is from the first ever film which is the Roundhay Garden Scene from 1888. First single, first movie, fitting. As for my favourite cover pictures I would say probably the album “From The Corners Of My Cold Room,” which used a picture of the old 14th century Marmion Tower in North Yorkshire taken in 1896. Another favourite cover is probably the single “Saddest Girl In The World,” which used the old Greencroft Tower, which is sadly no longer there. A few other notable covers include “Brain In A Jar,” “Control Pad,” “The Curse Of The Atom,” “Broken Bricks,” “Heart Shaped Swimming Pool,” “A Little Windmill,” and “Goodbye!” I’m not really sure how I got into the old style pictures and stuff, I think a little of it is influenced from the TVPs, with Dan putting old movie stars and stuff on his covers, and my dad who likes old mod fashion and stuff like that, Cilla Black, Susan George, Twiggy and all stuff like that.

It’s now halfway through 2025 and you’re just about to release your latest album “Curse Of The Atom,” again on your own Salt Mine label. Can you share with us something about this new project and what plans you might have for the rest of the year? I must just also say here that I have contributed some guitar and backing vocals to one of your new album’s selections, the rather magical “London Town,” which was a hugely enjoyable experience for me, especially seeing as it’s one of your tunes that not only is a really great little song, but it’s one that also shows off (more than most) the influence of one of our mutual loves, that being, of course, the music made by London art mod indie punk psych heroes the Television Personalities.

I suppose the project is just the same as the other albums, same process, same style of songs, consistent I think. This is a sci-fi inspired album with many references throughout the album. As for plans for the rest of the year, I’ll probably do at least one more album and a few more 7” records. Yes “London Town” is directly targeted as a Television Personalities inspired track, which makes even more sense having you on the track. I’ve written many songs that reference the Television Personalities over the years, with them being my biggest inspiration for creating music. I even share the same name with the singer and songwriter Daniel.

Lenny Helsing

Zenxith Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp