Zicky Dice Is A ‘Heartbreaker’ On His Band’s New Album, Talks Comparisons To Chris Jericho
Zicky Dice is quickly becoming a big name in the world of wrestling with the NWA, but he’s returning to his roots with his band Heart To Heart’s new record called Heartbreaker.
Zicky Dice (Nick Zoppo) recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Kevin Kellam about joining the ranks of the NWA as well as the new EP from InVogue Records, out today. The first single “Insufferable” was released last month, and Dice talked about the band’s origins in California and how he’s still “part of the circus”—albeit in a different ring.
“We started out in 2009 so we’ve been around for a little bit. We started off DIY in mom’s garage, getting the cops called on us, all of that. Eventually, we got picked up by Anchor Eighty Four Records, from there we did some touring off of our self-titled record. Then we got picked up by Pure Noise Records, and we released another album,” Dice said, “from there we were getting bigger tours, we were on the Vans Warped Tour in 2014. In 2015 our last tour before taking a hiatus was with Four Year Strong, Comeback Kid, Handguns—that’s where music met my wrestling career. Five years in February to the day is when I made the decision to transfer over from one end of the circus to the other. Here I am, same circus, different ring.”
Zicky’s schedule is pretty full these days between commitments to music and wrestling, but he says it’s a big opportunity for him to use this momentum to break out. He says Zicky comes first these days, but he’s very proud of the new music and says it’s the same band people have come to enjoy, with a new spin.
“We just announced the record release show on Valentine’s Day in my hometown—we’ll be doing some pop-up shows too. A tour? I don’t know, maybe, but we do have a brand new record Heartbreaker on InVogue Records and it’s something we’ve been working on for a while. Even when I was living in Chicago, working and training,” Zicky said, “this record has been in the works. I feel like we’ve matured a little bit—it’s cliche to say and every band says ‘this is our best stuff’ but it really is. You get a different dynamic with the band and a different angle; it’s still the same Heart To Heart brought to you by Nick Zoppo but it’s a little different spin on it.”
Since he’s a rock star and wrestler, Zicky knows there’s going to be an obvious comparison to AEW star and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho, who has found his own success in both worlds. Zicky says the comparison to Jericho is pretty cool and notes that some fans are now finding out about his wrestling career through his music.
“No, not at all, it’s cool to hear. Let me put it to you this way—people that are just now finding out about Heart To Heart, for all they knew [the band] popped up last week. But the people that have been following [us], they’re like ’oh he’s a wrestler now?’ It’s cool to cross into both worlds,” Zicky said, “and being compared doesn’t bug me at all. There’s a new generation coming in and if that’s what I’m being compared to, so be it.”
Related: Zicky Dice On Introducing The World To His ‘Outlandish’ Persona Through NWA, Character Inspirations