Barzell was formed in 1997 by brothers Andrew Young (guitar, vocals) and Alex Young (drums), alongside Jonny Davis (bass) and Paul Herschell (guitar). The members met as students at Hutt Valley High and drew inspiration from bands like Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Quicksand, and Farside to play post-hardcore with hints of emo.

The band debuted in late 1997, placing third in a “battle of the bands” competition at Victoria University. In early 1998, they played their first proper shows supporting Auckland punk heavy-weights Sommerset at Epuni Hall in Lower Hutt and Aro Valley Hall in Wellington. A few months later they opened for UK punk legends The Varukers alongside Wellington’s Fatal Error.

In 1998, Barzell recorded at a makeshift studio in Petone with engineer Cary More, yielding two songs, “Trusted” and “Soapbox,” which later appeared on the compilation A Day In The Life (2000).

Throughout 1999 and 2000, Barzell played the local Wellington scene based around the all ages venues Thistle Hall and Underground Arts, as part of Wellington’s fourth wave of punk/ hardcore playing alongside bands such as Brubeck, Deaf Terrorists, Floorpie, and Channel 13. A notable highlight was their 1999 trip to Auckland to play at Witness’s final show at Ellen Melville Hall.

In February 2000, Barzell supported Swedish punk band Millencolin on their Pennybridge Pioneers album tour, hitting the stage at Saint James Cabaret alongside Wellington’s Brubeck. Later that year Barzell released a split EP, “The Valley 8”, with fellow Hutt Valley band Discenter, which Alex Young also played in.

Barzell played their last show, a finale gig at Valve with Brubeck and Blake in December, 2000. Shortly after this Andrew, Alex and Paul teamed up with ex-Discenter members Jonny Fairclough and Chris Vartan to form The Valley 5.

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Origin	Hutt Valley
Genre	post-hardcore, emo
Years Active	1997 – 2000
Associated Acts	Discenter, Brubeck The Valley Five
Past Members	Jonny Davis (bass) Paul Herschell (guitar) Andrew Young (guitar, vocals) Alex Young (drums)