Drummer Stephen Peck, who performed on Zao's 2004 album "Funeral of God" left the band in July 2005. Taking over the drumming role was "longtime friend" Jeff Gretz.



Peck had joined Zao in 2003, after the departure of initial drummer and founding member Jesse Smith.



Breath-taking percussion has always been a part of the Zao sound and Stephen Peck brought his own bag of tricks into the mix - as well as a more than capable handle on the back catalog - when he joined the band shortly before the recording of "The Funeral Of God." Stephen's relationship with the other guys in Zao wantall the way back to middle school, where he and Russ Cogdell played drums together in the marching band.



Dave Abbruzzese's playing, on Pearl Jam's debut album "Ten," inspired Peck to take on rock drums. Stephen played in a band with Scott Mellinger in high school and, in the mid-90s, joined Russ and Dan in the band Seasons In The Field.



In 1999, long after the band had broken up, Seasons In The Field released a split-CD with Pensive, whose Brett Detar would go on to be a part of the "Blood and Fire" line-up of Zao as well as The Juliana Theory. Stephen's high school job at a local movie theater - where all of the members of Zao worked at one time another - introduced him to Koschik.



The two would join musical forces together, along with Russ and Scott, in Jade Meridian, which eventually led to Zao's stable line-up - that is, until July 2005 when Stephen Peck decided to quit and was followed up by Jeff Gretz.



Current projecs Peck is involved in include Jade Meridian and The States Of Melba.