A Cleveland transplant, Brandon began his career at the age of 17 playing bass for Tender Blindspot. A band that took him on his first major US tour.

 

Shortly afterwards, he landed a development deal with Island Records having formed the band Leo, with Ian Eddy. They embarked on many US tours and found themselves sharing the stage with the likes of Breaking Benjamin, American Hi-fi, Seether, Three Days Grace, Eve 6, Jimmy Eat World, and many others. They released “Nightmares” in 2007 on Dream Makers.

​

After Leo, Brandon immersed himself in a band called Dozen Dead Roses, (DDR) where he sang lead vocals and played guitar.  DDR collaborated with Rob Caggiano, of Anthrax, as well opening for Blindside at the legendary CBGB’s for their closing week. However, as label interest was growing, unfortunately members of the band had different creative visions and they collectively decided to go their separate ways.

 

Next, he formed a band called, This is a Shakedown! (TIAS), which was a part-dance, part-rock project. They were signed to Reversed Image Unlimited within months. Their album, “Love Kills" was produced by multi-platinum award-winning producer Michael Seifert and was mixed by the legendary Sean Beavan (Guns N' Roses, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails). At the same time, he was playing with Ohio City Dead Birds (OCDB) a dance project with him on drums and a live DJ, which included Justin Nyilas from TIAS. 

​

When TIAS disbanded in 2011, Brandon decided to take a hiatus from band life. Instead, he set out to expand his skill set working tirelessly to learn the elements of production and sound engineering. Working behind the scenes gave him new inspiration to go back to his punk rock roots. In 2012 he formed the band Ragers, which opened for Bad Religion in 2013. They are currently wrapping up a full-length album recorded and produced by Zano which they plan to release in 2020.

 

In addition to soungwriting, Brandon has also been heavily involved in music production. He has worked with multiple artists including Jeese Smith and the Holy Ghost (formerly of Zao), which received a 5 star rating in Outburn Magazine and Sim Ross, an Americana artist whose album was noted as one of the top ten Americana records of that year.  In the past, ZAANO has done remixes for Garbage, Bon Iver, Dynasty Electrik (Runner Up Remix Contest Winner), Lettercamp (1st place Remix contest winner) as well as soon to be released remixes for 8mm (Sean and Juliette Beavan) and Serpent Servant Slave. He has a growing list of clients and enjoys working with artists of all genres.

​

In addition to Ragers, Brandon Zano's main music project is ZAANO, a Los Angeles based band that embodies all the sounds he loves from past projects and his musical influences. Their first album, Prequel, was  released in the Fall of 2017, with a follow up Remix EP (May 2019) which is available on all platforms.

​

ZAANO is currently finishing an EP titled, The Salton Sea, which is a departure from his usual sound.  This record is heavily influenced by desert vibes and is a collaborative effort with some of his favorite musicians. 

​