ZABA

**ZABA** is a boy band composed of Zach Timson, Agraj Joshi, Ben Cross, and Andrew Grabowski. The band originated with cover of *Chop Away At My Heart* for the *MWCA* intermission in 2021. Since then, the group has continued to collaborate on multiple follow up projects and songs. ZABA is also the acronym used to describe the companionship between Zach, Agraj, Ben, and Andrew.

The band met in person for this first time in September 2022 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada along with Alex Meleras, the band’s unofficial manager. The team began production on a music video for “Chop Away at my Heart” which is slated to be released summer 2023.

## History

### Early beginnings, and “Chop Away at My Heart”

The acronym “ZABA” originates from a game of *Quiplash* when the actors’ names were listed in that order from a response written by Agraj. In more games, the quartet would continue to be a punchline in further online and *Jackbox* games. The name “ZABA” first debuted in the MWCA Discord server on April 24, 2021.

At the same time, Agraj Joshi and *MWCA* director Andrew Grabowski were toying with the idea of Joshi recording a cover of “Chop Away at My Heart” from *Milo Murphy’s Law* for the intermission of *MWCA* as both Zack Underwood and his character in the musical, Baljeet Tjinder. It was then that the idea sparked to take the running joke of ZABA and turn it into a real thing in the form of a boy band.

Timson and Cross were immediately on board, and the song was recorded in early August 2021, weeks before the premiere of the show. The four recorded individually in their own homes with the help of Soundtrap and Discord.

A shortened version of the song premiered along with the premiere of *MWCA* in the show’s intermission to immediate acclaim and buzz from the *MWCA* fanbase. A few weeks later, the full version of the song was leaked on Joshi’s Instagram, with a poster of the boy’s heads photoshopped onto the heads of the band *Big Time Rush*. BTR’s logo was also rewritten as “ZABA TIME RUSH.”

In October 2021, “Chop” was released as one of the 40+ songs on the *MWCA* Album, and the band was credited as “ZABA ft. Baljeet.”

### Further collaborations and 2022 Canada Trip

Following the success of “Chop,” the four members of the band each individually recorded parts for the *MWCA* Halloween cover of “One Good Scare,” which reignited the band’s collaboration.

On April Fools Day 2022, ZABA had the chance to collaborate again with Baljeet Tjinder, this time with them appearing as the featured artist for the hit song “Mishti Mishti.”

Around the same time, Grabowski took a visit to Orlando and met up with Timson, and the two discussed the possibility of a potential ZABA meetup while in the Trader Sam’s Grotto Bar in Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Over the course of several months, a plan was made to meet in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada to film an official music video for “Chop.” The band recruited *MWCA* musician and cast member Alex Meleras to accompany them and assist as a cameraman and, when needed, band manager.

In September 2022, the band filmed a music video for “Chop” over the course of 4 days. This was the band’s first in-person meetup and the group bonded by participating in such activities as hiking, climbing trees, eating Tim Horton’s, taking promotional pictures and videos, and going to an escape room. They escaped. In addition, the three American ZABA members (Timson, Cross, and Grabowski) drove up to Canada from Maryland and stopped in places such as the real Danville, Niagara Falls, and a diner in Pennsylvania. The band also recorded a cover of the Lumberzacks' "Windowless Van" in their first ever in-person recording session. And Alex arranged it.

The trip is also notable for ZABA recreating the previously photoshopped “ZABA Time Rush” photo in real life, which was quickly edited by ZABAnator Clarisse.

A teaser for the official music video was released on Arbor Day 2023, and the video is slated to be released in summer 2023. The video is also rumored to have a brand new recording of the song featuring new vocals and an original instrumental track by The Weekend, featuring fellow *MWCA* cast member Abbey Byrne, recorded in May 2023.

### Other projects and future

In early 2023, the band recorded a song for Meleras’ songwriting class, a parody of “My Shot” from *Hamilton* called “My Hat.” Meleras was Cross' substitute for the song, which featured lead vocals from Rosemary Craig as Alexander Hamilton. The song featured Timson as Lafayette, Joshi as Burr, Meleras as Laurens, and Grabowski as Mulligan. The project was subsequently graded an “A.”

ZABA is slated to appear as jingle singers on an episode of *Inanimate Insanity,* which features a song performed by the band written by Ben. Ben works on Inanimate Insanity along with *MWCA* Video Editor Brian Koch.

The band is planning to collaborate on a song titled "We Got The Poster" in Meleras' upcoming album and hope to continue working together in the future. When asked about future projects, Timson has mentioned the possibility of a ZABA Christmas Special. He currently has a treatment written and is in the pitching process. Other potential projects include a ZABA television pilot, or a parody of *Entourage* titled “ZABAntourage,” which features the band and Meleras in the roles of the five main characters from the hit television show. The ideas are currently not in development.

## Members

### Official Members

* Zach Timson- The goofball of the group, Zach is the band's baritenor who constantly mentions his cancelled Netflix series, *The Who Was? Show.* He wears the orange bandana and an off-brand flannel.
* Agraj Joshi- The heartthrob of the group, Agraj is the founder and lead singer of the band. He wears the red bandana and a lanyard.
* Ben Cross- Also known as Ben Ben, Ben is the bad boy, known for his tenor singing voice and his signature catchphrase, “Word.” He wears the blue bandana and a flannel hoodie.
* Andrew Grabowski- The producer of the band and bass vocalist, Andrew is the straight man- the responsible, smart one who will still kick your ass at *Super Mario Bros.* He wears the yellow bandana.

### Occasional Members

* Alex Meleras- The group’s unofficial manager and cameraman, Alex was roped into ZABA as their right-hand fam, making everything from pizza phone calls to hotel calls to filming the music video to waving the ZABA sign in the street for promotional purposes. Alex was Ben’s substitute in “My Hat.”
* Rosemary Craig- Rosemary collaborated with ZABA as the lead singer on “My Hat.”
* Sam Saper- I have no idea why Sam is on this page, they were there when I started editing
* Tommy- Tommy is Agraj’s heartthrob substitute when the band goes on tour in the US, such as in Los Angeles and Orlando in 2021. However, when Tommy is touring with the band, the group is referred to and known as “The Fellas.” Tommy filled in for Agraj when the band perfomed "Chop" in Disney's Animal Kingdom in September 2021.
* RJ Christian- I mean….if he WANTS to be!

## Discography

### Songs

* Chop Away At My Heart (2021)
* One Good Scare\* (2021)
* Mishti Mishti - Baljeet (ft. ZABA) (2022)
* Windowless Van (2022)
* My Hat (2023)
* Springtastic Jingle (from Inanimate Insanity) (2023)
* \* = unofficially ZABA

### Albums

* *Musical Without a Cool Acronym- Virtual Edition: Original Cast Recording* (2021)

## Trivia

* ZABA was started by Agraj, without permission from the other members.
* Agraj is the first A in ZABA, whereas Andrew is the second A in ZABA.
* Alex and Sam are not members of ZABA.
* 75% of ZABA have birthdays in the month of May, with Grabowski being the outlier.
* 75% of ZABA live in Los Angeles, with Joshi being the outlier.
* 75% of ZABA use their actual last names, with Timson being the outlier.
* 75% of ZABA did not go to school for music, with Cross being the outlier.
* In the *MWCA* cover of "That Christmas Feeling," there is a shot with Meleras on the phone surrounded by the members of ZABA in the correct order. This is referred to by the production team as the "ZABA Shot."

### Gallery

The ZABA logo™ZachAgrajBenAndrewThe ZABA party house (location unkown)the ZABA slideA poster for the upcoming spin-off, ZABA Time Rush