He comes from a family with a musical background: Zender's father was a musician, his uncle was a flamenco guitarist, and his older sister participated in punk bands.
Of his early bands, the most famous was the prank rock group Fabulous, a 1991 outfit chiefly made up of NME writers and photographers.
[citation needed] Zender left Jamiroquai in 1998 during the recording of their fourth album, Synkronized, primarily because of conflicts with the band leader Jay Kay.
[4] After Jamiroquai, Zender had his own project with the British soul artist Don-E called AZUR, which signed a record deal with d'Angelo's label.
He has also played bass guitar with other artists, including All Saints, Omar, Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, Gorillaz, Samuel Purdey, Ms. Dynamite and Stevie Wonder.
[citation needed] In March 2023, Zender released the song "Happy Feelings", featuring Omar and Ana Tijoux, on all major streaming platforms.
[9][10] Zender has cited players such as Nathaniel Phillips, Stanley Clarke, Alphonso Johnson, Chuck Rainey, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Verdine White, James Jamerson, Bernard Edwards, Paul Jackson, Hellmut Hattler as his influences.