At the end of 1996 zea started out in its current line-up. From that moment on zea played some 80 shows in places like Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Rotterdam, London (England) and Brussels (Belgium) including a few festivals (Noorderslag, VIRUS, Uilenpop, Freeze Festival, Sonic Noise Galore, Megagig). So far they played Paradiso four times. In 1997 zea came in second in "De Kleine Prijs van Sneek" ("The Little Award of Sneek") and a year later finished second in "De Popprijs van Amsterdam" ("The Pop-award of Amsterdam").

Zea contributed four songs to compilation albums (Frisian Airplay II; Death to the Pixies we're better; In de greep van De Buuren II and Selfindulgent Monominds, a tribute to Motorpsycho). Twice so far they appeared on split 7-inches (Last Laugh Is Guffaw and Tumb), along with other promising bands like Seedling, Birdskin, the Gluemen and Zoppo.

Zea wrote a soundtrack for the classic (silent) movie "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" (F.W. Murnau, 1922) to be played live along with the movie. One of these shows took place in the 'Stedelijk Museum' in Amsterdam as part of the 'Uitmarkt'.

The debut album 'kowtow to an idiot' was released in January 2000 on the Dutch label Transformed Dreams. Since then zea performed at the Noorderslag festival 2000 and in venues like Paradiso, Vera, Effenaar and Patronaat. They also performed live for the VPRO in Club Lek, a Dutch nationwide radioshow and in Club Brussel for Belgian radiostation Studio Brussel.

Zea also spread their wings in the United Kingdom. In June 2000 Seedling, Zoppo and zea went on a small tour of three gigs and played in London and Hull. In August zea played at two Dutch festivals, Waterpop and the Lowlands festival. Then in September zea returned to Belgium for another show and played in London again, this time in the Monarch, with Seedling and Fonda 500 from Hull.

In the fall and winter zea played all over the country, from Groningen to Maastricht and at the moment zea is busy making new songs.