Zos Kia was initially formed by John "Zoskia" Gosling along with John Balance and Min. This trio - along with Peter Christopherson on sound and other guests - recorded and performed several concerts in 1981/82 under the names Zos Kia and Coil, and some of this material is available on the Coil/Zos Kia release 'Transparent'. In 1982, Balance and Christopherson left to concentrate on Coil full-time. All material released under the Zos Kia name alone was primarily the work of John Gosling. After retiring the Zos Kia name, Gosling went on to record with Sugardog, Psychic TV and work solo as Sugar J and Mekon.
Cold Spring released the entire 'Transparent' recordings with COIL on CD/vinyl for the first time in 2017, including two previously unreleased bonus tracks by AKE (pre-ZOS KIA).