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2011 Interview with toroddfuglesteg of Progressive Archives and
Perry:
When,
where and by whom was Zip Tang started ?
I met Rick at a small jam session just outside of Chicago in 2002. We
had both taken a long break from music and were itching to play again,
so after playing together at this open jam we began talking and I told
him I was kicking around the idea of starting a band. The idea was to
find a couple of good musicians and play some challenging covers.
We auditioned several drummers and finally Fred came along. We asked
him to come ready to play Green Earrings by Steely Dan and after just a
few bars I knew he was our choice. We were looking for a keyboard
player for a long time with no success, and Fred mentioned he knew a
sax player that played a little keys also so he brought Marcus over. We
hadn’t considered a sax player originally, but we started jamming on
some Steely Dan, Jeff Beck and Traffic tunes, and it sounded really
good. So we started working up a set of mostly progressive covers by
bands like King Crimson, Yes, Jeff Beck, Steely Dan, Traffic, Kevin
Gilbert and Joe Jackson, and played out under the name RPM.
Did any of you, past and present Zip Tang members,
play in any other bands before joining up in Zip Tang ?
We had all played in numerous bands when we were younger with varying
degrees of success. Rick played in mainly hard rock and hair bands in
the ‘80s. I played in more blues oriented and classic rock cover bands
mainly in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Fred played in all types of bands from
rock, to jazz to musical theater. And Marcus I believe started with
classical training, and then went to jazz and new wave in the ‘80s.
Why did you choose that name ?
After we started writing some original music, and seeing that there
were far too many bands named RPM, we painstakingly tried coming up
with a new name. I wish I could find the old list of the ones that
didn’t make it. One was Rotating Plasma Machine (RPM). I think
sometimes Fred signed his e-mails Zip Tang and I think I suggested it
as the name and it stuck. Fred is a cyclist and runner and Zip Tang is
the sound the Roadrunner in the old cartoon made when he took off.
Beep-Beep! Zip-Tang!
How was the music scene in your area when you
started ?
Well if you mean when we all started as young players separately it was
very good in Chicago, where I’m from. We all came from different parts
of the country so I assume it wasn’t as good in Buffalo where Fred is
from, or Alaska where Marcus is from. But they all wound up here in
Chicago thankfully for me.
The music scene now is tough I think everywhere, at least here in the
U.S. I imagine it’s better in other countries where they are more open
to different kinds of music and seem to appreciate originality more.
Right now cover bands seem to draw the biggest crowds in the medium to
small music venues here in Chicago, which is really sad to me.
Over
to your albums. Your debut album was Luminiferous Ether from 2007.
Please tell us more about this album.
While we were still RPM, we started recording on some very basic gear
and began jamming more. Marcus had done some writing before and brought
in some of his old ideas and tracks. We would jam on some of these
ideas and they began turning into new songs which make up most of
Luminiferous Ether. I tried my hand at writing lyrics for the first
time and wrote “Tower Of Tuna” which Marcus put to the melody. Rick
wrote the lyrics to the first part of Doctor Plush and I wrote the
lyrics on the second. So it was truly a collaborative effort.
You did a
cover of Tarkus (ELP) on that album. Which is a very strange choice.
Let alone a very brave choice. Please tell us what possessed you to
put your heads inside a lion's mouth by covering this epic. Was it
difficult to play this epic ?
We were still playing covers while writing and recording Luminiferous
Ether, and once in a while Fred would start playing a passage from
Tarkus and Rick would join in. I think Fred already new the whole
suite, and Rick knew a little. Someone jokingly said “let’s learn it”,
and so we did.
It was more difficult for me to learn it than to play it I think.
Marcus reads charts on the fly well so he doesn’t have to memorize
anything. The rest of us play everything from memory, and I was the
least familiar with the whole suite, so it took me a long time just to
familiarize myself with the piece. We spent several months learning,
arranging and rehearsing it. The solo sections are loosely based on the
original but are mostly improvised, so at least that was relatively
easy for me. The drums and bass on the recording on the album are
actually a single take with little or no fixes, while Marcus and I
played scratch tracks. Some of the scratch tracks actually made it in
too.
We played the complete suite live I believe about three or four times.
A couple of times were actually pretty good J.
Your
second album was Pank from 2008. Please tell us more about this album.
Well after Luminiferous Ether received some positive comments and
reviews, we decided to hang up the cover thing and start focusing on
writing and recording, and try our hand at it again. Luminiferous Ether
was virtually the first eight songs we’d written together, probably
almost in the order written on the album. So we had very limited
material and frankly included Tarkus to fill out an album’s worth of
tracks.
We were developing our writing process better and started building a
slightly larger catalogue of ideas and jams. We also started developing
our style by this point and began moving away from the Steely Dan
influence and getting a littler harder. There was also more
improvisation on Pank with a few jam sections, and especially on
“Cicada Jam” which is actually one of many spontaneous jams we
recorded. It wasn’t recorded with the intention of using it anywhere,
just a spontaneous moment that we decided to include on Pank, just as
it was, live with no overdubs.
Your
third and most recent album is Feed Our Heads from 2010. Please tell us
more about this album.
We learned a lot from listening back to the first two albums later on
and hearing things we didn’t necessarily notice or ignored at the time.
It’s hard to be objective when you’re immersed in the recording and
mixing processes, but when it’s done and you listen a few months later,
it’s easier to step back and hear it almost for the first time, like
it’s someone else’s work.
I think we put a little more thought into the song structures, and
we’ve gotten a little better at having a vision of the song while it’s
still in pre production. Marcus had a vision of quite a few of the
songs or parts of songs early on for this one. He wrote all the lyrics
on “Feed Our Heads” and wrote “Central Park” on his own. The final
version of “Central Park” is practically identical to his early demo of
it. “I’ll Put It Right” is a song Marcus wrote a long time ago, I
believe, that we took the lyrics and riff from and “Tang-ified” it.
Some of the parts of many of the songs, I was surprised to look back
and see, came from jams as far back as 2006. But again, a lot of the
songs started from jams, which a lot of the credit has to go to Fred
and Rick for starting and developing the grooves for. What they do
usually dictates the feel of a song and all I can do is try to
influence it one way or another J
Overall we’re pretty pleased with the way this one came out.
How is the creative processes in your band from coming up with an idea
to submitting it onto an album ?
Like I’ve mentioned, many of our ideas stem from improvisation. We
start most sessions with Fred and Rick coming up with a groove and
Marcus and I joining in. Sometimes it last a couple of minutes, and
other times a half an hour. We record everything, and later I’ll do a
quick mixdown of the jams and upload them to our server where everyone
can download them and listen. Next session someone will have come up
with a melody or riff to add to that jam from last week and we’ll play
around with that, and so on. Sometimes it’s the opposite. Someone will
come in with a riff or chord progression and a jam starts around it.
Marcus writes most of the lyrics so there are quite a few songs that he
has brought in with a basic verse/chorus structure already laid out, or
we may start with that and wind up with something quite different.
Others are actually two or three different song ideas or jams that we
will combine. Spooky Jam from “Feed Our Heads” is an example.
It’s really been a collaborative effort 90% of the time so far.
Your music has been branded eclectic prog. A label
where a band like Gentle Giant is the standard bearer. But how would
you describe you music and which bands would you compare yourself with ?
That’s interesting because I think what makes us sound somewhat unique,
I hope, is our different backgrounds – musically and otherwise. We
really are an eclectic group, Rick coming from the hard rock scene in
Michigan, me being heavily influenced in Chicago blues and classic
rock, Fred being heavily into progressive rock from an early age, and
Marcus coming from classical and jazz backgrounds. But that’s not to
say we’re not all into all kinds of music. I think we are all
influenced by everything we’ve ever heard whether were into it or not,
and we all listen to many different types of music.
I hate to sound cliché, but we really try not to think of or
compare ourselves to anyone, or a genre. We often appreciate the
comparisons we hear though, and surprised by many. I love when we’re
compared to someone I’ve never heard of and I have to go find and
listen to them on the internet and hear the interesting similarities,
and dissimilarities.
The biggest compliment we’ve gotten is that we don’t sound like
anybody. I hope we continue evolving and that any future albums have a
slightly different sound from the previous ones, and cross more genres
or classifications.
What is your plans for this year and beyond ?
We’ve been working hard rehearsing the songs from FOH to play some
local live shows here, and have started jamming and having fun again
now that we’re out of recording mode. I think we may be just about
ready to start thinking about album number four!
To wrap up
this interview, is there anything you want to add to this interview ?
Thanks for the interview and thanks to Progressive Archives and it’s
members for the reviews and ratings. We appreciate being allowed the
opportunity to reach some new fans and friends!
ZT's
PA profile is here
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2007
Interview with Argentinian Music Publication:
"A Perfect Beginning"
Interview
with Perry Merrit,
guitar
and vocals of this excellent alternative fusion jazz rock band
By
Sergio Vilar
The
progressive world mainly knows you as a member of Zip Tang; what can we
expect from this band? Will you farther detach from your original rock
background?
We're currently writing several new songs in various stages of
development and pre-production for our 2nd album. We don't really have
a long term plan or strategy as to writing or performing until we
finish this next round of recording. We seem to be gravitating towards
heavier material lately compared to the earlier music, before
“Luminiferous Ether”, that was a little more Steely Dan-ish.
Which
aspects of your music do you think are really innovative elements?
Which ones are taken from the tradition or comparable to other artists
works?
I guess the innovation in our sound is mainly a by product of our
various musical backgrounds. Fred Faller (drums, percussion) and Marcus
Padgett (sax,keys,vocals) have more of a Jazz background, and Rick
Wolfe (bass,vocals) and I come from more of a Rock / Blues background.
I think that combination comes out in our music in interesting and
unpredictable ways.
<>The interplay between sax and guitar for instance is somewhat
unique, although has been done by King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan
and a few others to a degree. In our case, often the sax is more like a
second lead guitar, sometimes playing unison lines with me, like two
lead guitars, which there will be more of on the next CD. Also, I think
the Jazz inflected drums with the straighter Rock bass makes for a
somewhat unique rhythm section.
Then,
which is the musical essence of Zip Tang?
I think it's basically the sum of our different influences and styles.
Most importantly, not trying to sound like anyone else in particular
and just letting our own sound come out.
Would
I like that we speak of “Luminiferous Ether”, your album. How was
the creative process of this work?
Well it's really a true collaborative process. Some of the songs simply
started as jams or improvisations. Marcus had done some writing before
joining Zip Tang and has a catalogue of unused concepts, riffs and
chord changes that he'll draw on and bring in to the sessions.
Sometimes we'll start sessions with Rick and Fred just coming up with a
groove off the top of their heads while warming up, or one of them will
come in with an idea or groove, and we'll just join in and jam a while.
We record the jams and save the good ones for later reference.
“Doctor Plush” is an example of a song based on two jams. Marcus
brought in a chord progression to jam with - Am Dm G C F Dm E. I later
came up with the “Doctor Plush” lyrics and melody which eventually
became the 2nd half of the song. Rick wrote some lyrics and shaped the
first half of the song based on another jam. Everyone has equal input
and makes suggestions and contributions as the song is developed.
Another example is “Tower Of Tuna”. I wrote the lyrics late one night,
after dinner and a FEW drinks with Rick our bass player. Marcus took
them and came up with the melody and general structure, and then we all
just kind of filled in the rest.
Marcus has been writing most of the other lyrics and brings in alot of
the general concepts for songs. Rarely does anyone write an entire song
alone and bring it in to the band. An exception might be “Nothing Here”
which Marcus wrote most of on his own. Or “Missed The Beginning” which
he had also brought in as a fairly developed concept, but evolved into
quite a different animal once the rest of us got a hold of it.
They main thing is that they all have to evolve regardless of how they
started. We have to play them for months, in the studio and live, for
them to really grow and bloom before recording.
What
feelings or ideas want to express through the songs?
Each song is very different. Most are more about the instrumentation
than the words or a specific feeling or idea, or at least started out
that way, and are just meant to be enjoyed and fun or interesting to
listen to. But a few have a little deeper meaning.
“Tower Of Tuna” for example is just pure silliness and fun, with a
thinly veiled double meaning. :-)
The
music on your album are very interesting. Where do you get your
inspiration?
I guess personally, it comes from life. It comes from everything,
everyday experiences, every piece of music I ever heard, every movie
I've watched and every painting I've ever seen. Good and bad.
Musically, we all have very diverse tastes and influences including
Rock, Jazz, Progressive, Fusion, Classical and even some Pop.:-)
What's
your personal perception of your music? Is it a vehicle for your
feelings, a sort of different side of your personality or what else?
Well different songs reflect the personality of the band member or
members that had the most influence on it. That's probably why they're
all so different. It's also a vehicle to release our creative juices,
and some emotional juices that aren't released in our everyday lives.
:-)
You
regularly play live? Is the way you approach live performances very
different from your studio work?
We haven't been playing live regulary. For the last couple of years
we've been using our limited time to keep writing and recording. Our
approach is totally different for live performances, which is probably
the main reason we haven't played out much. We need at least 4-6
rehearsals to prepare for a show and have to switch from creative mode
to technical mode. As long as the creative mode is productive, we want
to ride it as long as we can and keep writing and recording for a while.
How
has the Internet influenced your musical career and the promotion of
your music?
Being self produced and unsigned, it's the only means we have currently
to get our music heard outside of our local circle. We depend on sites
like yours to help us and other independent artists.
Can
you please, let me know about your band activities' today? I mean, have
you been currently working upon a new project, doing gigs and so forth?
We've been mainly writing and developing alot of new material.
Is
it premature to speak of a new disc? Does new clever material already
exist?
Yes, we are working on our second album and should start recording this
fall.
What
new additions to the sound are there on the next CD?
I guess it's like the next chapter, where this CD leaves off. It will
sound familiar after you listen to “Luminiferous Ether”, but it will be
different. Like I said, slightly darker. There's been talk of mixing a
5.1 Surround version too.
What
is your opinion of the music scene right now? What are your views about
progressive scene and the music industry in general?
Well I think most musicians and music aficionados would agree it's
pretty sad, at least from a popular cultural and media standpoint here
in the U.S. On the other hand, if you know how to find it, there are
vast amounts of good-independent music out there in cyberspace. The
internet is leveling the playingfield.
What
music are you listening at the present time? Something new that can
recommend us?
We've all been getting into Porcupine Tree lately. Also I've been
listening to Radiohead, Primus, Aaron Copeland and various unknown
artists from sites like GarageBand's Progressive Chart.
I
thank them to share this moment with Nucleus. If you want it they can
leave some final message to our readers...
Thanks for your interest in our music. “Luminiferous Ether” has been a
labour of love and I hope your readers buy and enjoy our creation.
www.ziptang.net
Nucleus interview: 18/08/07
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