Death With Zolar X, Slim’s, San Francisco, February 25 2011
Sometimes rock is better when it’s weird.
Death was a 1970′s Detroit rock trio (the three Hackney brothers) who wrote and performed punk rock songs before it became fashionable, and remunerative, to do so. They didn’t make it big. As lead singer Bobby explained to the audience, it was impossible for them to get their songs played on the radio. They were told by a friendly DJ, “Once corporations start running the radio stations, local bands are taken off the playlists.” That was back in 1975. Cut to 2009, and the re-release of their seven recorded songs on “For The Whole World To See”, and Jack White and Mos Def are championing the band. Not that you’ll hear them on the radio…
Death delivers the goods. The two surviving Hackney brothers play bass and drums, and close friend Bobbie Duncan shreds the guitar parts. The crowd ate it up, and the band were clearly enjoying their first-ever (!) trip to California. It was a Proto-Punk Revival Show. The band stuck around afterwords to shake hands and meet the people. Awesome.
But that was only one of two acts. Opening for Death were the original Glam Punk Pioneers Zolar X. It is difficult to describe how different these two trios are from one another, but the evidence is in: punk rock is awfully freakin’ diverse. The elfin spacemen (and woman) transported the whole room to a truly strange planet that was definitely not Corporate Radio Earth. Standing in front of the stage next to Jello Biafra, whose Alternative Tentacles record label has released several Zolar X records, I was truly grateful for the chance to watch this performance. After the show, I spoke to some humans who looked suspiciously like the aliens playing the music. They were friendly enough to sign the LP I bought and pose for a photo.
This show cost only $16.
Rock is better when it’s weird!
ZOLAR X: Press
Punknew.org
Interviews: Ygarr Yggarrist (Zolar X)
Formed in LA in 1973, Zolar X made a name for themselves by playing pulsating rock that both forecasted punk as well as saluted glam… and also by claiming they were from outer space. If you went to see the Stooges in their garage greatness during the proto-punk era, you might first be confronted by three orange aliens in slick spacesuits who resembled a cross between the Vulcans and the Flintstones' Great Gazoo.
While lots of bands had stage presence at that time, Zolar X took it to a whole other level by staying in character (and uniform) when going to the laundry mat, local bars, and even the supermarket and speaking to each other in their strange language, leaving a wake of bewilderment, shock and confusion.
Although they fell into obscurity at the end of the 70's, punk icon Jello Biafra took a personal interest in the band and re-issued their legendary recording Timeless in 2004 on Alternative Tentacles. Since then, a retooled version of the band has been touring, alien antennae in tact. Because Zolar X has special show in San Francisco on the horizon, staff interviewer John Gentile fired up his intergalactic-communication device and contacted Ygarr Yggarrist, the band's mastermind, to get the transcript on their latest adventures.
Some bands, like GWAR, rarely acknowledge that there are people under the masks, while other bands, like Kiss, make no pretense about their theatrics. Is Zolar X really a bunch of aliens?
Well, Zolar X is definitely from outer space on the cerebral issues of life. My mind is definitely out there in space… Zolar X is really a band from outer space- the planet Earth is in outer space.
Zolar X was founded around 1973, when Glam rock was nearing its end and punk rock was starting. When you were playing in LA, did you feel out of place or were you welcomed?
We felt in place. Zolar X was never glam and Zolar X was never punk. As music develops, your psyche evolves. People were like, "That's a good tone" or, "Oh boy, I really liked the lead of Jimmy Page!" So you just learn and go with it. With that, we fit right it.
On stage, as well as in the street, you were constantly dressed as the Zolar X characters and were constantly in role. Did you ever get any negative reaction from the population of LA because of this?
Constantly. We were slurred and called all kinds of different things because of our make-up. If we would go to the market, we could cause car accidents, just from people looking at us. People would take pictures.
Did you get positive reactions from people on the street, too?
People would smile at us and go, "These guys are obviously about something." The positive and the negative was both sides, it was 50/50. It depends on your level. We didn't really wear our spacesuits everywhere, but we wore what looked like our space outfits because in our suit cases all we had was our tights. We used food color for our hair back then. There were negative and positive reactions… the women of Hollywood were very interested in Zolar x.
Were early Zolar X shows packed shows or were they empty?
Most of the places were never sparse. It was very deep. The Palladium was large and it was packed when we were there with Dolls or the Stooges.
Zolar X has its own language. Does it actually translate?
There are a lot of words that we use. "Bo Tre" means greetings. There is a lot of translation in our lyrics. All our words mean something. Sometimes, if I want to use some Zolarian, I'll have to alter the words so they rhyme. We have a Zolar X dictionary with a couple thousand words. There are translations to everything we say.
A lot of Zolar X songs deal with Sci-Fi themes. Are the songs just for fun, or does Zolar X has a unified message?
The unified message of Zolar X is kindness. It's like the old saying, Take me to your leader, we come in peace." It's an observation of earth. We, like most people, hate war. But, some people make money from war, like big corporate structures. So, in that sense, Zolar X is political. But, we observe the insanity of planet earth- from silver spooners to people being born in the middle of Nigeria, the balance is way out of whack. Our message is space-age-fun, space-age-love and to look at what the world is doing to you.
Zolar X is a very visual band and the mythos surrounding the band is quite large. Do you ever feel that these flashier elements detract from the message or music itself?
Over the years, I've thought about that, as one of the major songwriters of the band, the idea that the image could detract from the melody. At the same time, I wouldn't be making the upcoming documentary about the band without the Zolar X image, so its a catch 22. But as far as the image and music, I've always thought about that. Would it be interesting to release a couple songs with de-spaced lyrics, and then just see the nature and reaction of the listener? It may detract, but at the same time, there is no other Zolar X, is there?
Zory Zenith, who is a founding member of Zolar X, and also contributes about half of the band's vocals on the Timeless album, is currently incarcerated. How has that affected you?
Well, it has affected us in a lot of ways. Maybe good and maybe bad. Zory does have a violent temper- he's in jail for violent assault. People didn't want to work with him for the fear that he might go insane. But at the same time, looking at him on stage, when he's doing the robot dance, that's really fun and unique, then you have all these different things going on that's very visual… All of us add an element and you cant quite get the same action without him. As far as Zory Zenith in prison, I miss that part of the visuality. He has sent me some lyrics. He is on countdown now. When he gets out, I would go on a Timeless tour with him.
Can you tell us some details about the upcoming Zolar X documentary?
They've finished forming the LLC. My wife started the documentary and she's in Zolar X now, but she's turned over the editing job to a woman in Chicago. The attorneys say they want to get it into film festivals in 2011. I know that's going to create a nice little spark for Zolar X. The documentary covers everything. It doesn't have a lot of old footage because there just isn't much of it. We got a lot of still pictures and music from shows back then.
It's about life in Zolar X, about life in the music industry and life in general. It's more than just a rock documentary.
Last year, Zolar X released a live DVD that featured Don Bolles of the Germs on drums. What was that like?
It's a pretty punky little 60 minute DVD that we did. Don is fantastic. In 2005, when he was still in the band, we did a three piece shows with Don. We already had a familiarity- me and don date back to the late 70's. Maybe down the road he'll come back in. Right now, we are playing with a drum machine, because we can't find any humans that fit with Zolar X...
Preview: Kris Needs Presents...Dirty Water: The Birth of Punk Attitude - Various Artists
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Kris Needs Presents...Dirty Water: The Birth of Punk Attitude
Release Date: December 7, 2010
Label: Year Zero
Format(s): 2-CDs, 2-LPsThere have been many punk collections over the years and former Zigzag fanzine editor Kris Needs possesses most of them so, when it came to compiling his own, he decided to avoid the predictable, except where totally warranted. Although featuring names without whom such a compilation should never be without, the set also highlights less likely candidates through their influence, attitude or sheer courage in the face of adversity; mavericks and rebels shooting for the stars and going against the grain.
Every track on Dirty Water: The Birth Of Punk Attitude is there for a reason, whether it’s a band which Kris has known, worked with or believed in, or just thinking some hair-bristling track deserves to be heard again or highlighted.
After starting with two quintessential garage-punk bands, the Standells [whose Dirty Water provides the snotty title track] and Seeds [covered by Needs’ own long-forgotten band 35 years ago], the album approaches the punk spirit as a way of making music or conveying a message by any means necessary, which makes Harlem’s Last Poets prime candidates for laying a hiphop template in 1970 with their first album. Around the same time, downtown in Washington Square Park, David Peel and the Lower East Side were delivering stoner street anthems which could only be captured by a live recording. Kris’s lifelong New York obsession continues with the untouchable New York Dolls, senses-shattering electronic punks Suicide, plus two of their influences in Silver Apples and vocal group the Silhouettes, displaying doowop’s DIY spirit on Get A Job. The Dictators show how their degenerate raunch influenced the Ramones. The Deviants were at the forefront of UK’s 1967 counter-cultural revolution, like the UK’s answer to America’s Fugs, MC5 or Mothers Of Invention when it came to forging a new society and playing free concerts, before handing the baton to the Pink Fairies. 1970s UK proto-punk is represented by Jook, Third World War and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band‘s sinister, cinematic missives, while rarest tune [on CD for first time] is the Hollywood Brats’ storming treatment of the Kinks’ I Need You. Oldest track has to be Blue Jean Bop by Gene Vincent, the original black leather man. As the restless punk spirit is usually associated with teenage years, Kris found himself reaching back into his own adolescence, reawakening long forgotten emotions, although the buzz never left; hence the inclusions of Mott The Hoople [first band to welcome him on board while they carved their trail of mayhem and some of the best rock ‘n’ roll ever committed to vinyl], Dr Feelgood [who named another fanzine with their Roxette, while cutting though prog’s excesses like a demented flamethrower], emotional whirlwind Peter Hammill in his punked-up Rikki Nadir incarnation, Germany’s inestimably-influential Can, T. Rex when Bolan went electric and Detroit’s incendiary MC5, who led to another fixation, with the Motor City, also represented here by The Stooges [scorching 12-minute tear-up with the short-lived twin guitar lineup captured live in 1971], other MC5 sister band Up and brilliant but overlooked black punk trio Death, providing one of the highlights with their searing Politicians In My Eyes. Sun Ra was a profound influence on the MC5 and stayed with Up when in town but he’s here for his star-sailing individuality and DIY spirit of his indie-pioneering Saturn label. The album also casts its net around the rest of America with seminal Midwest outfits Red Krayola and Rocket From The Tombs, San Francisco’s fabulous Flamin’ Groovies, unique L.A. aliens Zolar X and the Monks [American G.I.s stationed in Germany]. Dirty Water ends perfectly in 1977 with the timeless roots prophecy of Culture‘s Two Sevens Clash, highlighting reggae’s towering presence in all this. The set will be accompanied by extensive liner notes from Needs.
Track List:
Disc 1
- Dirty Water - The Standells
- Evil Hoodoo - The Seeds
- Garbage - The Deviants
- Do It - Pink Fairies
- Blue Jean Bop - Gene Vincent
- Teenage Head - Flamin' Groovies
- Elemental Child - T. Rex (Live)
- I Hate You - The Monks
- Oo Oo Rudi - The Jook
- Moon Upstairs - Mott The Hoople
- Space Age Love - Zolar X
- Rocket Number Nine - Sun Ra
- Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa) - MC5 (Live)
- Sisters Sisters - The Up (Live)
- Politicians In My Eyes - Death
- Do You Want My Love? - The Stooges (Live)
Disc 2
- Up Against The Wall - David Peel & The Lower East Side
- Confusion - Silver Apples
- Get A Job - The Silhouettes
- Do It Nice - Suicide
- Subway Train - The New York Dolls
- On The Subway - The Last Poets
- The Hot City Symphony Part 1 (Vambo) - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
- A Little Bit Of Urban Rock - Third World War
- Roxette - Dr. Feelgood
- Nadir's Big Chance - Peter Hammill
- Outside My Door - Can
- Hurricane Fighter Plane - Red Krayola
- I'm Never Gonna Kill Myself Again - Rocket From The Tombs
- Teengenerate - The Dictators
- I Need You - The Hollywood Brats
- I'm Stranded - The Saints
- Two Sevens Clash - Culture
Zolar X: Glam Rock's Forgotten Pioneers
Rock'n'roll failures are often more interesting than the successes, and it's clear that Zolar X have unfinished business.
She's a cruel mistress, rock'n'roll. The difference between infamy and obscurity can be decided by the smallest of factors. Timing, luck, even choice of footwear. Zolar X are one of those bands who were dealt a bad hand somewhere along the way.
Cited by many as the first glitter-rock band from LA (though they actually claimed to hail from "Zolaria City, Plutonia"), for a period in the 1970s they were the toast of that city's music scene. They played with New York Dolls and the Stooges - two bands similarly stricken by many career-pitfalls yet for whom posterity has been kind - and inspired Kiss to pick up their paint sticks and turn themselves into a global brand and, later on, LA punk bands such as the Germs.
Children of the late 50s sci-fi age, they were also arch-conceptualists. Formed by songwriter Ygarr Ygarrist (pronounced Why-Garr Why-Garr-ist- or "Stephen" to his mother), they dressed as aliens, spoke in their own alien language and had an entire pre-fabricated history. They were a band who made an effort to be glitzy, ridiculous and super-human at a time when the West Coast was infected with bearded country rockers or earnest singer-songwriters. As a result, Zolar X were amazing on some levels (and a bit crap on others).
Hanging out with Rodney Bingenheimer and Sable Starr and sharing a week-long bill with fellow glam pioneer - and one of the few out rock stars of the day - Jobriath (an apt pairing that was televised at the time), these Spock-a-likes were quintessentially LA in that decadent period before punk came along and questioned the pomposity that seemed to define the early 70s. Their music was pretty amazing too - a trashy, sci-fi-laden, proto-punk, garage-glam racket that was part-Rocky Horror, part-Ziggy Stardust, but inspired by neither.
And that's where bad luck comes into play. Though clearly pioneers, Zolar X never quite got the record label break that could - and should - have made them one of the biggest bands around. They looked ridiculous, had great songs and amazing haircuts - what was not to like?
Yet as the 70s sped by Zolar X floundered. Drug abuse and mental breakdowns kicked in before they could transcend the cliquey LA scene and truly make their mark. There were also plenty of absurd stories surrounding them, like the sacking of mime-inspired frontman Zory Zenith for committing the double error of dancing on top of his manager's limo and having an affair with his wife.
But the story doesn't end there. Long-term fan Jello Biafra released a retrospective of the band in 2004 on his Alternative Tentacles label and the renewed interested prompted a reformation (minus Zenith, who is currently serving 10-year sentence for domestic abuse), a new album and an appearance at SXSW. Seeing a "mature" Zolar X is vaguely disconcerting, but heart-warming too. Perhaps recognising that rock'n'roll obscurities or failures are often more interesting than the successes, it's clear they feel they have unfinished business
Their story has inspired a forthcoming documentary, Starmen on Sunset, which has been some time in the making and promises to tell the full tragicomic tale. Even odder, in 2007 the band appeared on Simon Fuller's short-lived US talent show The Next Great American Band. True to their luck, they bombed and were swiftly ousted by a sub-Simon Cowell with zero sense of humour.
Though at least Zolar X are still around to appreciate the long overdue attention that the documentary will surely bring. Perhaps their luck has finally changed. You hope for Ygarr Ygarrist's sake that it has.
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, live at the Great American Music Hall, 8/14/10
The last time the original Dead Kennedys played in the area, I was laid up with a torn ligament (received while stagediving at a Verbal Abuse show the week before) so I didn’t go. Little did I know that they would disband before I got a chance to see them. Jello Biafra, of course, went on to release a whole pile of spoken word albums, not to mention all of his collaborations with other musicians. It wasn’t until recently though that he put together a band that more or less picks up where Dead Kennedys left off, but more on that in a minute…
The first band of the evening was the mysterious Zolar X, who arrived on stage looking like extras from some fifties science fiction movie, complete with glowing antennae, matching blonde wigs, and silvery space clothing. The lineup consisted of a guitarist/lead vocalist, a bass player, and a keyboard player. In lieu of a drummer, they relied on programmed beats. Musically, they sounded like a heavy new wave band with space alien vocals and “futuristic” keyboard effects. The guitar riffs occasionally came close to sounding metal, or what a metal riff would sound like if left out in the sun, wind, and rain to weather for awhile, leaving the riff devoid of all of its original chugginess. They’ve definitely got a schtick going, and played the part to the hilt. I wonder if they’ve built up a mythos to go with the image. Hmmm.
In due course, Zolar X finished their set and soon La Plebe appeared. Like Zolar X, they were new to me. In addition to the usual guitar, bass, and drums, the band features a trumpet player and a trombone player, which is a definite plus in my opinion. They ripped into their first song with horn section blazing, and I soon decided that despite the fact that they were singing primarily in Spanish, they reminded me of Swedish punk band Asta Kask. They have the same kind of melody and energy. I did recognize a couple of songs in their set too, the first being the traditional song Bella Ciao (done so well by Chumbawamba a few years ago) and the second being Dirty Old Town, which I always thought was a traditional song as well, but which Greg informed me is actually a Pogues song. This mistake is due to the fact that the first version I ever heard was played by the Ian Campbell Folk Group. The band seemed to be having a fine old time up on stage, smiling and greeting familiar faces in the audience, and by the end of their set, a good portion of the audience was on stage singing along, something you’d expect at a smaller venue like Gilman St., but not at the Great American. All in all, a brilliant set. I love stumbling across bands like this!
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Finally, Jello appeared, along with a band that features Ralph Spight from Victim’s Family on guitar and backing vocals , plus the old drummer from Sharkbait (and Helios Creed, if I remember correctly), his brother from New Jersey on Bass, and an additional guitarist from Hawaii. While I’ve seen Jello on stage many times over the years (the last being as backing vocalist for Amebix during their song, Largactyl, on the very same stage), this was my first time seeing him front a band. I expected him to have slowed down a bit over the years, but no. Watching him was like watching an out of control mime. He pantomimed the words to nearly every song, and never really stopped moving for the duration of the set. Sometimes I felt like I was playing charades though. In between songs, we were treated to lists of people in the government who should be in jail, and urged to vote. Same old Jello. As for the songs, most of the new album, “The Audacity of Hype,” was played. Among the new songs, the standouts for me were Three Strikes and The Terror of Tinytown. In addition to this, they played six Dead Kennedys songs (or five, since Too Drunk To Fuck wasn’t actually written by the Dead Kennedys). First was the aforementioned Too Drunk To Fuck, and interspersed throughout the set were California Uber Alles (updated to pillory Schwarzeneggar), Let’s Lynch the Landlord, Bleed For Me, Police Truck (a big “fuck you” to the BART police), and during the encore, Holiday in Cambodia (of course). For me, this was more like finally seeing Dead Kennedys live than seeing the reformed Dead Kennedys would have been.
The audience was an interesting mixture of kids and people in their forties and fifties. The guy in front of us was so excited he looked like he was going into convulsions, and there was a notable increase in pit activity whenever the band played a Dead Kennedys song, so much so that someone completely unfamiliar with their music could have picked the songs out.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening. We’ll be there again tonight for the Rasputina/Larkin Grimm show.
Alien Band Makes Contact Saturday at
Downtown Stage Summer Concert SeriesZolar X, Los Angeles first glam rock band, returns to their motherland on Saturday night for a free performance at Pershing Square. First formed in 1973, the reunited band, led by original founding member Ygarr Ygarrist, have been reinventing their bizarre performance for the last 5 years. It is rumored that they still play with antennae head gear and rotating outfits and that they continue to speak their jibberish Zolarian language.
The intergalactic band will be joined by a different rock force, The Tubes,who are also a spectacle themselves. Known for theatrical performances in the 70's, that wikipedia describes as combining "quasi pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism and politics."
Although Saturday will showcase 2010 Summer Concert Series' first band that speaks its own language, the event has already seen performances by Meiko & Purple Melon, Teen Inc. & Peanut Butter Wolf and others.
This week, on top of Zolar X and The Tubes, A.P. Woodworth and The Makepeace Brothers will be downtown on Wednesday for Beta Records night and Seasons will be performing Thursday for Spaceland Under The Stars. Remember that all performances are FREE, so head downtown and support downtown commerce (and parking lots) while you enjoy some quality music thanks to some great sponsors (us being one of them :D).
by Brandon "BoomD" Dorsky
ZOLAR X - Live in San Jose at The Blank Club
The Alpha Centuarii Herald calls Zolar X “the now sound…easily the most popular band in five parsecs…”; Yet this retro space age proto-new wave band’s fate began not in the stars, but at the San Lorenzo Community Center some 37 years ago. Mocked as weirdoes dressed like Vulcans, they headed to LA, where eccentrics are welcomed, as long as they can sing and dance. Part of that nebulous ball of gas that was punk, Zolar X was the house band at Mountain View expatriate Rodney Bingleheimer’s English Disco. They enjoyed a brief heyday before going into hyperslumber for some years. Now reformed, Plutonian elf Ygarr Ygarrist, Romm Eclipse, Raidia Visual X, Moto Bass Unit and Zory Zenith will reconstruct the beat that allowed them to share the stage with Iggy and the Stooges once. Space Theater opens. - Richard von Busack sanjose.com
Thirteen Delightfully Bizarre High-Concept Bands
Last week, Devo released their new “party album,” Something for Everybody. Remember Devo? A long time ago, they wrote art-rock songs about how society was devolving and mankind was regressing. Well, here we are in the future, and Devo’s worst fears have been realized: Our rock stars are making out with monkeys and all our cats are illiterate. That Devo — so smart! In order to properly honor their genius, we’re looking back on other high-concept acts who were way ahead of their time. Liberal-arts grad students, start your dissertations.
An excerpt of the article: "The Basement has hosted some noteworthy shows over those short years: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a triple bill of Tapes ’N Tapes, Figurines and Cold War Kids, secret midnight shows with local Americana heroes David Rawlings and Gillian Welch (with surprise guest Norah Jones). There have also been some strange evenings: Leslie & The LY’s with their gem sweater revolution, rock megaman Thor, L.A. space punk innovators and overall weirdos Zolar X."
Before Gwar thought of being from another planet, the alien musicians of Zolar X were shocking people of the music scene in 1970s Los Angeles. Fronted by Ygarr Ygarrist, originally a man named Stephen Della Bosca from the San Francisco bay area, the band invented their own language and performed in outlandish costumes. Their dedication gained them notoriety and a residency at legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, but no love from the record industry, who never picked them up. When they split in 1981, Ygarrist self-released a record Timeless, which got re-released by Jello Biafra in 2004, thereby sparking renewed interest in the band and a second coming of Zolar X. Before heading down to SXSW, Ygarrist recently spoke (in English, thankfully) about the origins of the band, and getting a second chance .
Describe your sound in your own words.
If you had a musical blender you would add Mozart, Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Ramones. Star Trek, the Forbidden Planet and The Day the Earth Stood Still -- the original version -- to get Zolar X.
How did Zolar X form?
Well, before Zolar X, we had a band, Gilded Flesh, we played -- not heavy duty, but we played at the Fillmore on what they called "Local Band Night", Tuesday night, hen we worked at a strip club in North Beach. We worked there for over a year as house band for the strippers. Musically, Zolar X was the next progression. I went searching for a bass player in the San Francisco Bay area and I met Zany Zatovian [Bruce Allen Courtios]. We both loved Sci-Fi and we wanted to do theater rock and so we formed Zolar X. When I met [Zany] his music was, it wasn't three bar chords anymore. We started realizing what we called the cello instrument and the classical interplay. We explored the lower third inside of a chord, we would utilize that on out guitars, that note, where it's the low harmony, not the high harmony, that was what we deemed as the Zolar chord.What are your influences?
When I was playing music and stuff, starting off, there was glam. I was very influenced by the Who, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, the English bands and the bands wore makeup, had these outfits, with velvets, it was more glam-my than your San Francisco Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane kind of band. Then I read a book, a rock and roll book from years ago and somewhere in it, it said, "Don't ever look like your audience." That and we loved Star Trek.
How did Star Trek influence Zolar X?
I had seen Star Trek, but Star Trek became more popular and apparent in Zolar X about six months in to Zolar X. At first, we just had our pointed hair cuts and we started putting colors in it, and then one day, Zany, he was watching Star Trek and he called me over and he had shaved one of his eyebrows, I said, "Oh that looks really good with the pointed hair, I'll do it too!" Then all of a sudden, it was like oh, let's get some mirrors, and let's start a dialog, and let's start talking in languages! [Laughs] Some people might say that it's a total fantasy or they're on acid or something like that, but it's a theater show. It's more than that, it's a lifestyle, but it is a show.
How did you come up with your band name?
It seemed very logical that if you were claiming to be from another planet that Billy, Bruce, Craig and Stephen didn't fit, the language just evolved like a script for a movie.
You were the house band at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco -- what was the craziest thing that went down there?
About Rodney, he always seemed so meek, but at the same time he was right there in the middle of all the rock stars. One of the craziest things I remember was on a Sunday night and it was a jam, and I don't know why nobody, I didn't have the knowledge or foresight to record it with my cassette player or have some pictures taken by my girlfriend at the time. It was Johnny Thunders, Arthur Kane [of the New York Dolls], Nigel [Harrison] from Blondie, I remember we just jammed all night. I wish I would have had something on it, but I got witnesses.
Zolar X re-formed in 2005. What was it like to get a second chance?
My whole life is about music. When I hung 'em up, I didn't quit, I've always been playing music. But when Zolar X broke up, I never had another band in between. It was like, "OK, I'll go get a job and live normal and do my thing." Then when I heard that somebody was interested in Zolar X, in my tapes and stuff that I had saved, I said, "Well, heck, I'm going to cash in," because I still would love to play this music and people keep saying, "Well, I wish I would have seen them in their day." I had no idea that I would be writing music, but since that time, since 2005, I've written over 200 brand new songs.
What was your first gig where you felt like you were coming back?
The first big gig for us was the Knitting Factory because it was Los Angeles again, and you felt like you went somewhere. We would rehearse up in Sacramento and so when we drove down here and rented the hotel and all the kinds of things that make you feel semi-like a rock star, it's funny, you don't think when you're fifty you'll be doing the stuff most people at twenty four. [Laughs] But still, that's planet Earth. I didn't fit the criteria or the rules. I figure you are anything you want to be as long as you're breathing.
Zolar X received a nice mention in Spin Digital Mag - P 66: "More apparent non-Earthlings! With antennae even! And monikers like Zory Zenith and Ufoian Ufar and Romm Eclipse! And solar-systematic glitter fashions that make their primary sonic inspiration Sparks semm like Ted Nugent by comparison!"
To read the entire article and see the pic click on the link below and click Page 66.
Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2010 > January > 08 > Entry
SXSW Stealthily Adds Bands to Lineup
By Patrick Caldwell | Friday, January 8, 2010, 11:34 AM
Hat tip to our friends over at the Austinist for noticing that the South by Southwest Music Festival has stealthily added quite a few bands to its already announced list of showcasing artists.
SXSW launched a new event schedule tool yesterday including film, interactive and music events. At the moment, it covers most events happening between Friday, March 12 (the start dates for the film and interactive festivals) and Wednesday, March 17 (the first day of the music portion). That means a slew (and “a slew” is the scientific term for a flood of new SXSW info) of Wednesday’s performing bands are now available for your viewing pleasure, though venues and times remain to be announced.
There are some interesting, major acts sprinkled in that list, including Solange Knowles, the XX (who may be playing a Houston Press day party alongside Big Pink), We Were Promised Jetpacks, locals Brazos, Neon Indian and Brownout, Alberta Cross, Denton’s Midlake (who have a new album out Feb. 2), Toro Y Moi, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, legendary early punk rock band Zolar X and Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now!, a new side project from ineffably charming Art Brut front man Eddie Argos.
Keep your eyes peeled to this space for further information. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are sparse right now — containing international showcases from Spain, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales (we can only hope for an appearance by Cardiff-based indie pop outfit Los Campesinos!), among others — but more announcements should arrive shortly.
What are your thoughts on the lineup? Stoked to see Zolar X reprise their alien glam act? Pop into the comments and let us know what you think."
Even more SXSW artists revealed: We Were Promised Jetpacks, Solange Knowles, The Xx, etc
Updates for SXSW tend to come one of two ways: in an overwhelming flood or a quiet trickle. Today it’s the latter, as SXSW.com launched its official event schedule without much fanfare, giving registrants the opportunity to see the festival lineup taking shape and begin planning their week. While most of it is thus far focused on Interactive and Film—including previously announced titles such as superhero spoof Kick-Ass and Mötorhead documentary Lemmy, plus new panels with intriguing titles like “RIP Jeff Goldblum: Truth Vs. Web BS”—a leak of Wednesday’s schedule also gives us a sneak peek at hundreds more bands who have confirmed since those first initial waves. Among the highlights we haven't seen before: Alberta Cross, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Anti-Pop Consortium, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Azure Ray, Brazos, Brownout!, Basia Bulat, Califone, Cheeseburger, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Danielson, Ear Pwr, Efterklang, Elizabeth And The Catapult, Adam Franklin And Bolts Of Melody, Free Energy, Gordon Gano And The Ryan Brothers, Grant Hart, The Heavenly States, Solange Knowles, Midlake, Neon Indian, Pocahaunted, Rhymefest, Solillaquists Of Sound, So Many Dynamos, Toro Y Moi, TV Torso, U-N-I, Imaad Wasif, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wye Oak, The Xx, Zolar X.
[Zolar X! Holy shit.—ed.]