Punk Rock and Picasso: Q & A With Billy Zoom

John Doe
Photo © Julie Finley

Rodney Bingenheimer was a big X fan and played your singles on his show. How important do you think radio airplay was to your popularity, versus your live shows?
Very important. KROQ was one of a handful of stations around the country that weren’t programmed by Lee Abrams. They were the only way to hear new music. Even today, we draw the biggest crowds in areas that had one of those non-formatted stations.

The L.A. music scene when you started was so wide open, a band could adopt any kind of musical style; they weren’t tied in to a specific genre. With the wide-open frontier of Internet music companies like eMusic, do you see a return to that grab-bag of musical styles?
I don’t agree at all. There was a common thread throughout the entire scene. Punk was originally a roots based return to Rock & Roll and 60s Pop. It was a scene that rebelled against the phony, over-produced art Hippies. We were very united in our purpose.

If X were to release a new album, how would the writing be done? Would you get together in a room and thrash things out together or Beatles-White-Album-it and have everyone bring a dish to the potluck?
“IF” X ever released a new album, then there’d be an answer to that question.

I can’t tell you how we did something that hasn’t happened.

Exene Cervenka and Billy Zoom
Photo © Julie Finley

Bands tend to find niches of rabid fans in certain cities across the country. Do you find that the Southern California audiences nowadays are more receptive than the rest of the country, or is there another place where they respond more fervently?
Any place that had a non-formatted radio station that played new music. WBCN in Boston and KROQ were probably the best, but there were also new music stations in New York, San Francisco, Dallas, D.C., Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. Boston has always been one of our biggest markets.

I’m always looking for new and interesting things—what’s making the biggest impact on you right now? Book, band, painting, political cause, snack food. . .
Raising my 21-month-old twins, and restoring an Austin Healey Sprite.

That’s about as good as it gets.

I’ve been very involved with Gretsch in designing the new Billy Zoom guitar models. I also just designed a recording pre-amp for Alesis, and a new guitar amp for G & L. I’m in the studio a lot producing new groups. That’s about all I have time for.

You seem to be playing songs like “Los Angeles” and “Blue Spark” with the same energy as when they were new. How do you keep your enthusiasm going for songs that you’ve played so many times before?
That’s the only way I know how to play.

Additional Resources:

X’s 13 x 31 Tour will be stopping in Austin, TX at La Zona Rosa on June 2. For a complete list of upcoming shows, go to the band’s MySpace page.

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