UniMuta : Hi Jon, I was quite happy to hear that Gozortenplat will be performing at Zappanale.
I’ve heard good things about the Milwaukee Zappa Fest where you guys have been performing for the last 15 years. Can you share a few words about the Milwaukee Zappa Fest and about the concerts you did at the festival?
Jon Liedtke: Here in our hometown of Milwaukee, WI, we have an annual event called Milwaukee Zappafest. Crazy as it may sound, it is the 2nd longest running Frank Zappa tribute concert in the world, only behind the almighty Zappanale. Ours is much more modest and smaller than what they do, but it's something we've been able to sustain and make bigger as the years have gone on. It almost always has taken place during the interval of time in December known as Zappadan to Zappa fans. (Editors note: Zappadan runs from December 4th (the date of Frank's death) to December 21st (his brithday). One celebrates by playing Frank's music.)
The Milwaukee Zappafest consists mainly of Milwaukee area musicians performing setlists of Zappa material. Some acts are actual original bands and others are assembled strictly for the show. Many bands have come and gone, and some have even come back, and then left again. Some bands dissolved and mutated into something else. We even had a Captain Beefheart band for a couple of years. My band Gozortenplat has been headlining for the past 12 + years which was about the same time I took over the prestigious and herculean task as main organizer and promoter of the fest. I brought in Ike Willis in 2018 for our 20th anniversary show to headline with my band and we've had him back every year since (minus 2020 of course). This year will be our 25th year anniversary, great googly moogly!
The Milwaukee Zappafest consists mainly of Milwaukee area musicians performing setlists of Zappa material. Some acts are actual original bands and others are assembled strictly for the show. Many bands have come and gone, and some have even come back, and then left again. Some bands dissolved and mutated into something else. We even had a Captain Beefheart band for a couple of years. My band Gozortenplat has been headlining for the past 12 + years which was about the same time I took over the prestigious and herculean task as main organizer and promoter of the fest. I brought in Ike Willis in 2018 for our 20th anniversary show to headline with my band and we've had him back every year since (minus 2020 of course). This year will be our 25th year anniversary, great googly moogly!
UniMuta: Is the Gozortenplat band / project linked to the Milwaukee Zappa Fest, or did you tour with Zappa’s musis as well. You recently did three gigs as part of your “Road To Zappanale”. How did it go? Was it a fixed setlist, or are you trying out different things?
Jon Liedtke: Gozortenplat actually existed as an original band for a few years before we got caught up permanently in Zappafest. We were very much a free form experimental jam/freakout band, inspired by Zappa and MOI of course, but also The Residents, Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Hawkwind, etc. When we hopped onto a slot at Zappafest in 2008, most of the original band were involved so we decided to use that name for the performance. What happened then was the original band performances started to slow down, and we started to put more time and focus into doing Zappafest sets. Some of the original band members transitioned into the Zappafest band, and like the original band, a rotating cast has ensued ever since. As the years went by and we cemented ourselves as the headliners of Zappafest, we were able to bring more and bigger talent to the band, which allowed us to take on some higher caliber Zappa compositions. Last time I checked, we were hovering somewhere around 70-80 Zappa songs that we've played over the years, so we have a pretty big catalogue to work with.
Now that we've achieved the honor of playing Zappanale, we figured we should do some performances around here before we hit the big time in Germany. We played Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago and they all went quite well and we had a lot of fun. Each show we got a little more comfortable with how to respond to each other on stage and getting the jams to flow. We played the exact same setlist that we'll be doing at Zappanale for these shows. The only difference was that for our US shows, we put in a lot of comedic banter and spoof song segue ways into the set. Unfortunately we have to cut almost all of it out of our set for Zappanale, because we are on a time restriction. We did it for our US shows as an extra way to have fun and show our comedic and weird nature. We feel like this will still shine through for us at Zappanale.
Now that we've achieved the honor of playing Zappanale, we figured we should do some performances around here before we hit the big time in Germany. We played Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago and they all went quite well and we had a lot of fun. Each show we got a little more comfortable with how to respond to each other on stage and getting the jams to flow. We played the exact same setlist that we'll be doing at Zappanale for these shows. The only difference was that for our US shows, we put in a lot of comedic banter and spoof song segue ways into the set. Unfortunately we have to cut almost all of it out of our set for Zappanale, because we are on a time restriction. We did it for our US shows as an extra way to have fun and show our comedic and weird nature. We feel like this will still shine through for us at Zappanale.
UniMuta: The YouTube videos that are up on YouTube show quite an extended line-up. Who will you be bringing along?
Jon Liedtke: As mentioned before, we have an ever rotating, mutating lineup. We have a base core of about 5 of us who are in it every year and then it's always a little different with the rest of the cast. We like it that way, because it keeps things fresh and each band has it's own unique vibe. For Zappanale, this is a special one time lineup consisting of former, current, and new members to the group. The Gozortenplat Zappanale lineup is.....
- Jon Liedtke (guitars, vox)
- Ross Miller (vox)
- Noah Mezsick (vox)
- Frank Chandek (vox)
- Mike Secklin (bass)
- Mike Neumeyer (vibraphone, percussion, vox)
- Rob Abouchar (keyboards, vox)
- Matt Ostlund (sax)
- Marlese Koehnlein (keyboards, vox)
- Dave Koehnlein (drums)
- Carrie Anne Secklin (vox)
- Melanie Miller (vox)
- Jeana Koehnlein (vox)
UniMuta: Lots of vocals. That's great. Often underestimated when performing Frank's music.
As part of the “Road To Zappanale”, I hear that you’ll be doing a concert in The Netherlands on the 12th of July. In Hoorn, which is just above Amsterdam. A beautiful place ! I guess you guys intend to visit Amsterdam? And renting a car and driving to Bad Doberan?
As part of the “Road To Zappanale”, I hear that you’ll be doing a concert in The Netherlands on the 12th of July. In Hoorn, which is just above Amsterdam. A beautiful place ! I guess you guys intend to visit Amsterdam? And renting a car and driving to Bad Doberan?
Jon Liedtke: We wanted to get in as many warm up gigs as possible before we play Zappanale, and we thought the Netherlands would be a good option to squeeze in one more, seeing that it's not too far away from Germany. We have a friend who lives in Hoorn and he was able to help us get a gig there. It might not be as big as our US shows or Zappanale, but we are definitely going to have fun! Most of us will be hanging out in Amsterdam a couple days beforehand. It's one of my favorite cities in the world, I really love the culture and vibes whenever I visit. After the Hoorn gig we will be renting vehicles and traveling to Bad Doberan. I'll be traveling with our friend and super Zappa fan Hank Woods. Hank is the manager for Ike Willis and we've built a great friendship over the years working together for Zappafest when we bring Ike to town. He is a big fan of our band so he's coming along for the fun. Hank's a very lovable guy and he knows Zappanale well so he's a good guy to have around for this type of adventure.
UniMuta: At Zappanale, you’re scheduled to open Saturday on the main stage. Before Billy Cobham. How crazy is that? Did you see the line-up for the festival? What band do you definitely want to catch?
Jon Liedtke: Yes, I am still absorbing the reality that we get to perform on the mainstage right before one of my all time favorite drummers, Billy Cobham! A lot of us in the band are big fans of his, so beyond the honor of performing at Zappanale, it's a huge additional honor to go on before Billy. And then of course Jon Anderson after that, which blows my mind almost just as equally. I'm such a huge Yes fan, and it's going to be fun to see him perform Close To The Edge. I'm really looking forward to seeing both legends, they are certainly musical heroes to me so I'll have to make the effort to say hello if I get a chance backstage. The rest of the fest looks pretty rad as well. I'm of course excited for Banned From Utopia. I saw them when they were called The Zappa Band, but now it's got Chad Wackerman so this should be extra special. I see they replaced Gong (sucks they canceled) with Napolean Murphy Brock and a jazz ensemble, which sounds really interesting. I'm hoping to see as many acts as I can. Based on experience I probably won't get to see as much on Saturday when we play, but for the days we are not performing I'm going to make the most of my time watching the other bands. This is really a dream come true for us to be a part of this festival so I want to bask in all of the sights and sounds that this legendary event has to offer.
UniMuta: Sounds like a plan ! Thanks for taking the time for this short chat and see you soon !
Gozortenplat will be performing at
- July 12, 2023 – at Het Huis Verloren, Hoorn, The Netherlands.
- July 15, 2023 – at the Main Stage at Zappanale on Saturday afternoon.
Better be there !!
Better be there !!
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