UniMuta: Hi Chato, I was glad when I heard that you will be performing at Zappanale with your ZAPPED project. It turned out to be a fortunate coincidence in which you were asked to replace a band that couldn’t make it. Were you happy when they asked you? And were you ready (material- and availability-wise)?
Chato: ZAPPED exists since 2023 and I submitted my band for the 2024 Zappanale . They were interested, but it didn't work out then. I was happy when Georg asked me, because it was his task to find replacement bands. We had enough material, but unfortunately our sax player had already a gig on that date. Georg & I searched hard for a replacement, but to no avail. The material still works without sax and probably (not confirmed) we have two guest players who will play one song each with us.
UniMuta: If my memory serves me right, you played a solo set in 2013 and performed with your Chato! Band in 2017. Why the name-change from Chato! to Zapped? And what can we expect?
Chato: The band CHATO! played its last gig in 2019, because many moved out of the city Osnabrück and I didn't have the energy to find new musicians. In 2022, I moved to Fürth and found new musicians in Nürnberg, because I studied jazz composition. ZAPPED is like a new chapter of the CHATO! band, the musical style and the instrumentation is similar (except now with vibes instead of keyboards), but now the material is at least 50% Zappa, the rest is my own. We even include some songs from the CHATO! albums.
I was never too happy with CHATO! as a band name, we had to come up fast with a name then, this was the only one we all agreed on and it makes sense, since I wrote all the material. But what would I call a solo album that doesn't feature the other musicians? Or if it's a very different style of music? ZAPPED features new musicians, so it was a good reason for a name change. And BTW ZAPPED was a name I suggested ten years ago, but the other band members didn't like it. The new members liked it and so, ZAPPED we are.
What to expect: we are the band for the Zappa nerds, because we play the less-played songs and some rare "numbers" (hint)
UniMuta: You’re also performing as part of a duo (J.O.E. ?), you’re part of Progosaurus, and you have your own Zapped project. How do you cope / prioritize? Is there (or could there be) a Zapped release in the pipeline?
Chato: Jupiter Orbit Escape (aka J.O.E.) is a full progressive pop band, but sometimes band chef Jovana and me perform as a duo for quieter gigs. Those three projects just happened. It was never the plan to be part of three projects :D
The prioritization is relative to the genre that is asked for gigs. If somebody wants a jazz band, there is ZAPPED, if somebody wants a hard rock/metal band, there is Progosaurus and if somebody wants a more song-oriented band with vocals, there is J.O.E.
We did talk about the possibility of a ZAPPED album. It's a time and money issue though and I want to do it justice. But first, I want to put out my solo album(s) "Never Odd or Even Vol 1&2" on CD this year and Vol 2 is not even out yet digitally (Vol. 1 was released last January on my bandcamp).
UniMuta: I know that you have an excellent taste when it comes to adventurous music. What artist or band blew you away recently? (this is a non-Zappanale question), and looking at the upcoming Zappanale festival, what band(s) do you want to see?
Chato: Two weeks ago I saw a singersongwriter event where several artists performed three songs and one guy totally blew me away. He is called "Butzemann" and he sang while the rest came from a backing tape. Also featured was Lee (who performs with me in Progosaurus) who did show elements and also sang. It was extreme, it was funny, it was clever, it was rough directly-in-your-face. The project "Butzemann" is so fresh you can't find him under that name right now, there is only one single (Erwachsenensachen) on Spotify under the artist name "Backalley Recordstore". I loved all three songs right away. This must have been the same feeling to watch Knorkator in 1995 (one of my favourite bands)
About Zappanale: I wanna see "The White Page", should be interesting. Unfortunately, I have to leave Saturday morning, but Monika Roscher's big band is top (I even had her as a teacher for Large Ensemble for 1 semester, you will hear the result on my upcoming solo album "Never Odd or Even Vol.2")
UniMuta: Thank you, Chato. See you soon.
Zapped will be performing at half past midnight on Friday.
On the main stage.
That might a bit on the late side, but I’m sure that it will be worth it. See you there!!
And don’t forget that you can follow Chato and ZAPPED on different platforms:
- https://www.instagram.com/zappedband/
- https://www.facebook.com/zappedband
- https://chato.bandcamp.com/
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