ZAPPATIKA AT THE NEXT ZAPPANALE

2010 03 -- Trying to keep up with a tradition, here's some small talk with one of the bands that will be performing at the next Zappanale festival.
Here's Zappatika!

UniMuta: Hard to imagine that the readers of United Mutations do not know who Zappatika is, but could you introduce yourself / the band?

mcinnes / Zappatika: i am Mcinnes, a sort of British musician....i moved to europe in 96 to 'expand horizons' and found myself (surprise,surprise) in Amsterdam......our drummer ,Batta-Tutti, and i started out together in another band back then (97-98), called Purple Void, but after a while realised that we were both pushing things to a very 'zappa-esque' edge which some of the other members of PV didn't really like/couldn't really get into......

and at that time, (2002) after Purple Void split, we decided to start our "dream" project whereby we would play only our own music (no matter how obscure or tricky it might be written) and of course, our favourite Zappa numbers and try to create a damn fine 21st century extremely alternative band with no clear genre or industry-influenced boundaries....a band where 'anything is possible'

The original line up was sketchy and temporary to say the least,but then ,over time and trials, we found the right muso's for the gig (Zomby Woof,Bongo Fury,The Kid) who added the right ingredients to start baking the perfect Z-cake !

This gradual organic development continue to this day and we have just become a 7-headed monster with an additional (3rd) guitarist, Daddo, and a very talented violinist.(K)..whom i believe your informed readers will know very well !

UniMuta: So you're headlining Zappanale on Saturday! Performing at midnight. How do you feel about that?

mcinnes / Zappatika: Can i swear ? ...yea, well fucking amazing is the only thing i can say. When Thomas called and asked if we would play some of our own music too ,it really blew me away. I spend half my life plugged into a recording consol ,and writing ....so when you get asked to perform some of that at a gig like Zappanale it is ....well,quite humbling.

We would have been happy to play the Carpark on Monday morning...but Saturday nite Midnite is a bit of a dream come true really. We promise EVERY person in the place that we will do whatever we can to make it a fine, funny and memorable show !

UniMuta: Will the fact that you'll be playing at midnight have an effect on the setlist? And will the addition of a violin and an extra guitar turn Zappatika into a jam band?

mcinnes / Zappatika: Well we will be on stage for a long.....long set (nearly 2 hours) and we will cover LOTS of stuff ranging from many "sing-a-long-a-Zappa" favourites to our own little ditties and also,for the first time live on stage, some of the "blended' FZ / Zappatika stunt-guitar-dance-rock stuff on our Dodo album...we are now working hard on the new 7-piece arrangements ,which is all going extremely well, and the sound at Zappanale will just be massive....

the show starts at midnite so we will probabaly be pretty well stimulated and,shall we say, uninhibited ,by then.....and honestly.........we have no idea what may happen !

UniMuta: Listening to Zappatika originals, I can tell that you're not only in to Frank Zappa & The Mothers. Who are your main musical influences?

mcinnes / Zappatika: my first big influence was actually Bolan, the Electric Warrior album turned me on to electric guitar at the age of 10...it was a masterpiece for its time and i still listen to it even now....also Alex Harvey ,Bowie and Alice Cooper had a strong 'emotional' influence on my eventual attempts to write stuff.....as a guitarist i was Jimi's as a teenager and FZ was a kind of vague spectre .....when i was 17, i sat through Live in NY and Overnight Sensation ...........since then.....well i dont need to tell you...

UniMuta: Looking at the future, how do you see Zappatika evolving the next couple of years?

mcinnes / Zappatika: there are lots of plans in the mix....we will release the Strictly Frankly DVD Tribute (100 % FZ material) sometime this year...working on that now.....might be ready for Zappanale, and we are in negotiation with some really interesting countries (like Latvia ,Hungary and Romania) about festivals and shows...we will probably keep doing short tours in North Europe where possible ,but we have been very busy the last 2 years so we are starting 2010 in a relaxed way,just working on the new material and working the new players in....we will be back out on stage toward the Summer....also there is a vague plan forming about doing something in the US in 2011...but we will have to see about that.....apart from that The Kid (Bassist) and i just cut the first parts on some stuff for the next studio album....

UniMuta: Zappanale will have another great line-up. Are there bands that you really want to see?

mcinnes / Zappatika: well, Ray White is one of our heroes ,so it would be gret if he makes it ! Of course, JL Ponty is an interesting one...and it would be nice to hear Bobby Martin on one or two FZ classics ........but i think probably EVERY band who has been booked will be great -actually Lilo played with us at our Acoustic FZ set in Paris in '08, (there is a video of that somewhere online) he is a cool guy and a good player....

i guess, right now, we are just looking forward to being a part of it.

UniMuta: I, for one, am really looking forward to the Zappatika concert.
Thanks for your time & see you at Zappanale!

mcinnes / Zappatika: thanks for your support man, and your great site
we, for 7, are looking forward to it too- see you there !

cheers

-zap mcinnes