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ZAK DANIELS OF THE ONE EYED SNAKES
TALKS TO ROCKWIRED
ABOUT THE CD SNAKELAND,
BEING 33 (THANK GOD FOR PHOTOSHOP)
AND
ROCK N ROLL ESCAPISM
INTERVIEWED BY BRIAN LUSH
There was a time when rock music dominated the airwaves and
let you escape your crappy job or your crappy homelife and education
(depending on how old you are) There was a time when rock n
roll was all about fun. Sex and fun. The drugs were optional
but not discouraged like they are now in these all too politically
correct times.
It's funny though. If there was ever a time for some good old
fashioned rock n roll escapism...Fuck! Aint it now?
We're inthe middle of a war that looks as if it will have a
longer life span than our own planet and people seem to care
more about the going's on of privileged celebrities. If people
ain't gonna get political about it, why not PARTAY!!!
ZAK DANIELS AND THE ONE EYED SNAKES is the soundtrack for the
hedonism our great society could use a little more of. There's
no preening, whining or false posturing here. Their CD SNAKELAND
is a rockin good time filled with hard and heavy rock n roll
gems like SILICONE, HOLLYWOOD SLEAZER, SOUTHERN BELLE, and LEG
JAM. This is rock n roll that makes the sex feel better, the
car cruise at 120 miles an hour and makes living your life seem
a little more stimulating...Once you've gotten over the hangover.
ZAK DANIELS spoke to ROCKWIRED over the phone on a Sunday night.
Here is how it went.
How did it all begin for the ONE-EYED SNAKES?
The name, you mean?
As far as the guys getting together. It sounds you guys have
been together a while before the name came along.
Three of the members, myself included, have been together since
2001. Bass Players keep changing. You know that old joke about
bass players, right? What black and brown and looks good on
a bass player?
What's that?
A doberman.
Never heard that one.
you coud insert lead singer there too. Insert whatever you want
there. The bass players have changed a few times but the current
bass player has been with us now for about six years now. This
is probably the most permanent that the ONE-EYED SNAKES have
been.
I've got the press release, but how did you guys settle
on the name ONE-EYED SNAKES? Just for the sake of my
readers.
Pretty good story there. We were hired to do a soundtrack for
porn flick. a XXX rated porn flick and when the work was completed,
they asked me to pick a fictitious namne for the credits. I
was really proud of the music. I wanted to use my real name
but they didn't want me to use my real name. I came up with
ZAK AND THE BUSHWHACKERS and they said "No, that's too
crass." and I said "Too crass? It's a XXX rated movie."
So I came up with ZAK AND THE ONE-EYED SNAKES adn they said
that was too crass also. I couldn't believe it. What I came
up with for the credits was ZAK AND THE VENETIANS. So in the
end I think I stuck with the ONE-EYED SNAKES for the bands name
just to screw with the people who said that we couldn't use
it.
Well your music stands out among porn music.
There's this thing about rock and porn you know?
Yeah. They also make Christian Rock. It makes you wonder if
Christian Porn is next.
I've got a song called PORNOGRAPHIC CHRISTIAN, but that's another
story.
What got you into being a rocker?
Actually I think when I was five years old I knew what I was
going to do. There was no doubt. I think the spark was anext
door neighbor who had a reel to reel recorder and my mother
brought me over there one day and this kid recorded me singing
DAVY CROCKETT. I was hooked. It was magic to me that you could
do things like that. I think that was when I knew that I wanted
to make records.
From there, was ther some kind of influence that guided
you a little bit?
Seeing THE BEATLES on ED SULLIVAN. I'm old remember. I'm 33
if they ask you.
Two years older than me.
Right!
You look great ZAK!
I keep celebrating the anniversary of 33 every year.
So it was THE BEATLES that got you going?
I was already into music at that point but that really got to
me.
I was wondering because in listening to the CD, I hear
alot of CHEAP TRICK or even a GREAT WHITE influence and I was
wonder seeing as how you are 33 if you were ever involved in
the LA rock scene of the 80's.
Well, I like CHEAP TRICK. GREAT WHITE I had never heard of until
that thing witht he flames you know?All I know is that one song
they did.
Yeah, the title escapes, and I'm younger than you are.
By two years. I'm probably older than dirt. Thanks for Photoshop.
I look good in allof those 8 x 10 glossies and shit! I loved
CHEAP TRICK. Escpecially there first album. It had a real rawness
to it. There sound got a little homogenized later on.
As does a lot of rock n roll the older it gets. It's
kind of like preservative.
But I thought tht first album really kicked ass. They weren't
really a big influence on me as far as what I eventually became
sounding like. They way I sound changes with every recording
I do because of the songs and the moment they're written in.
I was influenced by THE BEATLES, and THE STONES and THE BRITISH
INVASION. I was also inspired by the folk movement and the more
mellower acoustic sounds like JONI MITCHELL and BOB DYLAN. I
don't know if you can truly draw a line between your influences
and the soundtrack of your life. I never said that I wanted
to sound like certain person 'cause that just makes no sense
to me. It wouldn't be special and it wouldn't be a gift.
Now here is the part of the interview where I want
you to briing props to your fellow musicians. Who are they and
what do you think they bring to THE ONE-EYED SNAKES?
JIMMY 'THE KAT" KATSIKIDES, the guitar player, is magical.
i saw him play in another band and went "Wow! I want that
guy in my band!" and somehow he ended up being in my band.
He was so much better than the band he was in and I was able
to lure him away and we've been good ever since. That was like
1990 or 1991. He's my right hand man. He co-produced both of
our albums: the first self-titled album and the new one, SNAKELAND.
He's definitely half the sound of this band. The druumer DOUG
LAVARY is an Aussie and his first band was THE VALENTINES which
boasted the original singer for AC/DC.
BON SCOTT.
In fact, they scored a record deal under the name THE VALENTINES.
Recently, there was a book released on AC/DC where they show
a picture of THE VALENTINES and there's DOUG- 14 or 15 years
old and one of the youngest people to ever get a record deal.
He's a great drummer adn a great background vocalist. Our newest
member is the bass player ORION LINDMAN. I saw him playing in
a trio and he just amazed me. And that's it. That's how we go
the line-up.
Was there a succession of bands for you before THE
ONE EYED SNAKES?
Nothing national. There were a lot of local bands. One was called
TANGENT and the other was called XY STONE. But there was this
one called THE RAZZ. Remember KIM FOWLER. He was responsible
for signing THE RUNAWAYS and MOTLEY CRUE. Anyway THE RAZZ was
looking for a lead vocalist, so I went in to audition having
only heard this song that KIM wrote, about twice. When I got
into the studio the tracks were recorded like 10 minutes earlier.
I went in and recorded my vocals in one take and KIM says, "all
right you're the lead vocalist." The next day, the song
was on KROQ.
I'm just now finding outthat SNAKELAND is you second
album. What do you think has changed?
The first one I think was sonically and meticulously super-clean.
I was proud of it. I wasn't going to release it until it was
perfect. I still love it. We had two hits off of that album
and for an unsigned band with no budget, that's pretty unheard
of. One of those songs SKY BOY was on the charts for 21 weeks.
This was around 1998. We went on tour and got treated like gods
in all of the little towns that we played. Now you have clear
channel owning all of these littel stations and it's a lot harder
now to get the music on the radio.
Are there any songs on the new album that stand out
as favorites for you?
I like the way the song SILICONE came out. That'll probably
be the first single. The ballad SHY GIRL is possible going to
be the second single. Curiously, the last song, LEG JAM is the
only song on the album that was written with the whole band.
Usually I write alone.
What do you want someone to walk away with after hearing
the music?
Male or female?
Female.
Hopefully they're walking away with telephone numbers or a piece
of us. Hopefully people are thinking "wow! we had a good
time. That band rocks!" That's the best compliment.
By Brian Lush For Rockwired Radio
http://www.rockwired.com
Website: http://www.zakdaniels.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/zakdaniels
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