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Interview
by SashaS
15-4-2003
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| Enuff Z Nuff: holding for that ... riff! |
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Tripping classic triggers
Enuff Z Nuff: two decades of value thrills
A perfect combination of smoothness and strength, with a strong blend of flavours and perfectly aged to realise its full vintage… If it were a tele-ad for Scotch, you’d be forming queues at the local mega-foodmart in no time. As it is a description of a rock band, majority of music lovers find it difficult to relate. We are talking Enuff Z Nuff, a valiant, candid-but-experienced rockers with a knack for a hard-fun ‘boogie’ of the rock-classic mode.
The Chicago four-piece is on a Euro-tour, with LA Guns, but this time as a trio due to vocalist/guitarist Donnie Vie’s illness; it doesn’t affect the performance as co-founder, bassist and harmoniser, Chip Z‘Nuff, takes over the fronting duty and drops an unimpeachable job. Well, if you can’t step in for your “brother” after 19 years and deliver a corking feelgood show, then – you’ve been messing with the wrong chords!
The band is promoting its 11th album, ‘Welcome To The Blue Island’ – a mixture of riffs, melodies, hooks, blues and humour, all a great album should contain – and Chip is talking at the ultra-Yank speed about it, his absent partner, industry, idols, war and peace signs.
“We are from the old-skool and that shows in our music,” Z’Nuff simply states. “All our influences are from out here (GB), Pink Floyd, (Led) Zeppelin, Queen, Mott The Hoople, (David) Bowie… The list goes on and I disagree when English say the American rock is better… I say – who cares where it comes from? Everything is good as long as it trips your trigger, that’s what matters.”
“We are here to play our music,” he smiles behind his stars-decorated, hippy-looking shades, “and I’m glad that there is a lot of crap (released) out there because it takes my mind off the shit we’ve had to go through. We’ve taken an arsehole of it throughout our career. I don’t ever question a scene, I feel we have a strong jam, make good records and there are other bands out there that are playing music that is more popular with fans, and that’s cool.”
“Most bands that came out when we came out,” Z’Nuff continues without prompting, “aren’t together any more, they all got jobs or doing other things. We are blessed, thank God, with still making good music and it shows that we are the real McCoy, we are not phoney. We live and breathe and write songs.”
Preparation meeting opportunity
Not long after the “soul brothers” (to be) Vie and Z’Nuff met they started penning tunes and gigging but the route to the debut album turned out to be arduous and five years long! And then, their kind of Cheap Trick/Badfinger-ish hard pop-rock songs came up against the grunge episode. Within the next five years the band found itself deal-less. But, a release of their original demo-tapes as ‘1985’ album saw their fortunes flip and now, operating on an independent level, this outfit continues to rock with passion instead of posing.
“Next year will be 20 years,” Z’Nuff sounds surprised, “and during that period we wrote 150 songs that were released and another 500 that weren’t… To critical acclaim and I’m very proud of the time we’ve had together and music we’ve made. Most of the records are self-made, there is no budget, we go into studios during ‘janitor-hours’ and have recorded in the studios used by Smashing Pumpkins, Blur, Oasis and Cheap Trick, and then find labels that are interested in our music.”
“The fans are what keeps us going,” Chip decides to open up, “they are amazing, write letters, call us, E-mail… We've got a lot of people out there who are really cheered up by our group and that makes you feel really good. It is very special… And, luck is when preparation meets opportunity; so, we’d sooner go out and make things happen than sit on our arses and wait for something to happen. That’s not us and that’s why we continue to tour and make music.”
“When you put a band together, you don’t envision it ending, you don’t gear up for failure, you give it all. The band’s career has cost me dearly, I went through a divorce, my family left me, I was devastated but I never stopped taking care of music and the band. And, I hope this takes us to the next level.”
Z’outro
Chip’s positivity is really something that astonishes, as many a lesser journeyman would have developed a malignant cynicism.
“We’ve certainly ran into some obstacles during our career but noting more than anybody else. Without getting into the negative stuff, we’ve had tough time but our love for music that fans appreciate, it may be the top reason we are still together, because we had tough time and we don’t wanna say ‘No’, we don’t wanna give up. We believe we gotta great band here and…”
“You know Little Stevie Van Zandt, of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band and actor of ‘The Sopranos’? He is a very good friend of mine and he told me, ‘You are more than a footnote, stay together, keep making music, don’t blow it now! I think we’ll be looked back at, in the years to come, as a group that had strong songs, great live performances and it is a great band. I’m really proud of it and I love the guys and when it is all said’n’done, it’ll be a sad day for me.”
The band’s early hits were almost overshadowed by their stage gear that displayed myriad of peace signs. They toned it down but it is still present and proudly displayed on Chip’s T-shirt front during the interview. Is that a reason they are touring now, during the Iraqi war, in particular when most American artists simply postpone their dates in the name of security?
“Peace sign is still around, still very relevant, it is very positive… I don’t look at it any other way but a logo, Aerosmith have theirs, Cheap Trick too… This sign is saying we all are brothers and sisters but I’m not against war, if that’s what you are asking. I believe in unity but if that goes wrong and there are problems, then some other steps must be taken to rectify the situation. As much as I’m against wars I believe we need this one, we need to stop it from becoming a bigger threat to our (US?) security.”
Yeah, well, y’know… What after the war is not televised anymore?
“We keep on writing songs, we have 6 recorded right now but have about 35 to 40 songs ready to go and are aiming for another album next year… We are talking about putting out some sort of ‘Best Of/Greatest Hits 2’ album, with some unreleased material and some of the hits before the next studio record.”
Tour dates (remaining):
15 Apr 03 - Corporation, Sheffield, England
18 Apr 03 - La Gabbia, Bassano Del Grappa, Italy
19 Apr 03 - Indian School, Milan, Italy
20 Apr 03 - Alpheus, Roma, Italy
23 Apr 03 - Razzamatazz II, Barcelona, Spain
24 Apr 03 - Sala Gala, Murcia, Spain
25 Apr 03 - Sala Macumba, Madrid, Spain
26 Apr 03 - Sala Jam, Bergara, Spain
SashaS
15-4-2003
Enuff Z Nuff’s album ‘Welcome To Blue Island’ is available now on Dream Catcher
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