ZZ Sharrock
WL 354 - Sunday March 11, 2007 — 11pm
Purveyors of: Free-jazz covers of classic rock

We suppose the "purveyors of" pretty much covers whatever needs to be said here. ZZ Sharrock’s Aaron Lumley correctly pointed out to Wavelength’s Tyrone Warner that he actually spelt the band's name wrong in the email containing questions, but all mention of the incident has been removed from the transcription.

What is the deal with "ZZ Sharrock?"

ZZ Sharrock is a band which drinks deep from the wells of Free Improvisation and Psychedelic Rock.

Who is in the band? Are they also in other bands?

The band consists of Brandon Valdivia on drums (Picastro, I Have Eaten The City), Matt Dunn also on drums (one of the key minds behind the Bummer in the Summer festival, All Under Heaven), Colin Fisher on tenor saxophone (I Have Eaten The City, Sandboxin'), Marcus Quin on bass clarinet (The Silt, Sharp Tongues), Mike Smith on double bass (Muskox, sometime mandolinist at the Royal Conservatory of Music), and myself (Aaron Lumley) on electric hollowbody guitar. Our other member is Andy Haas (Radio I Ching) but he rarely plays with us because he lives in New York City.

Where did the idea for starting this project come from?

The germ was planted while standing around a turntable with Matt Dunn, Matt Valentine, Erika Elder, and maybe Craig Dunsmuir with Sonny Sharrock's Black Woman LP playing loud. That happened at one of the Bummer in the Summer after-parties in August 2006. The name made itself known to me the next night. The band came together in the days before our first gig last November.

What can people expect from the ZZ Sharrock live show?

You can expect a lot of blisters, sweat, broken strings and ringing ear drums.

Will your band be taking requests at all, or is everything very carefully fine-tuned ahead of time?

We might take requests in the future but we're preparing a special set for Wavelength, which won't leave many opportunities for the witty people in attendance to shout out stupid shit like "Free Bird".

Do you have any particular stance on this whole Toronto "Bad Bands" scene? If so, please describe.

I have no idea what the "Bad Bands" scene is. I don't want to know. There isn't enough time in a day for all the good music out there.

Do you have a day job or is guitar playing your full-time gig?

I have a day job. It would be nice to make my living playing my guitar, but I don't think that I'm the kind of musician who gets hired to tour with successful, mainstream bands or gets asked to play hot licks on session recordings. I tried to play music that way and it really didn't work out. Actually, I only pick up the guitar on the day of a ZZ Sharrock gig as I am now occupied with playing the double bass. Even though there are fewer double bass players around than there are guitarists, my love of free jazz and free improvised music will probably require that I keep a day job for a while longer.

Recommend some local acts that you feel people should be paying more attention to.

Michael Keith would probably like some attention if you see him on the street or at a show. Give him a hug.

by Tyrone Warner