And we were able to keep the technology as background additions." We might do well to return to our humble origins.' That brought us together and kept us together, and `that' is our love of music. "I guess we could say it's a little technique, "I saw Pearl Jam and Nirvana and this so-called, well, it has a name - the `grunge scene' - and it's not so much about technique," Gibbons said, speaking from Los Angeles.
The music on "Antenna" represents a tentative shift back toward the rootsy blues-rock style that has made the band one of pop music's biggest touring attractions since the mid-'70s. The burst of inspiration Gibbons got from Fugazi, and from the mainstream success of various grunge bands, helped turn ZZ Top at least slightly away from the techno-inspired sound it perfected in the '80s. "On the way home I was so knocked out by what my thinking had graduated to after that show." "I went to see them at the Hollywood Palladium with (noted album producer) Rick Rubin, and I wanted to get the thrill because Fugazi just comes out and has a good time," Gibbons said. And he credits the punk band's fierce independence for providing him with a spark when it came time to record ZZ Top's new album. Oblivious to this contradiction, Gibbons speaks of Fugazi with nearly the same zeal as when he discusses blues legends like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. ZZ Top plays Friday night at the San Diego Sports Arena. This disdain for commercialism would seem to make Fugazi the aesthetic antithesis of perennial MTV darling ZZ Top, now touring in support of "Antenna," the Texas trio's first album under a $30 million contract with RCA. The Washington, D.C., quartet performs only at all-ages shows and never charges more than $5 for its concerts and $8 for its CDs. punk bands, Fugazi records for its own label despite lucrative offers to sign with major companies. So imagine these fans' surprise to hear Gibbons, he of the belly-length beard and omnipresent sunglasses, rave about recent records by industrial-rock mavens Ministry and notorious gangsta rapper Scarface, which he described as "amazing."Įven more startling, the genial singer-guitarist said he has been inspired by hardcore punk icons Fugazi - a claim that seems as plausible as Rush Limbaugh crediting Karl Marx and Luther Campbell as his ideological mentors. And he certainly has broader tastes than many young punk and alternative music fans, who often dismiss his band as a bloated anachronism ready for burial in the rock 'n' roll graveyard. Startling as it may seem to some, ZZ Top's frontman has broader tastes than his band's patented blues 'n' boogie approach might suggest. Old-time blues, '90s grunge are Top inspirationsīilly Gibbons, an enthusiastic fan of rap, industrial and hard-core punk? Online: Bonus interview with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons Where: Pechanga Theater, Pechanga Resort & Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula It also retains the band’s sense of humor, as evidenced by this couplet from “Chartreuse,” a classic blues shuffle whose lyrics suggest a mash-up between Louis Jordan and Spinal Tap: Chartreuse, that color just turns me loose / Better than magenta, better than puce / You got a shade that gets rid of the blues / Don’t you know I like a big caboose. The band’s latest album, 2012’s “La Futura,” is its first in nine years and a solid return to form. With the band’s MTV- and Top 40 Radio-fueled days of playing in arenas now two decades past, ZZ Top performs in smaller venues and is all the better for it. Under the surface, though, the group displays an expert command of nuance, adding understated touches that provide a richness and depth few other blues-rock trios dream of, let alone achieve. Their songs sound basic and straightforward, which in large part they are. Their no-nonsense music favors passion over frills and revels in a deceptive form of simplicity. Gibbons and his band mates, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard, remain a blues-rock powerhouse.
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