Scotty Zwang Discusses Life After Dopapod, RAQ, Tom Hamilton, & More November 13, 2017 11:58

Photo by Keith Griner: Phierce Photo

Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen

Ever since launching this website in August of 2014, our main focus has been to provide a valuable platform for both up-and-coming and established musicians. Our goal is to be a voice in the modern music scene, both for fans and musicians alike. Artist interviews have been one of our focal points since day one. With that being said, we recently had a chance to catch up with drummer Scotty Zwang to discuss last year's departure with Dopapod, joining up with RAQ, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, and Conspirator, and a whole lot more. See below for the full interview, and make sure to follow Scotty Zwang Music on Facebook!

Tell me about your early drumming days. When did you realize this was something you could do for a living?

Scotty: Well, I've been playing drums for a really long time. I got a drum kit for my eighth birthday, or around that time. It picked up pretty fast. I think like a lot of people, that first year was pretty frustrating. Maybe more so for my parents. I continued to play through those challenging years, and by the time that I was a teenager, it seemed pretty apparent that I had a real love for it. As far as a profession, I always dreamed that I could play music.At that age, I thought more about being a rock star. As I got older, it was more about whether I could make a decent living; nothing too extravagant. As my grandfather always said, "Food, clothing, and shelter." If I could pull that off, then I would be happy.

Around the time I was 19, I started to realize that was a possibility. I was in college and hating it. The band that I was playing with...I was initially more of a sub drummer for them. I was subbing for them and playing more shows than their current drummer, who was away at college. I didn't want to be in college anymore myself, so I let them know that I really wanted to take a stab at it full-time, given that I was playing more than their current guy.That was the beginning of it really.

I know that the coordination of learning to play drums and building your skill is a unique concept. It's a little different than being able to plug headphones into your amp or practice on an acoustic guitar.

Scotty: Yeah...that's why I say it was probably more frustrating for my parents than it was for me. It was so long ago that I can't really remember too much. I just know that it definitely had its moments of wanting to learn how to play a song, and it takes a really, really long time to hone in those skills where you could listen to a song and get it down. Assuming its not some crazy Rush or King Crimson song...but to sit down, hear a song, sit down and learn it...by the end of the day you have this song under your belt. It definitely took at least a year to get to that point.

But yeah, it's hard work, but so rewarding. Sometimes I feel like I take for granted just how many years I've spent learning the instrument. It's really about continuing to listen and memorizing the arrangement, whereas in the early years, the frustration was about physically being able to play a song, rather than memorizing the arrangement of the piece.

I've always had tremendous respect for drummers and the extreme coordination it takes to acquire that skill. It can't be downplayed.

Scotty: I couldn't agree more.

A lot has happened in the past year. I'm a firm believer that when one door closes, another (or many more) open. Now that you've had some time to reflect, how do you look back on your experience with Dopapod?

Scotty: Playing in Dopapod was an important part of my career. It was an amazing 3 years, which made the bands decision to replace me difficult to understand. I was totally blindsided. As a full time member of the band, it was very confusing and I was obviously hurt. The band and crew were like family to me.

Now, that it's been over a year later, I would agree about one door closing and another opening. I feel like I've had the opportunity to play with so many great bands andmusicians, whether it's permanent or on a continual basis..with bands like RAQ, or more recently Tom Hamilton and Chris McClenney, or if it's just my own thing...it's definitely helped me grow as a musician and find new ways to make the process fun and really enjoyable.

I feel a freedom in doing music now that I hadn't felt for a little while in Dopapod. When you're the "new guy," especially with bands that have been playing music together for so long, it takes some time to really adjust to it all. Just to have that connection that comes from years and years of playing with each other. With Dopapod, I felt like I was trying to mimic an existing style, so that there wasn't much of a change in the overall sound. So, it's nice to feel a little freer in taking a different approach to playing with these new bands.

The whole situation really taught me the importance of individual creativity rather than trying to "fit in". I now embrace that I'm getting hired for my unique approach..and that it's most important to just be myself and let it come out. If it's meant to be, and they enjoy the approach that I'm taking to their music, then that's awesome. If it isn't exactly meeting the requirements or sounding the way that they want, then that's cool too. Maybe I'm just not meant for that gig.

Photo by NoCoast

That's a great approach. For me, I was introduced to Dopapod with you behind the kit. I'd heard the band name for several years, but I didn't make it to my first show until your early days with the band. It was definitely a strange feeling seeing them for the first time without you, but I'm really happy to hear that things are going so well for both parties.

Scotty: Well I definitely want to add that things are good with me and the guys. I have nothing but respect for all of them. I cherish all of the memories and experiences that we got to share with each other. It was definitely an important chapter, where we were all helping each other to grow as a band and individually as musicians. I'm a firm believer that all of your experiences help you grow as a person and prepare for the future.

Playing with Dopapod was definitely great, but the transition out of the band was a difficult adjustment. I think that's the biggest thing. You're in a mode where you're on the road with people for more than half of the year. You're with these people night and day, and all of the sudden that changes. It takes some getting used to. It's nice though...now I get to go on the road for maybe one week, and then I get to come right back home. I'm no longer on the road for seven, eight, or even nine weeks at a time. There were moments where we would be out for nine weeks straight. As fun as it is to play, nine weeks on the road, in a van, with the same people...it can get a little tense at times. (laughs).

I can imagine. A van or even a small bus...that's a confined space to live in, especially with the amount of late nights and early mornings that you guys are dealing with.

Scotty: Oh yeah. In my time with Dopapod, I got a serious crash course in running on fumes. Playing a show and having our own audio gear, lighting equipment, and having to set all of that up. When I first joined, there really wasn't much of a crew to help with setting up and breaking down. We'd load into a venue at 3:00 PM or 4:00 PM, and then not leave that venue until 4:00 AM. Then we'd have to be in the van at 8:00 AM that morning, in order to get to the next city. It's not always like that, but there were definitely moments...especially that first New Year's run that I did with the band.

I got a cold right before it started, and when you're sleeping three-four hours a night, playing two sets, and everything involved with that, you definitely don't get healthier. There were a lot of learning experiences..and as terrible as some seemed at the time, I definitely cherish them. It's really the rough times that you have, like sleeping on random people's floors..as crazy as it may have seemed, I look back on it now and realize how great it was (laughs).

Watch Scotty Zwang reunite with Dopapod in Philadelphia on 10.26.17 here:

I'm sure. So, like you were saying, you linked up with longtime jam vets RAQ shortly after. How has this experience been thus far, and how do you guys go about planning the calendar with this band? What do you think that the future holds for RAQ?

Scotty: Right now, it's a very exciting and interesting time for RAQ. It was great joining in, and I really felt 100% like an equal band member from the moment we talked about me playing drums. It was great to feel that again, being the first band I joined post-Dopapod. The comradery of having bandmates... It was maybe three months between playing a show with Dopapod and playing a show with RAQ. Up until then, I was doing some side gigs, which are great..and I do love getting to play with a lot of different musicians. But you learn this entire body of material...maybe 12 songs...you play one show and you're done. You do all of this work, get to hang out with these people..then typically, you don't really see them in that outfit again.

So, RAQ has been great. They were very warm and welcoming. I've known (Chris) Michetti (Todd) Stoops for a long time. I think it was in 2011 at The Big Up Music Festival that we first met. A year later, I started a band with Stoops..and shortly after that, I got to sit in and play a full show with Conspirator for the first time. So, I kind of already knew those two, and they are some of the most fun, loving people you could ever meet. I'd never met Jay (Burwick) really...maybe once in passing. My first show with them was pretty nuts. Michetti'sflight got cancelled due to a snow storm, so we had to play as a trio and improvise. Wepicked songs that we felt we could pull off without Michetti and had the opening band's guitarist play two or three songs with us.

It was definitely an interesting welcome to the band. At that point, I'd gotten to run a handful of songs with Stoops and Jay the day before, which was really comforting..but still new. It's always nice to get to play with at least the majority of the band before taking the stage. But yeah, when Michetti's flight was cancelled, we had to just go with the flow and rock it as a trio. Then, my first true show with the whole band was at The Capitol Theatre, being live streamed, with 2000+ people in the crowd. No pressure, right? It was a pretty insane way to kick things off.

We just got back from a 5 night Halloween run around the Northeast. The crowds were really great and we were really synced up. I think it helped that we got to spend so much time together, and really bond. I feel like we really have it locked down. We're recording a new album and working to do a 3-5 night run every few months.

That's awesome. As a long time fan of RAQ, I would love to see one of those runs make it to the southeast. I was able to catch a show in Charlotte on the 'RAQ is BAQ' tour back in 2013, I think? I'd love to help promote if you guys can make it down this way.

Scotty: We would love to make that happen. It's been a while since RAQ has been down south. We're all scattered in different parts of the country, so it can be hard to get together, but when we do, we try to make it count. Plus, we have so much fun playing together. RAQ is absolutely one of the most fun bands to play in.

Photo by Scott Harris

It's definitely fun as a spectator as well. You've also linked up with quite a few other projects including Tom Hamilton's American Babies, Conspirator, and a few of your own person ventures. Tell me a little bit about each of those.

Scotty: Right now, I have five projects that tour periodically. RAQ, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, Conspirator, R&B artist Chris McClenney and McZwang. McZwang is a project I'm doing with my old bandmate, Ian McGuire from Sonic Spank. We play livetronica, acid jazzy kind of music as a duo. A lot of covers, although we're going to be writing some material shortly and putting out an album next year.

I've also been playing with up-and-coming R&B artist Chris McClenney. He's originally from the Baltimore area. I met him in New York while he was finishing up his Master's at NYU's Music Business program. It's been a blast to play with him. We did a residency at thelegendary Blue Note jazz club in Manhattan, where we played once a month for three months. We also recently went to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Festival. That was a really awesome gig in the Key Arena there, which I think technically holds 17,000 people? It's kind of Pearl Jam's home court, if you will. We played with a lot of electronic artists that day, but we were the last live performing group that day. There were giant LED screens covering just about every part of the stage. It was a really cool experience.

I've also been playing with Tom Hamilton since I moved to Philly back in July. It's been a blast and a really freeing experience. Much like RAQ, Tommy likes to take as many chances as possible. If everyone's listening to each other, and you're in the right tempo/key, you can't really do wrong. That's the mentality going into it. He's a great guy and a tremendous musician. He's really been unstoppable in recent years with JRAD and playing with essentially every living member of The Grateful Dead. It's been really cool and interesting to get to tour with him. I've also known him for a really long time. My band, Sonic Spank, was from Philly, and we used to do stuff with Brothers Past in the early early 2010 time period.It's been really inspiring to see Tommy's career grow to where it has. I'm excited that he asked me to be a part of it.

I can only imagine how much of a treat it is playing with a guitarist of that caliber. I've become somewhat infatuated with JRAD over the last couple of years. That's a serious group of players. Watching him emulate the guitar playing of Jerry Garcia, while totally making it his own. There are few bands I enjoy watching more. I know it must be exciting to be creating new music with him.

Scotty: Yeah, definitely. He has such a large body of work, whether it's American Babies, Brothers Past, and all of the covers we play. It's great. While digging into his catalog, I was really impressed. As long as I've known him, I never really dove that deep into all of his music until then. He's such a great songwriter. I'm really enjoying playing his music and also adding to the mix creatively. Like we talked about earlier, I'm not going into a project anticipating that they want me to sound like something that has already existed for them. Trusting my gut that I got hired to do the gig for my own talents. There is a marriage between having your own voice in something and respecting what came before. Through the last year or so, I've definitely had a chance to work on that more, and it's been great.

Photo by RobotMojo

How would you describe the life of a touring musician in 2017? While you work to balance out playing with five different projects, would you say that the digital era plays more to your favor or presents more of a challenge?

Scotty: It definitely 100% plays into my favor, at least in that aspect of music. In the jam band, or live touring scene, as I like to refer to it, it definitely helps to have the technology that we have right now. Whether its having things sent to you via Dropbox or other various cloud based softwares, or video chats and different things like that. I feel like it would be next to impossible to do some of the things I do without it. Even with RAQ right now, we're recording this album..and it's a little frightening, to be honest. I'm tracking drums by myself here in Philly, based off of demos that Michetti created for us to sit down with. The other guys will be tracking their parts together.

We're definitely able to take a freer approach with the music technology available now.There is a difference in tracking live versus getting all together. It obviously has a different feel, but that's not to say that you can't record an awesome album with everyone 3000 miles away from each other. Especially if you record and store enough data where you can get creative in the editing process. It's no secret that people have been making albums like that, to a degree, for the last 30 years. If it wasn't for that, I don't know that RAQ would be able to easily make this album.

With Conspirator, I got a bunch of charts sent to me in email pdf form. That really helped and allowed me to sit down and practice it all. It helps to have charts from previous drummers. Mike Greenfield (Lotus/Conspirator) has always been really helpful over the course of my career. When he was with Conspirator, he charted out a handful of those songs and he was nice enough to share those with me. Being a giant Disco Biscuits fan for 15 years now, some of the older stuff is kind of embedded in me, but some of the newer stuff from the last handful of years, I don't necessarily know as well. I'd been busy with other projects, so I've had to sit down and primarily listen to the new music. I want to make sure that when we do get together to play a show, I'm physically and mentally prepared for it.

Well before we wrap things up, it seems as if this 'live touring' scene is constantly growing. There are so many options of so many creative, innovative, improv-driven artists. Who are some of your current favorites? Who is Scotty Zwang listening to in 2017?

Scotty: A lot of the music that I've been listening to recently is projects of various drummers that I've been really focused on in recent years. Some of those drummers are educators, so they have a lot of material and DVDs where they kind of teach lessons. One has been Mark Guiliana, who plays with various groups. He has his own jazz quartet. He also plays withBrad Mehldau. They've had John Scofield play with them. He was the drummer on Black Star, the final David Bowie album. He's done some really cool electronic, mostly improv stuff as well with a band called Beat Music. That's him with Tim Lefebvre, who also plays with Wayne Krantz and Tedeschi Trucks Band, so he's on my radar in a lot of those bands that I really love.

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Another band that is absolutely incredible is called Moving Parts. Their drummer BennyGreb is probably my favorite drummer right now. The band is just incredible. It's an instrumental trio: drums, guitar, and keys. The keyboardist plays the role of the bass playeras well as the traditional keyboard stuff. It's very impressive music. Very "drum nerd" like. I enjoy it. They're a band that I definitely try to show everyone that I run into. "You've gotta listen to this band!" Some people might not know of them if they aren't wrapped into the drum world and don't 'nerd out' reading Modern Drummer magazine like I typically do. That's something you should definitely check out.

As far our scene goes, it's really great to see friends doing such great things. It's really awesome. Papadosio, who I've been playing with since 2009, continues to amaze me. Love those guys. Big Gigantic..I was on tour with them in 2011 or 2012. It was right when they were getting big and selling out most of the music hall venues, whereas now they play giant festivals in front of 30,000-40,000 people. It's really cool to see, and I'm super proud of people like that. The Turkuaz guys are always a favorite, and I love seeing their popularity growing. They've been a band for a long time now. They went to college with the Dopapod guys, and that's how I got closer with them. It's cool when all of that hard work pays off and you see other musicians living the dream. We are really lucky to get to do what we love..and I guess that brings us full circle.

Scotty Zwang Discusses Life After Dopapod, RAQ, Tom Hamilton, & More November 13, 2017 11:58

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