A Conversation with Tammy Z: A Modern Troubadour

Tammy Zappier Interview: 28 August 2010

Next Coffee Co.
19420 N 59^th Avenue,
Glendale, Arizona, 85308

Recorded on Blackberry Bold 9700 Voicenotes

Transcription by Robin Scott Johnson

Name of her band: "That Zap Band" (Prev.) “Tammy Z n Company” or “Cover Me”
Tammy Zappier
Age: 32
From: Phoenix, Arizona
Genre: Variety; oldies, surf, country, folk.
Instruments: Celebrity Ovation, Takimene

Tammy wore her usual attire of blue jeans and a curve accenting top, with no makeup, and her hair straight and neat.

For anyone interested in up and coming talent in the Phoenix area, they should look up Tammy Zappier, an inspiring young singer-songwriter whose lyrics and charismatic attitude lend themselves well to the coffeehouse scene—for now.   Besides entertaining and interesting originals

(Interview Transcript)

RSJ:  Growing up, what sort of music did you listen to?

TZ:  I was FORCED to listen to oldies nonstop, everywhere we drove with my parents: it was Beach Boys, the Temptations, Sha-na-na’s.  I didn’t start listening to my own music until probably like my freshman year in high school, I started listening more to alternative

RSJ: Did you identify with the musicians themselves or the lyrics or both?

TZ: Both actually, it was the music first I connected with

RSJ: When did you first lean to play?

TZ: I picked up the guitar when I was 16, but didn’t make a serious effort to learn until I was 20!

RSJ: When did you initially feel the passion to perform?

TZ: I have always had a passion as a performer for being in front of people from a super young age.

RSJ: When you write, do you endeavour to make your words applicable to the listener’s life?

TZ: No, I write more for me, and I find that people connect to what I’m saying or they don’t; and either one is okay with me, I’m just giving a message of whatever I’m feeling, at the time, when I write something.

RSJ: So basically, you write from the heart, and not from some formulaic way, and not based on some sort of music theory.

TZ: Yeah, it’s whatever pops in my head, and I’ll improvise and make something up on the spot; and if I like it, cool, I’ll actually make it a point to write it down, and hopefully remember it later, and then go from there.

RSJ: Is it Difficult to work full time in a field outside of music, and still have enough time to create?

TZ: ooh that’s a good question, I would say it is can be really challenging, because I would say it can be really challenging, because there will be times when I’m at my full time job and a song POPS in my head and I really wanna just stop what I’m doing and grab my guitar and play and I can’t.  So yeah, it can be really challenging at times.

RSJ: Along that same line: Have you ever dreamed of a song, and then written it down when you’ve awoken?

TZ: Yes. Yes, I’ve done that a couple of times actually, I’ve had like a melody, or I’ve had words come to me, um, and then the whole song would come after that.

RSJ: Can you give an example of this?

TZ: I can actually, there’s a song called “Stories” that I wrote, and it’s a song where a—just talking about life in general, everyone’s got a story, and we’re all connected, and it’s just a song that came to me when I was sleeping, and I woke up the next morning and I wrote it.

RSJ: Do a lot of your songs have a common theme?

TZ:  Life in general, um, some of them are love songs, some are experiences in life, some of them are recalling memories of what it felt like to experience something for the first time.

RSJ: When did you first perform in front of stranger and where?

TZ: Perform in general, in high school, and in choir, but actual singing and song-writing, I performed at an Open Mic Night, at Fatsos Pizza on a Thursday.

RSJ: Where is Fatso’s Pizza?

TZ: It’s over on 32^nd and Thunderbird.

RSJ: Were you afraid?

TZ: I was VERY afraid, I was hoping they wouldn’t throw tomatoes and plates and pizza (laughing).

RSJ: How long did that last…as far as… over consecutive performances?

TZ:  The nervousness?  Oh I still sometimes get very afraid when I’m playing in front of people, I’m always nervous I’m going to miss a chord or forget a word or worse yet, squish my thumbs together and come up with something completely awful!

RSJ: Do you like to write solo or collaborate with a co-writer on your songs?

TZ:  I love both; I love collaboration, because I still consider myself very new to writing, and what anyone else knows better than me, I absorb like a sponge, and it can only add to what I do. And then, as far as writing words and stuff, I can be pretty wordy, so it’s kinda nice for someone to say, “Hey, if you switch that word, and say this instead, that might be kind of cool,” so I’m a mixture of both.

RSJ: How do you honestly feel about covers?

TZ:  I like to make covers my own.  There’s something to be said to sticking to an original format, so people recognize what it is, but there’s also something to be said about really taking it to that level  that only you as a musician can really take it to and make it part of you.

RSJ: When you’re performing live, have you ever have a hard time remembering lyrics, chords, or notes?

TZ:  (chuckles) All the time, all the time! I used to joke around when I would first start an original song going, “the nice thing about playing this, is if I mess up, you have no idea. Yeah, so I’ll just keep playing.”

RSJ: Do you think the management in coffee houses, open mics, and performances nights, should ask people tom keep their voices down during performances?

TZ:  Hmmm, I don’t think the general public has an understanding of what an open mic night is all about,  so, unless you’re a musician driven crowd, and you’re shushing everybody, it’s kinda hard, I mean, out of respect for the performer, yeah, that’d be really nice, but realistically, that’s probably not going to happen.

RSJ: What is the worst audience experience you’ve had?

TZ: Well luckily, I’ve survived all the tomato throwing.  I have no stains on my clothes, so that’s a good thing.  The worst experience, probably was I felt that during the performance I was messing up time and time again on the same song and I was forgetting words and then I forgot chords and I had to keep going and I felt like everybody noticed my mistakes, but then I realized it was okay, when people were clapping and cheering for me at the end that I made it through alive. 

RSJ: So would that also be the best experience as well as the worst, or was there a best one as well that kind of shines through in your mind?

TZ:  I think my best experience wasn’t actually a performance; it was something that happened after a performance.  I performed at biker bar during an open mic night…this is over at Steel Horse Saloon, which is now closed…and I performed, and I hadn’t been there for several months, and I showed up again, and a biker walked up to me going, “Hey could you play that one original song,” and that was to me, the fact that they remembered me, after just that one time, requesting an original song, I was just—I was floored by that—that was awesome.

RSJ: How do you feel about language in your music? Do you feel free to use words that some may find objectionable; or do you self censor yourself?

TZ:  I think it’s a combination, it depends on my mood, and if I’m feeling very passionate about something I censor nothing.  You know, if it’s kind of just an easy song, I’m not really to be jagged or nasty anyways, it’s not my demeanor, so I don’t…there’s maybe one song where I actually curse, and it’s actually where I am taking someone else’s words and throwing it into a tune.  

RSJ: Do you prefer acoustic to electric?

TZ:  Yes I do…

RSJ:  --and why’s that?

TZ: I dunno, I think that acoustic to me just sounds so much more intimate, it sounds raw and natural.  And the electric, you can beef it up, and completely change it, and even emulate acoustic with electric, but acoustic, when you play it’s all you’ve got.

RSJ:  Do you use either one of your guitars more often than the other?

TZ: Probably my Ovation, and at this point, it’s because I haven’t restrung my Takemeni.

RSJ: What can you tell me about your Ovation, why you like it?

TZ: I’m just comfortable with this one,  I really like playing my Ovation, and it’s pretty to look at…

RSJ: How does it feel, compared to other guitars?

TZ: Compared to other guitars it feels like it’s going to fall out of your hands, unless you’re used to the back of it, cos' the back of it is so curved, and is so much smaller than a typical Takameini or Guild, but I like it, it’s nice and light weight, and well balanced for me.

RSJ: What is your dream, how far would you like to go in the industry?

TZ:  I would love to write songs, and have other famous people do them. AND, I would like to have my own Library of songs myself, to be able to go out and play for people, whether it’s just from a story telling aspect, or just anything really, I would just be so happy to turn on the radio and hear someone singing my song, OR better yet hear me singing my song on the radio, that would be really cool.

RSJ: When you’re not composing, practicing, or playing, what do you like to do for fun?

TZ: I like to watch Myth Busters, I love Myth Busters, Adam if you’re listening (reading, Tammy, sorry), to this, you’re awesome!

RSJ: Do you like the original cast or the new people that are on that show?

TZ:  The new people are okay, but I like Adam and Jamie.

RSJ: Exactly

TZ: Adam and Jamie are awesome

RSJ: They are the best.

TZ: I like them, and I play on the computer a lot, and yep, I admit I’m a computer dork, and I like playing with my animals.

RSJ: You have a parrot and a dog and a cat…

TZ: I have one parrot, her name is Pepper, I have one cat, his name is Patton, and I have three dogs, Indie, which is short for Indian, and Cowboy

RSJ: The music industry has been turned upside down with the introduction of digital media and storage; what are the drawbacks of this, or do you see it as beneficial to the new artist or counterproductive?

TZ: I think it’s a double edged sword, I see it as, piracy is a lot easier with it, but at the same time, I also see the advantages of getting your music out to places you would have never been able to before, with the use of .mp3s versus having to get a whole CD together and go crazy mailing that and campaigning on the Internet is a lot cheaper than flying over to India and doing a concert.

RSJ:  True…How do you feel about copyright infringement, specifically and People illegally downloading .mp3 files and albums?

TZ: It’s stealing from someone’s ability I think, it’s taking money out of their mouth and meh…

RSJ: People don’t understand that, do they?  They just think that it’s the record companies that they’re taking, but it’s the artists, right? They won’t create anymore music will they if people won’t pay for it?

TZ: Well, I don’t know about the creation, like it wouldn’t stop me from creating, but it would definitely deter me from advertising what I’ve created … in an Internet format.

RSJ: Very good point.

RSJ: Have drugs or alcohol ever played a part in your creative process?

TZ: Nope… I’m probably the world’s most boring musician, I drink maybe twice a year and that’s at home, and I don’t do drugs, unless Tylenol counts…

RSJ:  It does, it’s very bad…

TZ: I know!   Put the Pill box down! (Laughing)

RSJ: Do you have a lot of support from your family and friends regarding your musical aspirations?

TZ:  Yes I have, they come to quite a lot of my shows, and they will give me feedback all the time and I love it.

RSJ: Would you ever tell a personal secret in a song?

TZ: Yes, and actually I have, (maniacal) Ha-HAH…

RSJ: Would you like to elaborate on that? I didn’t even write down a follow up question…

TZ: (Same maniacal Ha-Hah), Well there’s a song where I’m telling how I’m truly feeling at the moment about someone I was dating at the time, and I played it right for them, and it just went right over their heads.

RSJ: Curly Simon did that too…

TZ: Did she?

RSJ: (speaking lyrics casually) you’re so vain?

TZ: Oh, yeah.

RSJ: You probably think this song is about you… and nobody actually knows who it was about, Maybe Bo Derrick or James Taylor…

TZ: that’s too funny…

RSJ: Um, we’re nearly out of questions actually...Any advice for people who want to perform, but don’t think they’re “ready?”

TZ: If you waited to the point where you thought you were ready, you will never, ever, ever play out, because you’ll never think you’re ready enough. So just dive in, be yourself, write from the heart, if you can connect with your audience in your own writing, great, if not, that’s okay, the music is meant for you, and whoever is going to respond to it in a positive way, that’s awesome.

RSJ: Well that’s it, that’s the end of the interview…Thank you!

TZ: Thank you!

RSJ: Tammy, why should people come hear your music? What are you trying to say?

TZ: People should come hear my music because it makes for a good night out of the house and it is a great way to reconnect to the messages in the music.  When I perform, I write whatever I was thinking at the time; people can connect with at least one or two of the messages that I have in my music, or the emotions behind the music.

Tammy Zappier can be found on Twitter at @Tammyzmusic and on Facebook (http://Facebook.com/tammyzmusic), That Zap Band performs regularly at clubs, coffee houses, and events in and around the Phoenix area.  Check her out, you’ll have a great time, and eat up every note and riff you meet.