3RD ALLEY

INTERVIEW FROM THISBETHEGOODLIFE.ORG

So Zack what first got you interested in music? I was always into music as far back as i can remember, while my friends were buying G.I. Joes, i was buying records. When i was like 5, i made a drum set out of the tin cans that those christmas sugar cookies came in by taking that clear packing tape and stretching it accross the top over and over until i could get what i thought was a decent sound and i'd play along with my favorite songs. Music always seemed magical to me.



Whos your biggest influence musically? Well, naturally its changed alot over the years but, as far as songwriting goes, i'd have to say elliott smith, i love his songs and how unobvious they are. John Lennon and David Bowie also in the same vain have influenced me for similar reasons. But then there's NOFX, Sublime and NWA that influenced me to not stay confined into one arena, it's like they taught me to have bite lyrically. I love music that throws blows, that'll come out and bite you on your ass!



What was your first recording like? haha, um, sterile. safe and boring.



Whats been your most memorable moment in your music career? I'd have to say there's been a few times when someone has sat down with me and told me how much certain songs meant to them and how it helped them in some form or fashion. "Happy tank" for some reason has struck a major chord with a handful of people who were going through tough times and they told me that it helped them through it, to me that makes everything beyond worth it.



What band do you like playing shows with the most and why? There are too many to mention. But playing with bands that are just cool guys and know they are good musicians so they don't have to overcompensate by acting like premadonnas is always a treat.



Whats your music writing process like?i change it up a lot, i used to mainly write with an acoustic guitar and then build from there, but lately i've been trying all kinds of different methods. I've been writing lately more around beats. i usually do a bunch of demos before i actually get the song worked out, record them over and over until i think they are ready to spend money recording. On ASS i wrote "hit mix" from the sampled windshield wipers of my girlfriend's car. Been playing around a lot more like that as well lately. Also had the experience of writing "belly floppin'" for bFoundation's last album, which I wrote the melody and lyrics over their instrumental, that was fun and different. Would like to work with other artists as well.



What was your major inspiration for After School Special. (Which is still my favroite album for all time just had to add that in there)?Nice man, thanks! I wrote most of those songs before 3rd Alley got together and had a solo album ready to be released, but then we amplified it, and turned them into 3rd Alley songs. Obviously it's full of alot of relationship drama, I was on a roll with a string of crazy girls and thought they'd make good stories for songs. I was also having some crazy insomnia going on so it deals with that as well. It was written over a span of a few years off and on.



What was your major inpiration for Shiny Shady People and how did you change musiclly from A.S.S.? I wasn't really trying to change the sound, I had just been traveling alot and was heavily influenced by old world rhythms in Europe. It's just what i was going through at the time. Had i been living in Hawaii and drinking pina coladas on the beach it would've sounded way different. I think the darkness on it came from a lot of pent up frustration i had with our "ground hog day" way of life. It seems everybody just is on autopilot and just living, like on a treadmill. I was mad at suits in the corporate world, politics and religion as well.



If your drinking what are you drinking? Cazadores



What have you been jamming lately? Chuggo, have you heard this guy? amazing! Tyson turned me onto him. Honestly, I haven't been stoked on really anything lately, with the exception of bands that we have toured and love. Like Bandgeek Mafia from Germany and Jaya the Cat from Amsterdam. Knowledgeborn07's album was pretty rad too. I did just buy a Cartola record and the song "alvorada" is trippin me out. I really like some of Julan Casablanca's solo album.



What are the next plans music wise? get this new album out and get out and play to our fans.



When can we expect a new CD/recording? We are pretty much done tracking the new record we're gonna call "shoulda, woulda, coulda" but we are going to release a single either "medicated" or "bloodshot eyes" with a couple of b-sides first till we get the rest all mixed and ready to release. That should happen in the next couple of months.



Anything you want to say to your fans peoples out there? thanks for the patience, we have been slow roasting the new album so that you can take out your dentures for this one.