Zero History

To even call this section "Zero History" is, in itself, a bit of a contradiction because Zero and its "history" are in a constantly evolving process.

For the sake of keeping the "facts" straight, the band was "born" in a studio to drummer Greg Anton and guitarist extraordinare Steve Kimock in 1984.

The duo had worked together in a Bay Area band called The Ghosts and brought their talents to a studio built in a converted horse barn in West Marin, Calif. It was here that they began to experiment and hone a sound that would serve as the roots of what Zero is today.

This is certainly not the most dramatic or romantic beginning to what has become a musical odyssey in the history (there's that word again) of the band.

Consider for a moment the sheer number of musicians in the United States alone that are honing their chops, playing out for next to nothing and working day jobs to support their musical dreams. That number alone far outweighs the few groups who actually "make it."

"It's the most incredible thing," says Anton, "the challenge of keeping a band like this together. I often use the analogy of getting six artists together, the craziest people you could think of, and putting them before one canvas. Then to have them paint it at the same time.

"Not only do they have to agree on what the painting is going to look like, but they actually have to paint it at the same time and have it work."

Members of the band have also likened their experience as trying to fit six guys comfortably into a bathtub.

So, who's who in Zero and what are they doing there? Well, now that you ask, this two-folded question has one easy answer and one that may never fully be figured out.

As of 1996, Zero is rounded out by its longest running line-up of the aforementioned Anton and Kimock along with saxophonist and de facto "class clown" Martin Fierro, bassist Bobby Vega, keyboardist Chip Roland and vocalist Judge Murphy.

Together, the six read like a road map of American music, steeped in genres ranging from rock and roll, jazz, blues, fusion, funk, some uncharted regions and hundreds of thousands of miles traveled on the road.

Kimock and Anton met through the short-lived Heart of Gold Band aggregation that eventually mutated into The Ghosts.

Anton grew up in West Hartford, Conn., moved west and when he was not playing, works as an environmental lawyer. He also keeps an organic egg farm.

Kimock, who hails from Bethlehem, Penn., ventured to the West Coast in the late-1970s when he played with The Goodman Bros. He also did time with Kingfish and Merl Saunders' Rainforest Band. Kimock also did consulting work with Mesa Boogie, equipment he still uses today on stage, although much of his gear he has built himself. To this day, Kimock works out with a number of bands and leads his own group, Steve Kimock & Friends that includes Zero mates Fierro and Roland as well as former Zero members, Banana and Steve Wolf and renowned drummer, Lance Dickerson. In addition, he is a member of The Missing Man Formation with Vince Welnick of the Dead, Prarie Prince and Bobby Vega.

Fierro left El Paso, Texas at an early age and played out and sessioned with everybody from the Sir Douglas Quintet, Mother Earth, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Grateful Dead, Queen Ida and various Garcia/Saunders aggregations including the Legion of Mary and the Jerry Garcia Band. He joined Zero in 1985 and has been there ever since. Martin remains connected too his roots in jazz, leading The Martin Fierro Quartet + 1 in weekly sessions featuring many notable Bay Area jazz musicians.

Vega, a native of San Francisco, has been a mainstay for the last six years although he's been associated with the band for the better part of a decade. Vega's musical resume includes duty with the likes of progressive flutist Hubert Laws, Etta James, Sylvester Stewart and Billy Preston as well as projects with Babatunde Olatunji and Carlos Santana.

Vega has just completed his own CD, "Down The Road," (Beanbag) featuring The Turtle Island String Quartet, Aierto Moreiria on percussion and Kimock on guitar to be released in January of '97.

Roland, who ventured from his home in Athens, GA, did a spell with the great Cajun-styled fiddler Doug Kershaw and the country-rock band Cowboy. When not touring with Zero, Roland plays with his own band, The Namedroppers, at local clubs in the Bay Area.

Murphy, was singing the blues around the Bay Area at night and working as a carpenter by day, before he began his tenure as Zero's main singer and the one who put the voice behind the lyrics of the renowned wordsmith Robert Hunter. Murphy has his own music available now via "The Murphy-Goodman-Harmon Project" as well as performing regularly in bands that include various Zero alumni and other well known Bay Area musicians.

The connection between Hunter and Zero was something that was meant to be, according to Anton.

"Hunter is so prolific," explained Anton. "He's very profound, a deep thinker and has this incredible experience, not only in his writing, but who he is writing for. He's a real craftsman in the sense that he knows about words and how to join them to music.

"It just seemed like a natural pairing."

Anton states that getting a singer to effectively deliver Hunter's lyrics was a challenge within itself.

"When the word got out about Hunter working with us, all these singers from around town wanted to get in. Martin (Fierro) told me that he had just the guy with the pipes and I told him that I had had it with trying out different singers."

Anton related how he had been working on some new songs with Hunter who had just given him a new tune early in 1992.

"The funny thing about that new song," Anton remembered, "was that it only had one word.

"Martin came into the studio one night with this guy (Murphy), telling me that he was the one that should be singing for us. I gave him Hunter's song, with only one word: ‘Catalina.' He sang it and I practically fell over."

Judge Murphy was then a full-fledged member of the band.

"I didn't really give it much thought at the time," said Murphy. "I sang four songs that night and Greg and Martin were really impressed. I started gigging with them two weeks later."

New material goes through many phases before the band takes it to the stage.

Ordinarily, Anton gives Hunter chord changes on piano. Hunter then matches lyrics to the music. Enter Kimock who might throw a chorus or bridge into the piece before he does the arranging. When this is completed, the band gathers to learn the new song.

The final product often comes off effortlessly, but other times, it's months before the band is satisfied enough to include it in their set. On stage, the new songs often go through many changes depending on the mood of the band. In almost every case, the music is the master. If a jam gets hot enough and truly at a "Zero point," chances are pretty good the piece wouldn't resemble the original.

"That's the enjoyable part of it all," says Murphy. "The creative process is really fascinating sometimes."

Considering the source of the lyrics also has a profound affect on Murphy.

"What can I say? I feel honored to sing Hunter material. To most people, it would be a great opportunity to get a career together," he explained. "I've been locked into this thing that is so enigmatic . . . artistically it's a cool gig and the great thing about it is that there's plenty more material to be had out of Hunter."

To date, Zero has released five recordings, but only three can be considered true "studio" works. While each has been critically acclaimed, you would be hard pressed to find them on any rock radio charts.

The band's debut album, "Here Goes Nothin'" was released in 1987 on the Relix label (yes, there was still vinyl in 1987). Sessions were recorded in a number of Bay Area studios including Fantasy (Berkeley), Bayview (Richmond) and Alpha Omega (San Francisco), although a number of demo tracks were recorded by Anton and Kimock in the aforementioned converted horse barn that has since been dubbed "The Zero Ranch."

The eight-track album, all but three cuts are instrumentals, features a number of tunes still regularly performed by the band, namely "Golden Road," "Tear Tags off Mattresses" and "Severe Tire Damage."

The band covered three songs: Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" (still performed today), the Eric Clapton/Marcy Levy composition "The Core" that featured former Santana singer Alex Ligertwood and Freddie King's classic "Goin' Down."

The subsequent CD release had an additional track, the old Heart of Gold Band number "Showboat," that was written by the late Keith Godchaux and featured his wife, Donna Godchaux on vocals.

The band's follow-up, "Nothin' Goes Here," was released in 1990 and distributed by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

Recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, Calif. under the direction of studio wizard Brian Rizner, the band was able to put the brunt of the project on tape during an uninterrupted session that lasted five days and nights.

As with their first release, a number of songs remain keystones in Zero's live program including "Gregg's Egg's," "Tangled Hangers," "Tongue ‘n Groove," and a rendition of Jimmy Cliff's lilting "Many Rivers To Cross." One song, the instrumental "Theme From Nancy Germany," has recently found its way back into the band's repertoire.

The sessions took place nearly a year after John Cipollina passed away, but the CD's one and only live track did feature "Chips." A 1987 Seva benefit concert in Cambridge, Mass. was captured on tape and "Gregg's Egg's," was included on the disc, part on the merit of its energy, but more so in tribute to Cipollina.

The sessions, which would be the last that keyboardist and vocalist Banana participated, also featured the late John Kahn on five of nine tracks. Tony Saunders, who toured sporadically with Zero between 1988-90, played on one track while Vega was on the remaining three cuts.

In 1991 Zero released "Live - Go Hear Nothin'" on their independent Whirled label. It was recorded by longtime friend of the band and Bay Area artist Dave Hunter. The material was culled from tapes of gigs played in the late 1980s in Oregon and San Francisco. The eight-song disc featured such offerings as "Golden Road," Gregg's Egg's," "Tangled Hangers," "Super Sonic Transport," the Meter's flavored "Who Knows" (originally titled "Snot Nose" on the cassette release) and two versions of "Severe Tire Damage."

"Zero Blues" was a self-produced cassette released on Whirled in 1991. The music was originally meant to be a soundtrack for the stage production of the 1965 film classic, "The Pawnbroker." The somber film, which starred Rod Steiger as a holocaust survivor who ran a pawnshop in Harlem, N.Y., was adapted for the stage by Steiger's son but was shutdown during its first week by the fire marshal.

The project was recorded at the Zero Ranch with Anton producing and Dave Hunter overseeing much of the recording.

The sessions for this release were very laid-back and may not have originally been intended for release, but just the same, the very eerie and stark jazz and roots blues capture another side of the band. In addition to Anton, Kimock and Fierro, who made an impact with his playing and arranging, Doug Harman (cello), Liam Hanrahan (bass), Terry Haggerty (guitar) and Guatemalan singer Isabella Tercero, also participated.

An alternate take of "Theme From Nancy Germany" was included as was "Train Blues" featuring Haggerty and an early version of Hunter's "I Will Love You" with Tercero on vocals.

"Chance in a Million" was Zero's debut release on a major label as the band signed with Horizon, a subsidiary of A&M Records.

The eight-track CD was recorded by Grateful Dead sound honcho Dan Healy and Ultrasound's Don Pearson during a three-night run at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Oct. 14-16, 1992.

This marked the first released recordings of Zero doing Robert Hunter material and the debut of Murphy on a Zero recording.

Five of the cuts are Hunter songs, "Chance in a Million," "Horses," "Catalina," "End of the World Blues," and "Home on the Range." Two of these, "Horses" and "Home on the Range" were supposedly written by Hunter based on his impressions of being at the Zero Ranch. "Horses," so the story goes, was based on a wooden horses head on the wall in the studio at the ranch.

The band also included a rave-up of the K.C. Douglas romp, "Mercury Blues," a staple of their live shows for many years.

A number of guest players appear on this album including Kahn, Vince Welnick and the late master keyboardist Nicky Hopkins.

The biggest contradiction is pairing Zero and studio together in the same breath, for the band, despite a handful of albums, is far from home when in the sterile confines of a recording studio.

Zero made its live debut on Aug. 31, 1984 when Anton, Kimock, Cipollina, John Farey and Steve Wolf took the stage at the Sleeping Lady Café in Fairfax, Calif.

Nearly a decade and a half later, the live Zero experience has not changed that much.

An average concert could be compared to that of an improvisational jazz outfit just "working out," but it goes further than that.

Shows often begin with a few, seemingly aimless notes. Eventually someone picks up on a melody, and within no time, the band is off and running.

This looseness can be compared with an earlier-era Grateful Dead, but at the same time, it is a whole world away.

Lush instrumentals shape the fabric of the early stages of a gig with Kimock leads spiraling around Roland's Hammond and Fierro's sax, while the Anton-Vega rhythm section anchors the beat. Other times, the band takes a more sublime approach to the business at hand, often engrossing themselves in jazzy compositions that can stretch for 15-20 minutes at a time as the players find each other.

Combining a handful of traditionals, some rock and roll rave-ups and nuggets penned by Hunter, the group gains it's "voice" when Murphy is at the fore, ably assisted by Roland's vocals which have become an integral part of the band.

"The feeling of the whole thing has never changed," says Fierro. "I think of it as ‘let's make love to our audience musically'. If they need to be told to get fucked, so be it. In a subconscious way, we try to fulfill them.

"The fans are very important to us, they always have been. We get a lot of love and respect from our fans and they are there for us. There's a real symbiotic relationship. It's more than just a gig, it's a gathering of fans and band. We're not necessarily in control the whole time, it's the magic of the moment."

Anton may have the best vantage point from his spot behind the drum kit when it comes to figuring out just what transpires on stage when the band has hit its groove.

"It's like a universal connection. Everybody in the band knows how crazy things can be, but when we're on, it's like we've hit a universal flow that's been activated at a source that we're all attached to. You're tapping into it, locking in on the track. It's motion, pure motion . . . and emotion."

Roland, who joined the band in late-1993 after Pete Sears moved to tinkle the ivories with Hot Tuna, is now one of Zero's longest-serving keyboard players.

"Zero's approach to the music is more free," he explained. "That's what has made this a real growing experience for me -- the idea that it is much more free. Arrangements don't matter quite so much."

Vega explained how sometimes it is hard to "get things going" on stage.

"Sometimes you don't actually know what's going on up there," he said, "and if you try to think about it, you're really out of it. I guess that it's kind of like flying, if you thought about it, you'd fall down.

"If it was a sporting event, it would be like playing baseball, once you get that hit, you're higher than hell and on top of the world. Once we get locked in on stage, there's no stopping the music."

Kimock's views, while different, echo that of his bandmates.

"I can get really itchy if I'm not working through stuff," he said. "I have this internal musical restlessness that eats me alive. I have to be working.

"When it comes to gigs, I come to play. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not . . ."

There are always hurdles to clear when it comes to live shows, according to Kimock.

"Getting over the initial ‘this is going to be a hard one' is the big challenge. Once you get the ‘heads up' its easy.

"To tell you the truth, I think we could drop every single song we know and still be in good shape."

Anton credits the proficiency of the members of Zero as musicians.

"It gets to be an instinctual, reactive relationship on stage," he said. Just like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (in the NFL), one guy moves left and you know it before he does it. That is one of Zero's fortes, to be able to anticipate.

"Steve and Martin are both some of the best soloists playing today," says Anton, "Chip is an excellent singer for this band and the Hammond organ is an excellent bed for the music.

"Bobby is one of the fastest guns. You drop something and his hand is there, musically speaking, before it hits the floor.

"Judge is getting to be one of the better singers around, his phrasing is outstanding and he's really the one to be singing Hunter's material."

A veteran of the Bay Area music scene for more than two decades, Cipollina was best known as a founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who, along with the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane, defined the psychedelic and acid rock sound of the late-1960s in San Francisco.

A consummate player, Cipollina was often involved with a half dozen or so bands at any one time. After the break-up of Quicksilver, he did numerous sessions and played with groups such as Copperhead, Fish and Chips, Nicksilver, Terry and the Pirates, Thunder and Lightning, Problem Child and The Dinosaurs.

Many people were surprised to see Cipollina playing in a secondary role to Kimock, based on his illustrious background and unquestionable talents.

Hunter was one of those people initially taken back when he first saw Zero with Cipollina playing as a rhythm guitarist.

In his book, "Box of Rain," Hunter wrote: "I really had to leave the trailer and go listen to this strictly instrumental, jazz-flavored band that had the temerity to feature John Cipollina as second guitar, but Steve Kimock's picking was impeccable enough to quell skepticism."

These days Robert Hunter is on-line in a big way. In his continuing notebook on these times, Hunter has noted:

Zero could be just as available as people are willing to crawl out of the past and go see what's up now. They'll keep the tradition alive anyway, but there's an awful lot of music pouring from them that's going to waste in spades. I'll never understand why they weren't invited on the Further tour, whether from politics or simple blindness to what's right under our noses. With a dozen years on the road, this is not just another aggregate. It's the hottest, tightest, roots based music around.

Numerous other players have had their path cross with Zero, in fact, some still sit in from time to time.

Of course, scores of local musicians from across the country have sat in when Zero was in their town. So too have countless members of the audience who may have suddenly found themselves on stage with a tambourine or percussive instrument in their hands.

The Zero audience is one, much like the band itself, that has grown over the years. Certainly akin to the legions of people that followed the Grateful Dead over the years or a knowledgeable group of jazz aficionados. Those who attend a Zero gig know what they're there for and they have expectations.

Roland says that the audience plays an intricate role in the live Zero experience. "The crowd, in a sense, is almost like an instrument or band member," he said. "We have a real ability to work back and forth with the audience. There's a real symbiosis and it can't be ignored."

Roland says that without the audience's reaction to how Zero presents the music, the band would never know how their effort on stage is received. In fact, it's that immediate feedback from the crowd that often pushes a Zero performance.

"Without them (audience) it would be like trying to cut your own hair without a mirror," Roland quipped.

"We have an audience who views coming to see us much like they go to watch a car race," explained Vega. "They don't want some controlled show with the same music each time, they want to see us ‘go for it'. There aren't many bands like that around these days, but then again, there aren't that many crowds that you can play for like that either."

Looking back over his years as a member of Zero, Fierro said that not that much has changed in the band and the audience has constantly been there to support the players.

"You know how technology can change over the years," he said, "well the band is still the same. What can I say, ‘we used to be skinny, we used to be fat?' Really though, we're still the same guys.

"There are more tapers now," the mischievous horn player said with a laugh, "and they're making better tapes."

Getting on stage and playing for people is still what matters to Fierro. "I really love the audience," he said. "I've been entertaining people for more than 40 years and I feel I owe my life to the fans and fans of the band. It makes me feel like I'm liked, wanted and most of all, appreciated. "Other than playing the music, I think that is what matters most to us all."