Published: March 07, 2009 12:30 AM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight March 2009 Edition
Zak Smith
Zak Smith
From the very moment that I heard his first note, I knew that Zak Smith has created something magical with his music. With meaningful lyrics and catchy tunes, Zak is mastering the elements of making music. One of his strongest points is his rugged yet gentle vocals that seem to melt you away when he sings. Certainly, one can ascertain that Zak is in his element with music. In this recent interview with our Webzine, Zak gives us the 411 on who he is and what he hopes to gain from making music.
Isaac: please take a moment to elaborate on who you are and your upbringing.
Zak: My names Zak Smith, I'm 26, I've been playing guitar since I was a little kid and I've had a bunch of bands. I've got a couple albums recorded, I'm finishing up a couple more, and I put all my music online at my website (zaksmithlive.com) to download for free. I record a lot of stuff at my house, and every week I write two new songs, record them and put them online. In rap music, I always thought mixtapes were a cool idea that rock music didn't have an equivalent of. But I've been thinking that if you use the Internet the right way, and are able to record when you want to, then you can respond to stuff just as quickly as mixtapes like rappers do. So that's what I'm doing.
Isaac: Was there any one musician that spoke to your heart so profoundly, you
were inspired to do your own thing?
Zak: Yeah, Bruce Springsteen. Thunder Road is the greatest song ever written. It made me want to one day write a song that was better, and made me worried that I wouldn't be able to.
Isaac: Which singer/group would you say you would most like to do a duet with?
Zak: I think if a rapper was recorded live in a studio with a garage type band it would sound really good. Rap music is usually way overproduced, which takes the edge off of it. Live with a band though, for like one verse, I bet it would sound cool. So I'll say Jay-Z. He's got bad taste in music but he's a really talented rapper.
Isaac: What singer/songwriter do you most connect with?
Zak: I'll say Springsteen again. In that Lou Reed song "Rock and Roll", there's a line that goes "His life was saved by rock and roll". It makes me think of Bruce, I think that's true for him too.
Isaac: Out of your entire song collection that you've written thus far, which song(s)
would you say is/are the most personal/meaningful to you?
Zak: I like this song off my second album called "I'm Your Man", it has my favorite line I've written in it, "And they can take you home and turn you around and inside out, but I'll be right here swinging hard against an endless doubt". Like Rocky versus Apollo Creed (in the first Rocky, where Rocky loses). I liked the line so much I called the album "An Endless Doubt".
Isaac: Which singers/groups do you enjoy/like from some of today's music genres?
Zak: The Kings of Leon are a great band, and The Strokes and Weezer are really good too.
Isaac: What charities are you involved with or support and why sh ould people
get involved?
Zak: I'm not involved with any charities. So no one should support any either, until I make sure they're ok.
Isaac: Have you (or would you ever consider) writing a song about any of today's particular world issues/problems? If so, what world
issue would speak to you the most to write about?
Zak: I like a lot of old "protest music". Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, old union songs…The best ones are like looking someone in the eyes and spitting in their face. So, yes, I've written a bunch of "topical songs". From my first album "A Traitor's Way" has to do with Iraq, "Choke This Republic Boys" is about reporters and the media, and "A Minstrel Show" is about rap music.
Isaac: What is the main reason why should people listen to your music?
Zak: This is the end of the line for me. If I ever get old or there's no time left, I kept the best of me from the people I loved, and put it in my music instead.
Isaac: How far into the creation of a song do you share any of it with anyone? Who
would you play it for? Would it be a chorus, a verse and chorus, or a complete
song?
Zak: I don't like playing my songs for anyone until I'm finished with them. If I don't like the way something sounds it's embarrassing to play it for someone.
Isaac: How much do you let others "mess around with" one of your new songs?
Zak: When I'm playing with a band, I usually don't care too much about changing things, like cutting out a verse or shortening something up. It's good to get an outside perspective, sometimes you can't see clearly on your own.
Isaac: Do you have to be a tortured soul to be a singer-songwriter?
Zak: Yeah, you do. The band on the Titanic wasn't good until the ship was sinking.
Isaac: Are your songs strictly autobiographical or are they embroidered autobiography?
Zak: They're all autobiographical, every single one.
Isaac: How long does it take you to process your emotions and turn them into songs?
Zak: If it takes a long time it usually means I'm over thinking it. The best things come the quickest because inspiration always comes quick. If it takes too long, then I'm usually not inspired, and if you're not inspired, then you have nothing really to say.
Isaac: Where can folks locate you on the Internet?
Zak: My website is Zaksmithlive.com. All my songs are free there, I update it every day, I have a blog there, and I record two new songs a week and put them up there. Also, my myspace page is myspace.com/zaksmithlive
Isaac: The best piece of advice you actually followed?
Zak: Max Weinberg wrote "Keep Rockin'" on a napkin for me. It was either that or "Stop Rockin'", but I think his advice is better, and so far I've followed it.
Isaac: Give Shutouts to your family and friends.
Zak: I owe my family a lot, if I'm ever successful, it will be because of them.
Isaac: Last but certainly not least, what are you working on, now?
Zak: I like to write whole albums at a time. I don't mean sitting down and writing an entire album at once, but when I'm writing a song to think of it in terms of what album I'll put it on. So right now I'm writing and recording a bunch of albums that I'll put online a couple songs at a time. One is an album with all girls' names for the titles, another is a kind of heavier album with a lot of riffs, and there are a couple others I'm working on too.
