Zeppo lighter

"It’s a story about a group of freaks rebelling against society, storming the offices of a fashion magazine and slaughtering the editor." Before you go getting any ideas, this is simply how Zeppo, a five piece from Limerick, sum up the subject matter of one of their songs.

"What we want to do is make exciting music," declare Zeppo’s chief songwriters, Sam Healy and David Blake (although not quite in unison) "There’s a lot of good music around, but not a lot of exciting music," Sam says.

Zeppo are notable for their diverse and idiosyncratic style of musical and lyrical mischief. "Although, with that, you risk being accused of parody and there is a danger of being seen as a comedy band. That has happened to a lot of wonderful musicians, like Frank Zappa," David maintains. "There is humour in our music, but it’s meaningful as well. We’re very serious about the music."

So, sensible is the new rock ‘n’ roll, according to Zeppo. "We can tend toward hedonistic extremes, but we’re always clean and sober for rehearsals and gigs," says Sam, conceding that it’s rather an unusual claim for any young band. As David explains, "Bands who get a huge deal and have loads of money behind them from the start are the only people who can afford to trash hotel rooms and still succeed. We have to be focussed and committed."

They may be well-turned out young men with responsible day-jobs in I.T. and journalism, but as their double-jointed conversation, peppered with good-natured banter and words like ‘exponential’ and ‘calibration’ proves, they possess a high degree of wit and intelligence that’s also inherent in their music.

Although hailing from Limerick, they have no problems being classified as a Dublin band, since "We’re based in Dublin, we’ve never played Limerick, and we haven’t lived there for as long as the band’s existed." They’ve been steadily building up their reputation with a series of Dublin shows and a Fanning session. "The attendance at gigs has been helped by the fact that Dave Fanning’s been playing our demo a lot," David enthuses. "I accosted him on the street. Having heard those familiar tones behind me, I pulled a CD out of my bag and handed it to him – ‘Mr Fanning, a present for you’ – and just walked off. We got a call that same night to say he was actually playing it on the radio. He’s been playing it on and off since then, and more intensively recently. Alan Corr has been pushing for us within RTE, culminating in the enigmatic Ian Wilson (Fanning’s producer) ringing us and asking us to record a session."

"We’ve also started working with a producer, a guy by the name of Jerome Rimson, who played bass with Van Morrison, Phil Lynott and Freddie Mercury in the early days." Another vital element to the band is their manager, Kenneth Van Kempen. "Kenneth, aka The Flying Dutchman, was working for a computer company, when he met my brother, James (Zeppo’s acoustic guitarist), who told him about the band," David recalls. "Kenneth had worked in the music industry in Holland. He came to one of our gigs, we asked him to give us a critique of the show and his opinions were very astute. Not long after that initial meeting, he proposed to us. Got down on bended knee, the whole works. It’s his first time managing an Irish act, but he’s worked in the business in Holland for years. He’s introduced more disciplined, almost corporate, procedures, like weekly meetings. It’s working, ‘cause not a day goes by now without something good happening for us. The momentum is amazing, and hings have escalated at an incredible rate."

"Friendship fused with music," is what David sees as the secret of their increasing success. "As a band we’ve really consolidated in the last few months. We’ve got quite a dynamic now. Sam and I originally got together in Limerick when I was with a somewhat flamboyant outfit. We were playing in a band competition against Sam’s group. They won, but I was subsequently asked to join them. I was poached, kind of like a soccer club transfer, but without the millions of pounds involved. That was the first time we two played together, but it was another three years before Zeppo formed." As well as the Blake brothers on guitar and vocals, Sam on keys, guitar and vocals, Zeppo also includes Matthew Byrne on bass and Paul Lally on drums.

"We’ve sent demos to companies in England, because it’s geographically more convenient, but they said, ‘we think your music has a more American sound’ and forwarded the demos to their U.S. branches," Sam tells me. "We’re reluctant to record an album until we have signed with a record label. Looking at it pragmatically, you have to have someone huge pushing you. The music industry is not a meritocracy - there’s lots of brilliant music that falls into obscurity way too quickly."

"As always," David laments, with a wily shake of the head, "everything flounders on the rocks of practicality." Hopefully, for Zeppo, it’ll be smooth sailing from here on in.

Zeppo’s website: www.zeppomusic.com