Zipper Schnipps
Legacy Name: Zipper Schnipps

***The Rock Star***

Sonata Songbird reporting for MusiNews, your best source for Subeta's best new artists, radio trends, and everything music. Today I'm sitting down with up-and-coming rock sensation Zipper Schnipps, lead singer of Zip It! So tell me Zip, where did you get the inspiration for your name?

ZS: *laughs* It's an old family joke. When I was barely more than a sprout, I used to have this hoodie that I wouldn't take off. Mom had to sneak it away and wash it at night when I was sleeping. Problem was, I used to have so much fun ripping that zipper up and down that I broke it. I'm sure you've heard of the line of broken zipper hoodies over at the Clothing Rack. Mom swears she was the one behind the idea. Schnipps was my nickname with the guys growing up. Whenever we had an art project for school, they'd have me do the cutouts because I could keep ten scissors running and leave us time to go hang out down by the river. Put the two together and you get Zipper Schnipps.

If only all of us had such lucrative childhood memories. Speaking of childhood, you're the son of the Symon Serpenth and Tigreana of Slither & Crawl, the hottest rock n' roll act of the last three decades. What's it like to be a second generation musician?

ZS: I've got to give my parents a lot of credit. Even though they were on tour almost every week when I was growing up, they were there for me, and for my sibs. They wouldn't take excuses or let us slide by as average students just because we had talents or because we had famous parents. Would you believe my sister Gianna is on staff at Medicontra? She's just a year away from finishing her medical degree and becoming a resident at Riverside Hospital. They were also always there for me as a musician. I started on piano when I was just three but it didn't take me long to realize that singing was my real passion. I used to get so frustrated when I was learning guitar because I'd have all these awesome ideas for songs that I just couldn't bring to life yet. Dad would sit down with me and run drills even when all I wanted to do was quit. Mom worked as my voice coach. I don't even want to know how many times she made me sing "Mommy montre made a mushy mash."

It's no secret that you're considered the leader of this group. Tell me truly, now. What are the other guys really like offstage?

ZS: I'd be nobody without the other members of the band. I grew up with Buttons Bhakoru and Pawket. Since they both had dads in Slither & Crawl, we got thrown together all the time and it didn't take us long to form a friendship that would last. We started out banging wooden spoons on copper kettles until our parents decided we were responsible enough to handle real instruments. Telly Thimble was the new kid on the block at first but when we heard what he could do on piano, it didn't take us long to make him a regular in our weekly jams. The four of us would go down to the side of the river, eating popsicles and enjoying a nice swim when it got too hot to work so hard. We were best friends and totally up for anything. Patch is the kid of the family. He's young, but those wingtips can make a second-hand guitar sound like a Lucent. We have our arguments sometimes - you should've heard Telly argue against "Hellhound in the Pound" as our opening for Peka-Boo - but at the end of the day, we're a group of guys who love to make music and have the time of our lives.

You've written all but two of the band's #1 hits. Where do you get inspiration for your lyrics?

ZS: Maybe what you should ask is where I don't get inspiration. I've had ideas for songs come to me when I'm driving, when I'm brushing my teeth, even when I'm trying to fall asleep at night. Sube Sensation was one I scribbled on a napkin when I was working my way through a spicy burrito. It's a good thing all Quick Bite orders come with a complimentary stack.

I'm sure this won't be an easy one, but what would you say is the best part of being a rock star if you could only choose one thing?

ZS: You'll have to do better than that if you want to stump me, Sonata. That's an easy one! My fans are definitely the best part. It's not just having this screaming crowd to greet you when you go up on stage. It's seeing how much they put into their costumes and watching how their faces light up when they sing along. I love when my agent sets up promo events and I actually get to spend a few hours with real fans. They tell me how my music has changed their lives and hearing their stories changes mine. I know every rock star in history has probably said this, but Zipper Schnipps really does have the best fans.

Alright, so what's the worst part?

ZS: Sometimes I have to deal with rude celebrities. It's bad enough if someone wants to turn their nose up at me and my bandmates when we've been working for hours to give people a good show. What annoys me even more is when famous people treat their fans like anything less than family. I don't care how many awards you've won or how much money you've got in the bank. Nobody has a right to act that way.

I'm sure most of us would agree with you on that. Now for the million Subeta point question. How do you maintain that signature look?

ZS: *laughs* You'd have to go to my stylist for the really fine details, but I will say there's good reason why I've created my own special line of hair tonic. Zluffy enjoys helping me with a special glitter paint that gives my scales the rainbow effect you'll see when I'm up on stage. Everybody thinks he's just a ball of fluff but he's actually quite dexterous.

Speaking of Zluffy, what's it like to have your minion as your stagehand?

ZS: Zluffy rocks! He can move lightning quick when one of the technicians needs a replacement bulb. He actually likes to check all the fixtures himself an hour before the show to make sure we won't have any blowouts or collapses. His time in Ziara City gave him quite the crash course in electrical devices. Everybody in the band is happy when he's around, but nobody loves my Zluffy like I do. When it gets cold in the winter and the river's frozen over, he likes to curl up on my feet while I read a good book.

I have a feeling a lot of minions are going to find new homes today. According to my notes, you've toured on every land in Subeta. I'm sure your fans have the concert t-shirts to prove it. Just how many tours has Zip It! taken part in?

ZS: We've done a full twenty-four tours to date and there isn't a land in Subeta we haven't visited. We've even given a couple concerts on Atebus!

All those shows and keeping up with the band must be exhausting after a while. What do you do when the pressure just gets to be too much?

ZS: Everybody needs a space that is just theirs. I've got what I guess you could call a loft. I do some of my best writing there but I also keep a collection of old records, ones that Mom used to play when she was a teen. It's my place to lie back and think about more than just my next concert or a rhyme for the line I'm working on. Sometimes it's just a place to lie and think about the big questions in life, the ones everybody asks late at night. Anyone who knows me knows not to come around when I'm in my own space.

I've got a snippet here from your blog that says you would actually recommend calamari pizza with a tall glass of Veta Lake Lager. Squid on pizza? Really?

ZS: Where's your sense of adventure, Sonata? Squid pizza happens to be awesome! Actually, I don't know that there's an ingredient that could ruin pizza. I've even sampled the offerings at The Lost Skeleton, and while I wouldn't recommend them for anyone with a weak stomach, I'd be willing to try the line again come Survival season. Any true pizza lover knows that aside from the obvious breadsticks and hot wings, the drink of choice should be beer. You can go light or dark, mellow or heady, but you just can't truly enjoy pizza without a tall, frothy, cold glass of beer.

Rumor has it you turned down the chance to place an entry in the Rap category of the Music Shop Lyric Bash though you entered the Rock and Pop categories. What's that all about?

ZS: In my opinion, rap isn't music. Yes, it can have rhythm and tell a story, but it just doesn't reach down into your soul the way true lyrics can. That isn't to say the works of Little Kumos or Fester Flava aren't their own kind of art. I just don't see what they do as music.

There's been a lot of speculation on your latest hit single, Lover of my Dreams. Is there a special lady in your life?

ZS: Lover of my Dreams is more like a shoutout to those who are still looking for that one person that makes them truly happy. The guys and I love living in the moment and making the most of our rise to the top. We'll enjoy a good party and a dance with someone pretty, but right now we're focused more on our careers than settling down. It's like the song says. Someday I'll paint that white picket fence. Pay my bills, collect the rents. Until then she's no more real than unsaid compliments.

Does it ever feel odd, walking into the Music Shop or Get Mugged and seeing your face on the cover of a CD?

ZS: Definitely. It's even worse when I'm standing next to the display and someone comes up to ask for an autograph. I think the average person forgets that we're not that different from them. When I go into the coffee shop, I'm thinking that steaming cup is going to seriously improve my outlook on the fact that I just walked through the pouring rain to get it.

Zip It! has been called one of the most versatile bands of our age. Give me more about the story behind your #1 hits.

ZS: We've had a total of fifteen songs that have hit #1 with five from our last two CD releases. If I gave you the story behind all of them, we'd be sitting here well past Luminaire and the guys would be calling me Darkheart Part II. *laughs* I'll tell you about the three everybody will recognize, though. Running Shoes was our first big hit. I know on the surface it just seems like a song about a guy who just likes a morning jog but there's a lot more to the story. Not a lot of people know that Tigreana used to hate the way she looked after she had us kids. She didn't want anybody to know. She'll probably growl at me for saying this, but I used to secretly wake up in the early hours of the morning and watch her put on a track suit. Seeing how dedicated she was to looking her best for her fans while working so hard to raise four kids, it really hit me. I wanted to be like her when I got old enough to do my own jams. Zip It Like You Mean It was sort of a joke between the guys and I. That really is the sound of five zippers being pulled up and down toward the end, before we do the refrain for the last time. We went through so many sweatshirts. Wardrobe was about ready to glue our fingers together so we couldn't break anything else. *laughs* Then there was Serenity River. All five of us grew up on the banks of Riverside and I don't think any of us could call another land home. We love to do that song because it reminds us all of lazy summer days, skipping stones and eating ice cream while we watched the fireworks.

How about the song that you personally connect to the most?

ZS: I know it never made it past #3 and a lot of Subetans probably think it's silly, but Pinko the Worm is actually a song that brings back special memories for me. Believe it or not, Pinko was a real worm that my brother found while he was fishing. He used the worm to chase my sisters around and I got mad at him for treating a poor, innocent worm like that. Pinko was my first minion. I used to let him ride around on my shoulder and I built him a little house out of scrap wood. I was very sad when a lain ate him. It's not like she had any idea he was a minion. I got the brilliant idea to leave him out in the yard after a good rain because I thought he'd enjoy meeting others of his kind. *laughs* It all worked out in the end though because I couldn't ask for a better friend than ZLuffy.

Zip It! relies heavily on a mixture of guitar, piano and drums. How did you guys come to settle on your signature sound?

ZS: I know I should say we consorted a crystal ball or that we worked for hours with a hundred different instruments but the honest truth is that we went with what each of us was best at. I'm good on guitar, Telly is killer on piano, Pawket makes the drums pound, Patch makes magic on bass and Buttons backs me up on his own guitar.

So how about sources of inspiration? Are there any particular Subetan musicians (aside from your parents, of course) that you admire?

ZS: There are so many amazing bands out there. A lot of them are from my parents' generation, but I've got plenty of friends in rival bands that I cheer on...when we're not competing, of course. I would have to say Darkside Disaster and The Hippotu Harmonics have had the most influence on me. DD has this way of doing the unexpected at the end of their songs that convinced me not to ever settle into a rut. THH uses blends of notes I wouldn't have thought possible. I don't know how they can make music so complicated that turns out so easy on the ears. Me and the guys, we're good, but we're not quite to their level, I think. It gives us a goal, something to work on. Everybody ought to hae a goal they're shooting for.

How do you handle nerves when you're up on stage? What about the other guys? Any tips for those youngsters who have to go up in front of class and make a speech?

ZS: I guess I grew up sort of in the spotlight so I never thought of being in front of a crowd as anything less than fun. Patch had some real nerve issues in the beginning. He makes it a point to take time for meditation and he's also learned to focus his sight on one particular member of the audience when he plays, like he's playing just for them. I'm sure the lucky fan he chooses is heartbroken by the end of the hour. *laughs*

What goes into your practice sessions?

ZS: Well, we usually run over some of our old stuff at the beginning but we also make it a point to try at least one new song a session. These don't always come out the way we want and we scrap songs sometimes, but all of our best work has come out of pounding it out for two hours a day, every day of the week.

What advice would you give to young musicians intent on becoming rock stars?

ZS: Practice every day. Listen to artists that inspire you. Probably the most important thing is not to listen to the critics too soon. If you're just starting out, you should be awful. It's natural. My parents are both musicians but my first few chords sounded just as much like screeching felis as anybody's.

This last question was sent in by Chaira, one of our readers living on the sunny shores of Delphi Beach. She would very much like to know some of the lessons you've learned in your rise to fame.

ZS: The guys and I have have made our share of mistakes. There was Pawket's fiasco with that legeica who took him for half a million and there was the whole Shadow of a Zombie night club incident. We tried to get away with some of the stuff our parents did back in the days when rock was newborn. Slither & Crawl spent millions on parties, wardrobe, and just overall having a good time so we thought we had to do the same. It almost destroyed us. We learned that dance is just as beautiful under paper lanterns as it is under crystal chandeliers. We also learned that parties are awesome and you can have a great time but somebody needs to know when to call you out and tell everybody it's time to go home.

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