L.A. punks X made their major-label debut in 1982 with Under the Big Black Sun. The record, which followed two critically acclaimed indie releases – Los Angeles (1980) and Wild Gift (1981) – spotlights a more refined and polished version of their sound, while not losing an ounce of the urgency of the previous two albums.
As always, at the heart of the band’s – and the album’s – sound was guitarist Billy Zoom’s sparkling ’55 Gretsch Silver Jet. Zoom’s under-appreciated (and killer) chops are the lynchpin that ties together the left-of-center vocal stylings of Exene Cervenka and John Doe, not to mention D.J. Bonebrake’s rock-solid drumming.
Below, Zoom discusses the making of Under the Big Black Sun, and then gets into gear, the band’s latest album, and his Austin-Healey Sprite.
Under the Big Black Sun sounds much better than the two previous albums. Why is that?
“As I recall, the total Slash [indie label] recording budget for Wild Gift was $6,000, and Elektra’s budget for Under the Big Black Sun was $60,000. We didn’t have to rush through everything before we ran out of money and time.
“Black Sun was produced and recorded a little better than Wild Gift or More Fun, but those two were really bad. I’ve never been able to listen to them. Having said that, maybe it was just a fluke that it turned out better.”
The songs are credited to John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Did you not have a lot of input?
“D.J. and I contributed quite a bit on the music but not too much on the lyrics, if at all. We rehearsed a lot, worked songs out together, recorded them at rehearsal, and then picked them apart and reassembled them, etc.”
John’s sort of quirky songwriting added a whole new dimension that I hadn’t anticipated, and when Exene came along, things really turned into X rather than just Eddie Cochran meets the Ramones
I remember reading that X was basically your concept, a band that’d combine elements of Eddie Cochran and the Ramones. How hard was it to find other musicians who were on the same page?
“Not as hard as I’d expected. Finding a good drummer is always hard, but John was only the second bass player I auditioned. Of course, John’s sort of quirky songwriting added a whole new dimension that I hadn’t anticipated, and when Exene came along, things really turned into X rather than just Eddie Cochran meets the Ramones.”
Did you have all the songs ready prior to going into the studio?
“I think so, pretty much. We did a lot of rehearsing and pre-production work, but it did become more of a push with each album. We had a few years to come up with the material for the first two albums, but after L.A. came out, we were on tour most of the time and just came back to California to write new songs and record, so maybe four weeks to come up with the songs and arrangements.”
Did the songs change much in the studio?
“Dancing with Tears was one that only existed in my head. Unfortunately, it mostly stayed there. What I wanted was a distorted rhythm guitar playing Ramones-style power chords, but with that clean, twangy style double-note lead guitar floating on top of it. The problem was – and it was a recurring issue that came up often in the studio – [producer] Ray Manzarek hated the sound of distorted guitar chords.
“He just didn’t think they belonged in music. So I kept playing them, and Ray would keep fiddling with knobs trying to fix the sound. In the end, that rhythm guitar was there, but you can’t really hear it or figure out what it’s trying to do.”
“Ray was fine with distortion on leads, just not chords. That’s why whenever there was an X song with clean chords, like I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts, the guitar sounds awesome, but power chords always sounded like Ray had over-EQ’ed them, trying to make them not sound like punk rock chords. It was always very frustrating. Ray didn’t really like punk rock, but he loved John and Exene’s poetry.”
What electric guitars and amps did you use?
“Most of it was my 1955 Gretsch Silver Jet through John’s Traynor bass head and a 4x10 cabinet that I built, but I always brought everything I had to the studio. I’d use one combination for one little overdub and something else for another part. The lead on Dancing with Tears was my 1958 Strat that I’d bought years before, from an old man, for $100.”
You and D.J. clearly seem to be the band members with the chops. Was there any tension between you two and John and Exene, who had more primitive skills?
It’s not always easy being Billy Zoom, but somebody has to do it
“I don’t know about D.J., but I think by the time we started X, I was already used to being the most talented and the most underappreciated band member. It’s not always easy being Billy Zoom, but somebody has to do it.”
There aren’t many solos on X records, though what is there gets straight to the point with maximum effect. Were you frustrated at not being able to get in more solos, or were you more about the Ramones’ side of the equation, where driving rhythm guitar was where it’s at?
“Every X song is a guitar solo from beginning to end. Sometimes John and Exene sing during my solos, but it doesn’t bother me. I play while they sing, too. It’s very rare that I just strum chords during the vocals. It’s all structured and orchestrated.”
Motel Room in My Bed has a couple of quick killer breaks. Would they be off-the-cuff ideas, or would you try different approaches?
“I don’t recall. What I played seemed to fit there okay. I just provide different textures to make the lyrical textures stand out more. I try not to think about it too hard.”
Blue Spark has a great rhythm guitar with the slides. I’m guessing that was your idea to do those slides after each chord?
“We recorded Blue Spark for Dangerhouse [indie label] in 1977, but it was never released, because our drummer at the time was too bad, even for Dangerhouse. Fortunately, we found D.J. not long after that. On the Dangerhouse recording I had to borrow a Fuzz Tone for the slides. The studio wouldn’t let us turn up loud enough to get real amp distortion.
“The title of the song was about the bumper cars on Santa Monica pier and the sparks they made when the contact on their antenna rubbed the ceiling, which was electrically energized.”
![L.A. punk legends X pictured backstage in 1979 [L-R]: John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Donald Bonebreak and Billy Zoom](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8N9VRdaRwuUQeJMQPEVxg5-1200-80.jpg.webp)
“What I was trying to do was to make the slides sound like the buzz and sizzle of electricity arcing. I often try to make my guitar sound like the lyrics, either literally or like the feeling or mood that’s being expressed. I want the sound of the song to be one integral thing – the lyrics, the beat, the guitar notes, and tone; they should all be telling the same story.”
Come Back to Me has some great rhythm lines. I guess that was no big deal for you with your extensive background in jazz.
“D.J. has the strongest jazz background. I like listening to good jazz, but I can’t really play it very well. I can play jazzy, but more R&B-ish like maybe Ray Charles, not Thelonious Monk. Come Back to Me is more R&B, or at least that’s where my head was when I played it. I was thinking of Steve Cropper; he’s one of my heroes.”
How I Learned My Lesson seems to be a lot closer to your Ramones template.
“That was one of my favorites, but John and Exene don’t like to do it live for some reason.”
The Have Nots has a great feel on the rhythm guitar – a perfect mix of clean and crunch. I guess that’s probably a good description of your sound in general, isn’t it? It’s a great showcase for your playing in that it combines your great rhythm chops with cool lead lines.
“I’ve always thought it was too fast on the record. We do it a little slower live. I do play cleaner than most modern guitarists, and it’s always just the amp, no pedals. Just the amp, cranked. I was playing my Silver Jet, probably through the Traynor and 4x10 cabinet.”
How did you feel about the album when it came out?
“I never liked any of our records when they came out. I never liked the way any of our albums sounded until [2020’s] Alphabetland.”
What was your guitar journey, from your first beginner’s guitar to your first pro-level guitar?
“My dad had a tenor guitar; that’s a skinny neck and four strings. You don’t see them much anymore. There was no name on it, but I think it was a mail-order guitar, built by Harmony. My dad started teaching me how to play chords on that when I was six. When I was eight, I found a Harmony archtop acoustic in the basement of my grandmother’s house, on the floor behind the oil tank for the furnace.
“When I was 15, I had a Hagstrom, then later, when I was 19, I had enough money to buy a pre-owned 1962 Guild Starfire III with DeArmond single coils and a Bigsby. That was as close to a Gretsch 6120 as I could get, but it got me all around the country, including a stint on the West Coast with Gene Vincent.”
What are your go-to guitars these days?
In my opinion, these G6122T-59s are the best guitars Gretsch ever made, period
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been using a Gretsch G6122T-59 Vintage Select Chet Atkins Country Gentleman. It’s a reissue of a 1959 Country Gentleman that Chet Atkins modified and used throughout the Sixties. It’s a single cutaway, with a 25½-inch scale, a slightly wider fingerboard, a Bigsby with the Chet arm, a master volume, a bridge pickup volume, and a tone knob.
“I replaced the pickups with a Kent Armstrong vintage P90 at the bridge and a Seymour Duncan DeArmond at the neck. It has the stock bar bridge, but I installed Grover locking tuners because it makes it easier to change strings with a Bigsby, and my fingers aren’t as nimble as they used to be.
“My arthritic fingers also prefer the longer scale and wider fingerboard. In my opinion, these G6122T-59s are the best guitars Gretsch ever made, period. I also have a silver 1999 Fender Custom Shop Strat and a custom Danelectro six-string bass that’s in silver sparkle with three pickups. Those three are my main studio tools, along with my ’55 Silver Jet, which still gets some studio use.”
Who were your main influences?
“Let me just say this: when I play rock ’n’ roll guitar, I imagine Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano. When I play tenor sax, I imagine Little Richard’s voice.”
What’s coming up?
“We just finished our last album, [2024’s] Smoke & Fiction. The first farewell tour started in July. We’ll be on the road a bunch, even more than usual. I’d like to design some more amps and recording gear, and whenever I get a chance, I’ll be driving through the hills of Orange County in my Austin-Healey Sprite.”
- Smoke & Fiction is out now via Fat Possum.
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