Zero Wait State
Zero Wait State
the band
Zero Wait State was formed in 1996 to bring a new voice to the young Acid Jazz movement that was popping up on the West Coast at the time. Started by two veterans of the Boston alternative scene, both with roots in jazz. The group came together in Los Angeles when synth player Barry Atkinson signed on. The bass chair rotated between several players, here the core trio is joined by LA studio player Peter Bycke.
Working to merge the heavy feel or 90s alternative, with the improvisatory flights of the beloved jazz artists of a previous era, the resulting album remains an artifact of a brief movement that yielded music that still sounds fresh and new today. ZWS gigged sporadically in the Bay Area, a less well-known act in the larger scene that included other Acid Jazz pioneers such as The Broun Fellinis and T.J. Kirk (Charlie Hunter).
Featuring a more deeply electronic sound than their contemporaries, the album is notable for the incredibly heavy drumming of Richard “Mondo” Maddalo, here featured on the rare analog synth drum set, one of many analog synths (already “obsolete” at the time of the recording) from which the album takes both its inspiration and title. As Bycke’s bass anchors a deep bottom the sax and guitars surf on the waves created by the ensemble.
the band
Zero Wait State was formed in 1996 to bring a new voice to the young Acid Jazz movement that was popping up on the West Coast at the time. Started by two veterans of the Boston alternative scene, both with roots in jazz. The group came together in Los Angeles when synth player Barry Atkinson signed on. The bass chair rotated between several players, here the core trio is joined by LA studio player Peter Bycke. Working to merge the heavy feel or 90s alternative, with the improvisatory flights of the beloved jazz artists of a previous era, the
resulting album remains an artifact of a brief movement that yielded music that still sounds fresh and new today. ZWS gigged sporadically in the Bay Area, a less well-known act in the larger scene that included other Acid Jazz pioneers such as The Broun Fellinis and T.J. Kirk (Charlie Hunter).
Featuring a more deeply electronic sound than their contemporaries, the album is notable for the incredibly heavy drumming of Richard “Mondo” Maddalo, here featured on the rare analog synth drum set, one of many analog synths (already “obsolete” at the time of the recording) from which the album takes both its inspiration and title. As Bycke’s bass anchors a deep bottom the sax and guitars surf on the waves created by the ensemble.
the band
Zero Wait State was formed in 1996 to bring a new voice to the young Acid Jazz movement that was popping up on the West Coast at the time. Started by two veterans of the Boston alternative scene, both with roots in jazz. The group came together in Los Angeles when synth player Barry Atkinson signed on. The bass chair rotated between several players, here the core trio is joined by LA studio player Peter Bycke.
Working to merge the heavy feel or 90s alternative, with the improvisatory flights of the beloved jazz artists of a previous era, the resulting album remains an artifact of a brief movement that yielded music that still sounds fresh and new today. ZWS gigged sporadically in the Bay Area, a less well-known act in the larger scene that included other Acid Jazz pioneers such as The Broun Fellinis and T.J. Kirk (Charlie Hunter).
Featuring a more deeply electronic sound than their contemporaries, the album is notable for the incredibly heavy drumming of Richard “Mondo” Maddalo, here featured on the rare analog synth drum set, one of many analog synths (already “obsolete” at the time of the recording) from which the album takes both its inspiration and title. As Bycke’s bass anchors a deep bottom the sax and guitars surf on the waves created by the ensemble.
the music
"Analog" - album notes
“Analog” was recorded over several days at a well-known studio just off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Maddalo, the drummer on the date, sidelined as a sound-on-video engineer and knew the crew that ran it. At the time most of the music being recorded in the studio was hip-hop, and the recording engineer Steve Fredrickson was quite amazed to see someone show up with a saxophone. “Can you play that?” he asked. When assured that yes, “Woz plays sax” he went to the vault to dig out a good microphone and insisted on recording for his sample library before the session began.
The name of the studio is listed on the original CD release as “Yo Mama Studio” but it went by many other names, depending on the client. Recording was done on a state-of-the-art Otari 24-track 2-inch tape deck, and mastered onto DAT, as was the norm in that period. Mastering of the completed mixes was done by Ken Lee of Rocket Lab mastering in San Francisco. His response to the project was “What do you call this type of music? I’ve never heard anything quite like it”. A not uncommon response to ZWS in the period. All music performed on the CD was tracked live, and no samples were used. A Bearcat police scanner was plugged directly into the console and live police dispatches recorded onto the tape as part of the audio effects on “Area 51”, which also includes the use of a vintage vocoder.
Maddalo plays the already-archaic Simmons E-drums, which, being an early pre-digital-sampling instrument, created percussive sounds using tightly gated analog waves, giving both the unique subtle phasing effect you hear throughout the album, as well as being the inspiration for the album’s title. Vintage Roland and Sequential Circuits synthesizers were also employed to contribute to the overall analog sound. The music was performed as extended improvisations based on previously composed motifs and themes. Members of the group had extensive time playing with each other prior to the session and went on (with some personnel changes) to perform live in San Francisco at a notorious underground venue.
the music
"Analog" - album notes
“Analog” was recorded over several days at a well-known studio just off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Maddalo, the drummer on the date, sidelined as a sound-on-video engineer and knew the crew that ran it. At the time most of the music being recorded in the studio was hip-hop, and the recording engineer Steve Fredrickson was quite amazed to see someone show up with a saxophone. “Can you play that?” he asked. When assured that yes, “Woz plays sax” he went to the vault to dig out a good microphone and insisted on recording for his sample library before the session began. The name of the studio is listed on the original CD release as “Yo Mama Studio” but it went by many other names, depending on the client. Recording was done on a state-of-the-art Otari 24-track 2-
inch tape deck, and mastered onto DAT, as was the norm in that period. Mastering of the completed mixes was done by Ken Lee of Rocket Lab mastering in San Francisco. His response to the project was “What do you call this type of music? I’ve never heard anything quite like it”. A not uncommon response to ZWS in the period. All music performed on the CD was tracked live, and no samples were used. A Bearcat police scanner was plugged directly into the console and live police dispatches recorded onto the tape as part of the audio effects on “Area 51”, which also includes the use of a vintage vocoder.
Maddalo plays the already-archaic Simmons E-drums, which, being an early pre-digital-sampling instrument, created percussive sounds using tightly gated analog waves, giving both the unique subtle phasing effect you hear throughout the album, as well as being the inspiration for the album’s title. Vintage Roland and Sequential Circuits synthesizers were also employed to contribute to the overall analog sound. The music was performed as extended improvisations based on previously composed motifs and themes. Members of the group had extensive time playing with each other prior to the session and went on (with some personnel changes) to perform live in San Francisco at a notorious underground venue.
the music
"Analog" - album notes
“Analog” was recorded over several days at a well-known studio just off Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Maddalo, the drummer on the date, sidelined as a sound-on-video engineer and knew the crew that ran it. At the time most of the music being recorded in the studio was hip-hop, and the recording engineer Steve Fredrickson was quite amazed to see someone show up with a saxophone. “Can you play that?” he asked. When assured that yes, “Woz plays sax” he went to the vault to dig out a good microphone and insisted on recording for his sample library before the session began.
The name of the studio is listed on the original CD release as “Yo Mama Studio” but it went by many other names, depending on the client. Recording was done on a state-of-the-art Otari 24-track 2-inch tape deck, and mastered onto DAT, as was the norm in that period. Mastering of the completed mixes was done by Ken Lee of Rocket Lab mastering in San Francisco. His response to the project was “What do you call this type of music? I’ve never heard anything quite like it”. A not uncommon response to ZWS in the period. All music performed on the CD was tracked live, and no samples were used. A Bearcat police scanner was plugged directly into the console and live police dispatches recorded onto the tape as part of the audio effects on “Area 51”, which also includes the use of a vintage vocoder.
Maddalo plays the already-archaic Simmons E-drums, which, being an early pre-digital-sampling instrument, created percussive sounds using tightly gated analog waves, giving both the unique subtle phasing effect you hear throughout the album, as well as being the inspiration for the album’s title. Vintage Roland and Sequential Circuits synthesizers were also employed to contribute to the overall analog sound. The music was performed as extended improvisations based on previously composed motifs and themes. Members of the group had extensive time playing with each other prior to the session and went on (with some personnel changes) to perform live in San Francisco at a notorious underground venue.