Z, the band led by Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa, was my first professional gig. I was surrounded by some heavy duty talent--Mike Keneally, Joe Travers, the Zappa brothers themselves--and it was all I could do to pull my musical weight. Even though we never really "broke through", I learned a lot about being a bassist. Sometimes the hard way. But learning and growing is all you can really ask for in any situation. Want the full story? Check out the 'Z' section of this here site.

In March of 1995, Z went to Europe as guests of Peavey (the amplifier company which Dweezil heartily endorses) for that year's MusikMesse trade show. Who else should we run into on the show floor than Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi? From left to right (not counting the tall unknown guy at far left): me, Joe Travers, Tony Iommi, Dweezil Zappa, Mike Keneally.

The first tour I ever did--Z's K.A.O.S. tour in March of 1994--took me right back through the northeast I'd just left six months prior. Here I'm modeling the highest fashions of the moment at The "Old" 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., a gig I'll forever remember as the single loudest show I was ever unfortunate enough to be a part of. My ears were ringing for days afterwards, even with earplugs firmly in place.

Back to the '95 European trip…after the MusikMesse in Frankfurt, Germany, we skipped over to Paris for a one-off gig. This was taken somewhere near the venue by Joe Travers. Left to right: Ahmet Zappa, security/roadie and ex-Marine Chris Loudon, me.

Still in Paris. You won't believe this, but we worked up a cover of Judas Priest's "The Ripper" for our one-off at a venue called Arapaho. And I sang the lead vocals. Dweezil, in the background, could only close his eyes and wonder why he ever allowed me to do it in the first place. Needless to say, it was the only time we ever performed this.

Same trip, this time in the bowels of Paris' Metro. We must have been lost or something, because I remember us all being fairly happy to be there, but you'd never know it from this shot of Keneally and I. Again, photo by Joe Travers.