Jed Maheu - Zig Zags
When and where were you born?
Born in Portland, OR in 1979.
Are you originally from LA, CA?
Northwest all the way by way of Louisiana. My Father was from New Orleans. So I relate to the culture of that place and the music and the food, but I’m a West Coast person. I’ve lived in Oregon, Washington and California and I’ve traveled a lot and can’t see myself living to far from the Pacific Ocean.
What was growing up like for you?
I originally grew up in a trailer park outside of Portland and it was filled with a lot of characters. Kinda like a Mike Judge; King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead kinda scenario. There was a lot of heshers and drug addicts and general weirdos around and I got turned on to music and skateboarding at a really young age, then we moved to eastern Washington in a small town with a lot of farms and agriculture. I made friends with a group of kids who were from immigrant families of South East Asia. The older brothers all listened to thrash metal and Iron Maiden, Before that I was into Def Leopard.
Do you have any siblings?
No just me. A lot of dogs.
When did you first begin to have a fascination with music and wanted to play?
When I was living in Washington around 8 years old I started to get really into metal through the Columbia House Cassette bullshit. You would order 8 cassettes for a penny and then they start sending you stuff at full price til your mom calls and tells them you’re a minor and not allowed to sign up. I got Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax, Slayer and of course Metallica and I was pretty much hooked. Got more into sports for awhile and then found out about hardcore in junior high.
What was your first instrument of choice and why?
I always wanted guitar probably cause of James Hetfield but there was also a kid down the street who was a really good basketball player but also a natural on guitar. I wanted to get one so I could learn to play like him. It’s funny cause that dude was a real straight like mormon type guy who probably has a family now and I’m still trying to figure out the guitar.
What groups left a huge impression on you early on?
Metallica was and is pretty much number 1 since I heard Kill ‘em All. I love all the other bands too, but I think the balance of heavy and melody is always something that’s worked with me. I want to be able to sing along. I’ll listen to a lot of death metal and even like weird psych shit, but I like hooks and pop songs at the end of the day. I also like fast shit.
What would you and your friends do for fun in the early days?
A lot of fishing, baseball, skateboarding, porno magazines in the woods, bb guns, bmx bikes, fireworks, after school fights, like small town fun. Nothing serious, but today people would freak out. We didn’t even think we were doing anything wrong. Just trying to blow shit up or set it on fire. Just bored not trying to do anything to hurt anyone.
Did you participate in any groups prior to Zig Zags?
Lot’s of bands, lots of like punk rock, noise shit, garage rock. I like a lot of different types of stuff and hopefully that comes through in Zig Zags. I think this band is a culmination of all the stuff that I like. It’s not really a metal, or punk, or stoner rock band. At least not in my eyes. There are a lot of different elements. I don’t particularly like it when all those things get mashed into a single song but I do like a few curveballs.
How did you initially meet your bandmates?
We are on 3rd our bass player and drummer, so at least they’re on equal footing.
Is it true the name of the band came from a pair of shoes rather than the famous rolling papers?
Yea the first drummer and I started the band named after the shoes we were wearing at the time. They called ‘em zig zags, or winos and wino was already taken.
What did you want to express and achieve with Zig Zags that was different from a lot of the other bands coming out of LA at the time?
At that time it was a lot of psych/folk stuff, which I did like at the time, but it didn’t really feel like the type of music I wanted to make. I couldn’t get the finger-style down and we need to be really loud to sort of cover up our playing abilities.
What was the chemistry like between everyone upon first meeting/jamming together and when was that exactly?
Really it was 2010, or 09 I can’t remember, but initially it was just a two piece playing acoustic guitars. We lived together and wrote and played most days and I would say it was pretty intense personality wise. We didn’t really become a band until a few years in of just playing and the 1st album didn’t come out until 4 years of us writing together. We don’t talk anymore.
Prior to writing the band’s debut LP, you guys released a handful of singles/EP’s on various labels such as Mexican Summer, Tubesteak Tuesday, Light In The Attic, etc. Can you tell me about some of these releases and what those experiences were like for you?
Well a lot of that stuff was recorded like demos, We really didn’t put too much thought into anything recording wise at the time. We would do all the tracking, vocals and mixing in the same session. Basically book a day at a cheap studio and do it all ourselves. The Iggy Pop single came about cause I guess he had owed a recording session to Light In The Attic and when they were doing a series of newer bands covering reissue releases they asked him to sing on a Betty Davis track and we backed him up basically. All who you know really.
Tell me about the band’s self titled debut that came out in 2014. How did the deal with In the Red Recordings come about and how long did that record take to record from start to finish?
We had toured out to New York to play CMJ and we had an offer from a label that was actually pretty good. I think we were about to say yes and then Larry from In The Red called me and said he wanted to do the record. I asked if he would match the other offer and he said yes so we went for it. Ty Segall recorded it in his garage and it took 3 days. There was so much bleed as the amps were facing each other. When I got the mix back it sounded so insane in every different type stereo that I was sure we had made some kind of mistake. Ty said it would be fine when we mastered it , but just to be sure we sent it to Chris Woodhouse to remix everything. I still have no idea if we needed to do that or not. Obviously Ty knows what he’s doing but I would like to go back and listen to the different versions again.
I imagine you guys hit the road to support that record. Can you tell me about some of those early gigs you played as well as some of the shows that still stand out in your mind?
Yea we did one week with the band Ex-Cult and then on the 2nd to last show the drummer quit. We had a month long tour of Europe starting in a couple weeks and then the bass player quit. I tried to scramble to put another band together but it was impossible.
The band’s next album, ‘Running Out Of Red’ would be released on Castle Face in 2016. Can you tell me about writing as well as recording that record and what you guys wanted to achieve with this one that differed from the previous?
Well Dane the new drummer and I met working at a bar and basically we would get off around 2am and go to practice til 5-6 in the morning. We did that a few times a week before we both started working better hours at a Pizza Place. Dane met CJ at a show and brought her down to play bass and we had written most of the songs at that point but CJ had a bunch of ideas to and those got folded in. We were set to put it on In The Red again and after I booked the studio Larry called me a few days before we were set to go in and said he didn’t want to put the record out. I called Dwyer and asked if he was interested and he said he wanted to hear it first. Since we were already at practice we went back in the room and recorded the whole thing on my phone and sent it to him. He said go ahead and do it and i think we had to push the whole thing a week but ended up going up to Sacramento and recorded it with Chris Woodhouse.
How did you initially meet John Dwyer and those guys?
I honestly can’t remember. I think we met a long time ago and then met again years later? My good buddy Lars was playing drums in Osees for awhile and that’s when I remember being around them the most and then John moved to LA and now our dogs are friends.
The next two releases were for the radio station KXLU 88.9. Can you tell me about those releases?
I think by two you mean a double album? We did a live recording on the radio and it was right after we had toured out to SXSW so we were pretty tight and raw then so it came out pretty good. Nomad Eel Records was just getting going and I think it was their first release. WE been on so many labels that I can’t remember exactly the circumstances, but i do remember telling myself that I wanted to be in a band that didn’t change members or labels and all I do is that it seems.
How much had changed about the band up until this point? 2019 saw the release of ‘They’ll Never Take Us Alive’? A couple drummer and bass players and a more metal sound I guess?
I never thought of us as a metal band or definitely not a stoner rock band, but I have always been into hardcore and thrash mostly. I just wasn’t really good enough to pull it off. It sounds like teenage metal maybe but from 40 year olds? Anyway Sean Hoffman joined on bass along with myself and Dane. I knew him through playing in some friends bands whenever they need someone to fill in.
First, how did you guys initially meet Daniel and get on RidingEasy Records? Can you tell me about writing and recording that record?
I think I called Daniel and said “Hey I need a label”. He had done some cassette versions of the early stuff and put us on some shows he was doing and we always seemed to get along from the start. Dane and I had written a lot of that record, but Seans a real player so when he came in he had a lot of ideas on how to cut shit or tighten things up. We’re still really loose on that record but it’s definitely put together more than the others. Not good or bad just the way it is.
When and where did recording begin and about how long did that particular process from start to finish?
We recorded at Valentine Studios with an Engineer who had never worked there. The original spot had fallen through and they were doing us a favor getting us in last minute. Nothing in the band ever seems to go smoothly when I’m trying to schedule this shit. I will say Europe has been good to us and the people we work with at Swamp Booking and all the tour drivers except one have been awesome.
How have you managed to stay positive during this pandemic? Something that happened to a lot of bands across the world was the silence of live music. How did you guys handle that?
Well we had planned on taking a break in 2020. We had done two tours overseas in 2019 so Sean was gonna have kids and we were gonna slow down. I didn’t realize it was gonna be a screeching halt. Ive found it hard to write during this time which is why there hasn’t been an announcement of a new album. Dane left the band not on bad terms but to do other shit and Jeff Murray who played drums for the Shrine replaced him. I feel like were just figuring it out now. It took some time to get the set together so we could play out and now I’m trying to focus on the writing but it’s hard lyrically right now. I usually take lyrics from life experiences and when you’re not seeing a ton of people you miss though little funny things people say or do that I like to write about.
When and where was the first show for you guys since the return and what were those long overdue experiences like for everyone?
1st real show back was Permanent Records which is kinda a home base for us and a lot of other bands in LA. Was great to see everyone we hadn’t seen in forever and they did it outside so i think folks were chill with that. I felt bad we didn't have any new shit but we had just gotten use to playing the old stuff…
Can we expect a new Zig Zags record in the near future? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Yea we are writing and demoing for the new record now. I’m hoping to record by the end of this year and then be touring in 2023. We seem to be in this rare air with a few bands I really liked growing up where we have a small, but really loyal group of people that like the band. In the words of Ru Paul I wanna make this next record and I don’t wanna “Fuck it up”
