NEW MUSIC BY ZACH TABORI
ZACH TABORI
ZACH TABORI RELEASES NEW SINGLE “ Sweet Baby Angel”
Tabori's a multi-instrumentalist whose creativity, drive and love of performing and writing music has been a huge part of his life since youth. The musician, producer, film composer and songwriter grew up in Los Angeles and spent his teenage years doing odd jobs in the industry for producers, songwriters and composers, all the while teaching himself how to record, mix, arrange, and play a myriad of instruments.
Tell us about Sweet Baby Angel? Where did that name come from?
Well, the title is a take on all sorts of strange pet names that a certain type of guy might have for his love interest. "Oh, she's my angel," and I always thought that they were so weird… but then you listen to a lot of the hit music from the 70s, and that's the standard language used. So, I'm not sure if it was enduring, but it was certainly “passable” if we could call it that. So, I thought ok, well, why don't I try a song that's, you know, of that late 70s era sort of post-disco, when all the superstars are coming out of rehab and they want some sort of a “chill-out” song to play and listen to. It could almost be a satirical take on THAT type of love song, but then I would turn it on its head. So “Sweet Baby Angel” is just the phrase that came to mind. And then it's one of those things where you’ll see a word and you can almost hear it, and that's in one ear, and in the other ear is the melody. It’s something you feel like you can sing in 1978.
Is there anyone that inspired that song or encouraged you to write that song?
Not particularly. I wish I could say, "Oh, I saw this happen in front of my face." But I mean, with this stuff, it's really just an amalgam of all the different experiences you have when you go out into the universe and keep your eyes and ears open. You almost have to pretend to be an amateur sociologist, and you go "oh, that's interesting, can you believe that THAT happened?" What's so great about being in LA is that we have so many people; there is no shortage of stories and things you can talk about. So, it's not really inspired by one person at all; everyone and everything I write is really just a combination of different people and events.
What feelings can you name when you listen to Sweet Baby Angel?
Well, I wanted a piece of music that I could bob my head to. Like, “ok, this is fun, I can drive around and listen to this." The song was actually done in one day, which was a rapid turnaround for a song. I heard the melody and the chorus in my head, which became the story. It still feels the same after finishing it; that's what I wanted it to be. Obviously, I threw little bits in the lyrics, the story, and musical moments to make myself smile. I mean, [those moments are] sort of the fun part of the show we put on as a band. When we record it, I like to hide a little something to keep us on our toes and happy as musicians, even if it's within a song that's consistent, like Sweet Baby Angel. So, there’s a guitar harmony that still makes me happy when I hear it. There’s the “Sweet Home Alabama” Muscle Shoals choir that’s something that I always thought was so cool in [that era of] music. Even if it was just a background "Ohh yeah." But you don't hear that as much [in newer pop music]. Just thinking of the memory…I hear the choir parts and I remember the moment me, Mike (the drummer), Brad (bass player), Mikes' girlfriend Sage, we basically had a few beers, and got together around one microphone the same way they would've done it back then. And that's a good memory for me. At the same time, there are the twisted elements of the lyrics as well. I don't know, I just have fun with music and I enjoy the disco groove. I just want to have a good time.
I know that you do a lot of collaborations; what's the most challenging part for you when collaborating with someone?
Oh gosh, it really depends on who it is. For a collaboration to be truly successful, you must thoroughly check your ego at the door and only exist as a vehicle for the song to flourish. Especially if it's not going to be for me, I work with an artist called ¿Téo? For example, I almost have to shut myself out, close my eyes and think ok, ¿Téo? ‘s voice, ¿Téo? 's personality, his backstory, his energy for the song." So, what is it that I can possibly contribute to something like this? And what I could visualize is a nylon string guitar part, a shaker, and then one keyboard. And then that's it. Whereas you know the other person we collaborated with, John Blanda, an extremely talented producer, he would come in with the central piano part, the drum production and things like that, and you know you basically just use your ears and your emotions, and then you really just have to say, "what can I do, and what can’t I do?" Sometimes what you can't do is the most essential part of the collaboration because you don't want to tread over something that [one of your collaborators] is doing that's potentially going to be way better for the song than yourself.
So you started a record Label Flesh Fury; tell us about that and how that came about?
It's been really interesting. I started my record label when I wanted to put out music under my own name for the first time because it's gotten to this point now; there is more power in the hands of the creatives than ever before. If you want to put a song on any streaming service, you have to go to Distrokid, click a few buttons, and then boom, you're a record label. So now, in 2022, if you want to be a record label, all you have to do in the Distrokid field where it says “label” is write whatever you want, and it's going to show up on Apple Music and Spotify the same way Warner Brothers would. And then you know the royalty checks are going to have to go somewhere, so you have to put an address in there, and then you know you have to make an ASCAP account, a record label is really just a collection of online accounts now. So, at that point, I thought I could do this myself, and initially, the idea was based on my love for recording with all types of people. I love being in the studio. Why not just release everything ourselves? But I mean, in Hollywood, when you're doing something creative and the featured performer wants to see how far they can take the song, which makes sense because you want to get the biggest paycheck, it's often "oh, I just got a meeting with Universal, I think I am going to pitch the song to them." And then that means the song goes off and becomes its own thing and therefore the featured artist don't want to release it independently anymore. So, there was a period where I released a couple of other projects under the label independently, but I mean, all of those projects ended up signing other record deals. Now, it's just an exclusive way for my music.
I really like the whole orange feels; it seems to be a vital color for your wardrobe and aesthetics. What's the basis behind that?
It's sort of a two-part answer. The first is that sometimes you can't really plan these things; it just happens. When I was a kid, all I wanted to wear was orange. I wore the same orange shirt and the same orange shorts almost every day, and I would just wear that as a 3 to 4-year-old. I just wanted to wear orange. And then you know everyone goes through an emo phase and it's all black forever… But eventually, it came time to figure out what we were going to wear when we performed, and to me, you know, the essence of what a performance “should be” and what live music is all goes back to James Brown. I think that everything that's done on stage now, in some shape or form, goes back to this superhuman showmanship and musical ability and style and flair of James Brown. His bands had the best musicians, the best suits, nonstop energy. They had their uniform. And so, I thought, "ok, if we are using that as the inspiration, we're going to do the suits. But they’re all going to be orange." I had never actually seen a band wearing all orange suits… So, I went on the internet. I found a Swedish polyester suit manufacturer, these poorly made orange suits (laughs) and I thought, "Ok, great, we have the uniform; I'm never going to have to think about color or style or anything ever again for the band. Let's just do this. Now, we can play music."
What feelings do you want our listeners to feel when they listen to Sweet Baby Angel?
I want them to dance and enjoy themselves, to laugh. Maybe they can think a little bit too… have that story stored in their minds when they go to a bar and see something weird, and just understand, "no, this isn't good."
For more on ZACH be sure to follow his INSTAGRAM.