By Tilsen Mulalley
Once a month, Spokane venue The Chameleon hosts The Writer’s Room, a showcase featuring local singer-songwriters and solo sets. Garrett Zanol, vocalist and guitarist for the psychedelic band Kadabra, debuted a new solo project at the Writer’s Room event on January 17th. Taking a step away from the heavy electric sound of his previous work, Zanol donned an acoustic guitar and harmonica to play a decidedly more country and western set. We caught up with Zanol a few days later to talk to him about this new project and where he plans to go from here.
I caught your show at the Chameleon’s Writer’s Room on January 17th. You mentioned on stage that this solo project is a new journey– where are you coming from musically, and how is this foray different than what you’ve done before?
I play in a local band (Spokane, WA) called Kadabra. And so that's kind of like the full-time project. It's a psychedelic, stoner-rock-type thing. But I mean, I've always written sad songs. I've always played this style of music as well. I've just never brought it to a stage. They've never left my living room. I felt, I don't know, I just felt the need to do it and take another step, just do something that scared the shit out of me.
How does it feel now that you’ve done it?
Scary? (Laughs) No, it was very nerve-racking. But I mean, I was told by somebody, on Reddit or somewhere, I don’t know, but they said “If you're not nervous about doing something…it’s a case of ‘you don't give a shit about it.” so I think nerves are good. They're very telling. It was very nerve-racking. I get a little bit nervous every time I get on the stage. Not so much when I have friends with me, but being alone for the first time was nerve-racking. But I think I liked it.
So just to clarify, this show you did at The Chameleon was your first time performing on stage solo
I played a house show a few weeks prior at Matt Mitchell's house. He did like a little Christmas VIP show. It was a similar-sized crowd, probably a little bit smaller. I think there were about 60 people at his house. But it was more of an intimate setting. My first time on stage was at the Writer’s Room.
Would you call this solo material more personal than your previous projects?
For sure, yeah. I kind of just aimed to story-tell with this solo project and just write telling lyrics. It's definitely more personal in that sense. Kadabra is more about analogies. It's written very differently. I would compare it as like fiction and nonfiction as far as the contrast of projects.
Your solo endeavor is a lot more stripped back than your previous works. Who would you say has influenced the sound you’re chasing– who do you look up to? Who do you wish to maybe not emulate, but pay homage to?
I like the word homage. You know, I don’t know. I'm a huge fan of a gentleman named Drayton Farley. He's probably one of my favorite songwriters right now. He was a big influence. Just kind of the way I watched him play at first. I was like, “Man, that's pretty heartfelt.” His delivery is very good and it reminded me of how I deliver as well. So yeah, I think him. I also really love the prettiness of Jason Isbell. His writing is very telling as well, and he's not afraid to write a very cute guitar lick and I love that. I don't know. God, it's always a question that you get put on the spot with, like f***. I mean, just the classics. I could name all the outlaws who have been influential in my songwriting, but I think that kind of goes without saying in the genre, you know. Ferlin Husky, he's incredible. Yeah, I don't need to name all the old heads, but a lot of them. Oh, Ian Noe as well, as far as lyrically. Ian Noe is pretty great. I found him through John Prine. Yeah, because if I'm not mistaken, he was the last dude to tour with Prine before he died. But yeah, I guess John Prine, James Taylor, Jim Croce. Oh, God. I don't know. That's enough. I could go on and on, man.
Now, I saw on Instagram the other day what looked like some Behind The Scenes shots of a video. Could you tell me about what you were shooting?
Yeah, with Resonant Media. They were also at the show, and they shot me a message in a very similar fashion as you did. They were just like, ‘Hey, just wanted to reach out, we're looking to do a shoot with a local artist and think you're perfect.’ So that was nice. I don't know, it was a little bit of a confidence booster after the first time on stage. Because I enjoy my music, right? And I've never felt the need to bring it to a stage. But it was nice to have you reach out and then have Resonant reach out and be like, ‘Okay, well maybe other people like this too.’ I've never been a huge fan of my voice without drowning it with reverb and delay. I've always just been in the psychedelic rock scene, so it's easy to drown my voice in delay and reverb. But yeah, It was nice that they hit me up and wanted to do a shoot. We went out and did a shoot down on the river.
Concerning your comment about drowning your voice in delay and reverb: Your voice really takes center stage in this solo endeavor, considering you're accompanied by only a guitar and harmonica. Now that you have taken a step into this realm of music, how are you feeling about your voice given the positive feedback you got from your first show?
That is a very well-crafted question. I don't know, I still feel the same way about it. I think it's with everybody who hears their own voice. Like, man, maybe I'm wrong by saying this, but I feel like everybody wants their voice to sound like something else when they hear it. But I'll find comfortability in it, I guess. Because it is my voice. I don't really have a choice, I can't make it sound different. Well, I guess I could. I could just go up and do weird satire sets. But no, I'll find it. I'll find the comfort that I need.
Garrett, what are you working on right now? Any plans for streaming or releasing an album?
Yeah, I'm in the process. I'm just trying to write this album. I mean, I've probably completed it twice, but I've written 20 songs in the last, like, honestly, four months, just for this project. But I think at this point, what I'm doing right now is I need to find like seven that I'm in love with. But yeah, I don't know, I do this every time. I try to start writing again, and I'll just write and write and write, and then hate everything I write, and then I'll just never do anything with it, so I’m kind of pushing myself to not do that again by sharing what I was writing. Like putting a show together to be like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna show everybody what I'm writing and basically hold me accountable to, writing this album.’ I just need people to hold me accountable. I guess my friends and people who like my music are gonna be the ones who do that.
Garrett Zanol's music can currently be found on Instagram at @garrettzanolmusic, though his social media presence is still in the early stages. He is working on expanding his online platforms. Zanol is set to open for The Bedheads and Kiunka at The Chameleon, in Spokane WA, on April 11.
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