Gearing Up For Tour/July 1st LA Show

After the longest down time I've had in years, it's time to start getting ready to head back out on tour with Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa for most of the summer. This time around we'll be opening for jazz fusion legends Return to Forever, which is both incredibly exciting and somewhat daunting. Bassist Stanley Clarke is a huge influence of mine, as well as an influence on all my other influences (if you can follow that), so seeing him play every night will be quite the educational experience. The rest of the band doesn't suck either; Chick Corea, Lenny White, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Frank Gambale...
But first, we've got one more Gryphon Labs show here in LA, on Friday July 1st at Molly Malone's. We've been rehearsing our butts off for the last few months and I think we sound better than ever, so see us now before we're gone for a while! You can check out some recent vids of us over at YouTube (including one of brand new tune "Chuck D for President") for a small sample of what you're in for!

Sharing the Stage

Gryphon Labs will be sharing the stage with 3 different bands in the month of May!

First, we'll be at The Mint this Friday May 6th with Steel Toed Slippers, a very talented trio of young musicians who love Little Feat and Pink Floyd just about as much as I do. The Mint is a fantastic venue, you can reserve a table and get some food off their awesome menu, or you can just show up and rock out with us. It's only $10 for 2 bands, which is an unbeatable deal for a Friday night in Los Angeles. Steel Toed Slippers start at 8 pm, we go on at 9 pm.

Then, we're heading back to the Central S.A.P.C. in Santa Monica on Saturday May 28th to open for our good friends VOLTO! It's $20 and we'll start around 9 pm, this is an awesome chance to see both Gryphon Labs and the amazing musicians in VOLTO! (featuring Danny Carey from Tool) in a hip, intimate venue. We had so much fun last time, and it was really packed in there, so make sure you get your tickets ahead of time.

Finally, on Tuesday May 31st we'll be back at our second home, The Baked Potato, with fellow Zappa Plays Zappa-er Ben Thomas and his band Wundergroup. Ben's band is incredible, a cool mix of soul and rock music, so don't miss out on this one! It's only $15 and music will start at 8:30 pm.

2 Gryphon Labs shows this week!

You've got two chances to catch Gryphon Labs this week, first this Thursday, St Patrick's Day, we'll be playing at the Good Hurt in West L.A. Come on out and get Irish with us!
Then, on Saturday, we'll be opening for our friends VOLTO! at the Central Social and Pleasure Club. VOLTO! is John Ziegler on guitar, Lance Morrison on bass, Kirk Covington on keys, vocals, AND drums, and the always incredible Danny Carey (from Tool) on drums. Get your tickets now!
Also, BassFrontiersMag.com has a video interview of me posted on their site. I talked about my experiences here in LA, how I got the Zappa gig, touring with Hanson, and some other stuff. They've got a really cool website with info about a ton of amazing bassists, check it out!

Road Zombie

At some point during the last few months of touring I realized I had no idea where I was, or even really where I had been. Sometimes living on the bus, especially when we have ZERO days off like we have recently, really turns you into a brainless zombie. You stumble out of your bunk, wander into the closest building that looks like a venue, (sometimes you're wrong) find some food, a shower, maybe see if there's internet to contact your loved ones, and some days you don't even find out until you walk on stage what city you are in.
Luckily, I usually come alive when we start playing for all the great Zappa fans out there. I still love performing with the guys and gal in this band, I still learn so much every night from Billy, Scheila, Jamie, Joe, Ben, and Chris. Unfortunately it looks like we won't be working again with ZPZ until summer 2011, but there's a very exciting tour being planned...and also, Dweezil's latest album is up for a Grammy, which is exciting, even if I'm not going to be receiving one since he changed the name of the band on the record.
In the meantime, I get to spend the holidays with my family, and then spend the first part of the year promoting Gryphon Labs! As you may already know, we just released our debut album Modern Mythology, and now you can purchase a physical CD copy of the album by clicking HERE.
Also, Gryphon Labs will be playing at WesFest at the Roxy on Feb 27th 2011, stay tuned for more details!

Frank Zappa Day

This past weekend we got to be a part of Frank Zappa day in Baltimore. Frank's music is so strongly tied to southern California that few people know that he was born in Baltimore. Well, now there's an impressive statue proudly informing everyone who comes to the corner of Eastern Avenue and Conkling Street, newly renamed Frank Zappa Way, that Baltimore is proud to call Frank their own. Head over to Zappa.com to see the actual proclamation and some more pictures from the event. I think it's a pretty amazing sign of how things have changed that a controversial public figure such as Frank can finally be recognized in such an official way, for both his musical output as well as his part in the fight for free speech.
Before we go back on tour with ZPZ in November and December (with new video footage!), Gryphon Labs will be playing once again at the world famous Baked Potato on Thursday October 7th, with our good friend Paul Barrere from Little Feat sitting in. Come on out, it may be our last show of 2010!

Break's over...

Well, it's time to get back to work, both with Gryphon Labs and with DZPZ.
You've got 2 chances to see Gryphon Labs coming up, first on May 11th opening for the incredible Scott Henderson Trio at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach. Should be a really fun night, Scott's got my friend (and occasional Lab rat) Andy Sanesi on drums and the always amazing Rufus Philpot on bass.
Then, on Saturday May 15th, I'll be playing a double-header at the Baked Potato. First at 9:30 I'll be playing with Jeff Kollman and Shane Gaalaas with Cosmosquad, then Gryphon Labs will take the stage around 11:30. I'm really excited for this lineup, and not just because I'm playing bass in both bands...
Meanwhile, as I'm rehearsing and gigging at night with those bands, during the day we'll be back at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen getting ready for this summer's Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa tour. Two solid months of touring is a lot, but we'll be doing all sorts of fun and different things like the Dweezilla music camp, plus we'll have our new keyboardist, as well as a new batch of songs. Keep checking dweezilzappaworld.com for details on all this stuff, and come on out to a show!

Other People's Music

After several fun and well-attended Gryphon Labs shows, I'm headed back to the Baked Potato this weekend to play with two other amazing bands. First, this Friday February 26th I'll be back with Cosmosquad, with Jeff Kollman on guitar and Glen Sobel (filling in for Shane Gaalaas) on drums. Last time I played with Jeff I had a blast, and I've played with Glen in lots of different situations and he always sounds great, including on the album version of "Driven To Drink" by Gryphon Labs.
Then, Saturday Feb 27th I'll be playing with VOLTO! again. Danny Carey was sick last time I played with these guys (and Glen filled in for him, too) so I'm really excited to play with all of them again, especially Danny.
So, come check out my double header at the Potato this weekend! Also, get your tickets to see Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa open for the legendary Jeff Beck on April 17th...

Progressive Nation and Onward

Here's a picture of every musician from the Progressive Nation tour we just did with Scale the Summit, Big Elf, and headliners Dream Theater. What an amazing bunch of musicians to be on the road with. The picture is sort of divided by instrument, so I'm standing with the bassists from the other bands.
Having more bands on the tour meant shorter shows for us, fewer (and quicker) soundchecks, and overall more downtime, which can easliy lead to certain amounts of road insanity. But we all found ways of using the time productively, I managed to write some more tunes for Gryphon Labs, do the occasional yoga/workout routine, listen to a LOT of music, etc. I think the downtime made us enjoy our time onstage with our instruments that much more, and I think the shows went really well because of that. Or maybe it was ther fact that Dream Theater's incredible drummer (and Zappa superfan) Mike Portnoy watched our set from the side of the stage every night. The best part was watching the obvious Dream Theater fans transition from being skeptical about our show to leaping to their feet to give us a standing ovation, so thank you to them for being so open minded.
So, now we're home for a little while. Gryphon Labs is playing the Baked Potato on Tuesday September 29th. The second set is looking like it'll be a cavalcade of guest stars including Bryan Beller, possibly Mike Keneally and many others, so come on down and see what happens! We also have T-shirts and stickers available, as modeled by me in the above picture.
Check out the new tourdates for Zappa Plays Zappa, and stay tuned for more ZPZ news, including a possible TV show...

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Had To Do

Here's a picture from the Byron Bay Blues Fest, not of ZPZ, but of funk/ska/punk veterans Fishbone absolutely destroying the Australian audience. Lead singer/sax player Angelo Moore spent as much time crowd surfing (while still singing!) as he did playing, and the rest of the band, including the amazing Norwood Fisher on bass, seriously whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Scheila, Jamie, and myself watched this spectacle from the view seen above, and in between furiously dancing and jumping up and down we were saying to each other "How the hell are we going to follow this?"
So I take a quick peek at our set list and realize, not only do we have to follow them, the first song is Apostrophe, which has a long bass solo (played by Jack Bruce originally) mere seconds after it begins. The already daunting task of following one of the most amazing live shows I've ever seen is that much more nerve-wracking, because the start of the show completely depends on me!
What followed was an intense session of soul searching and self-cheerleading right up until showtime, and then a deep breath. Fortunately I was able to go out and just have fun, confident in the fact that even in our new smaller form, ZPZ is still a damn good band. And the crowd, I think, agreed with me.
What's really funny is that the Youtube videos from that gig clearly show my progression from being mildly sweaty at the beginning of the show to being entirely soaked by the end. And while you're there, check out the promo for the Roxy footage we shot in December.
Oh, and Glynn Wood, our very talented front of house engineer, has been playing a few Gryphon Labs tracks during the pre-show music, as well as Joe's tunes from the AAAFNRAAA FZ Birthday Bundle and a song of Jamie's. Glynn's told me that people have inquired as to what they were listening to, so if you hear an instrumental track you dig before a ZPZ show (and it's not Jeff Beck or the Secret Chiefs) chances are it's one of our tunes.

And the Grammy Goes To...

ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA!
Yep, we won, or more specifically, Frank's composition Peaches En Regalia won for Best Rock Instrumental. We all certainly did our homework, but the true and most deserving winner of this award is Mr. Frank Zappa. That being said, having my name be a footnote to helping Frank win that award is truly an honor. While I thanked "everybody" at the ceremony, that's only a small portion of my gratitude to both the Zappa family for making this whole thing happen, and to the Zappa fans for the exact same reason, as well as my family and friends for their unending support.
The Grammy Awards show itself was quite a circus, having to sit through 97 awards out of 100 before they reached our category was quite the buildup, fortunately it paid off. But, it was cool to see bands like The Mars Volta and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones get their due as well.
Luckily for you, 2009 is looking like there will be many opportunities to see the Grammy Award Winning Zappa Plays Zappa in concert all over the world. Our Japan and Australia dates have already been announced, and there are also Europe and US dates being worked on as we speak.
And, as evidence of all the work I've been putting into the Gryphon Labs record, I've posted a new tune, "Unafraid" on the Myspace page. Check it out, hook up some good speakers or headphones cuz it's got some ROCK to it, and let me know what you think!

Grammy Nominated!

As you may have heard, Zappa Plays Zappa has been nominated for a Grammy! We're in the Best Rock Instrumental category for our live performance of "Peaches En Regalia." Seeing as how I've always felt this song was three and half minutes of compositional genius, and that we painstakingly dissected the original recording to reproduce it live, I think we may have a decent chance of winning (over David Gilmour, Nine Inch Nails, Rush, and Metallica).
The Roxy shows were a total blast, over 12 hours of Zappa music in 4 nights! Hopefully the footage we filmed on Friday will turn out well, it'll be interesting to see it in comparison to the footage of Frank at the same venue 35 years earlier.
Soon it'll be New Year's, playing in San Francisco on the same bill as the legendary bass innovator Les Claypool, and then more You Can't Fit Onstage Anymore touring into 2009, including possibly going back to Japan and Australia.

VOLTO!

Well, the You Can't Fit Onstage Anymore tour certainly lived up to its name, but the diminutive size of the venues didn't stop the shows from being incredibly fun. I wasn't sure how Billy the Mountain was going to be received, but after our first performance of it my worries went away. Seeing people singing along to nearly every line of a 25 minute "song" only further proved the amazing dedication of the Zappa fans we play for.
And then there's the recordings...it's a little daunting to think about each show being recorded and released, and even more so since the sound quality is going to be far better than a bootleg. So, if you hear any of my mistakes on your show I sincerely apologize...
As the flyer above points out, I'll be playing with the amazing VOLTO! at the Baked Potato on December 5th. I'm still pretty blown away to be invited to share the stage with Danny Carey from Tool and Kirk Covington from Tribal Tech, as well as my good friend John Z. If you're planning on going you should call ahead and reserve a table, VOLTO! almost always sells out the Potato.
Then ZPZ plays the Roxy here in Los Angeles four nights in a row, December 10-13, 35 years to the day of the recording of the Roxy and Elsewhere album. Wow. There are still a few tickets left, but they're going fast.

What I Do When I'm Not On Stage...

After a short but exhausting tour that included a brutal schedule through Europe it's good to be back home. It didn't help that I was violently ill for most of the Europe trip, or that we'd get off stage at 12:30 am (00:30 over there) and then have to be in the lobby to get to the airport at 6 am, but I survived. The picture above is from the Palau de Musica in Barcelona, one of the most gorgeous venues we've been to yet. It's nice to see a beautiful building like this, with stained glass, statues and other architectural details usually associated with churches or cathedrals, and have its sole purpose to be the presentation of music.
So, while waiting to begin rehearsals for the You Can't Fit On Stage Anymore tour I'm still busy working on the Gryphon Labs stuff, from recording new tunes to booking gigs. We'll be at...
The Baked Potato
Wed. Sept 10th
9:30 and 11 pm
We've got some new tunes, Paul Barrere will join us again in the first set, and some other guests may be showing up.
In the meantime, I'm starting to review the 60+ Zappa tunes we've learned over the last two and a half years, as well as learning some epic new ones. Also, my Norwegian composer friend Jono El Grande has written me a piece entitled "Shut Up and Play Your Inca Bass in Berlin," which is obviously a nod to FZ, and in true FZ fashion it's immensely difficult. His music is pretty amazing, check it out!

The View From Bonnaroo

Here's what I got to see from the stage at Bonnaroo, and all those raised arms are an example of what an amazing crowd it was. The whole Bonnaroo experience was a blast, from watching Little Feat play an incredible set, to meeting the guys from Mastodon who happen to be huge Zappa fans, to watching Pearl Jam play while hanging with our friends from Umphrey's McGee. Even the artist cafeteria tent was a trip, eating at the same table as several of my musical idols. So, yeah, it was fun.
Now that I'm home for a short break from ZPZ tour, I can get more work done on Gryphon Labs, including announcing that the Blinded EP is now available on iTunes, Emusic, and other online music retailers. So, tell all your friends who haven't already gotten it that it's even easier to purchase now, and reviews are always appreciated.
Bryan Beller has reviewed the Blinded EP in the July 2008 issue of Bass Player Magazine, a publication I have spent many hours poring over so I'm quite honored to have my name appear in it. The issue is on shelves now so pick it up. A quote: "The tunes float between fusion, electronica, and acid jazz/rock, employing killer vintage keyboard tones and modern drum-loop grooves in inventive and unexpected ways." Thanks, Bryan!
And for those of you who already have the EP, the Gryphon Labs Myspace page has a brand new song, Spectral Evidence, posted for your listening pleasure, a little taste of what's to come.
And finally, I've begun posting excerpts on YouTube from the last Gryphon Labs gig at the Baked Potato, here's the first one:

Motley Crue, the Doobie Bros., Linkin Park, and Zappa Plays Zappa...

...is not the lineup of one of the many festivals we're playing this year (although I think we might be on the same bill as Linkin Park in the Netherlands). Those are the bands that were sharing the rehearsal facility with us for the past few days, although it certainly would've made an interesting marquee.
We're getting on the bus in a few days, all giddy and excited to get back out there and especially looking forward to playing for all the festival crowds. A large part of Dweezil's vision for this band was to bring his father's music to a new audience, and what better way to do that than at a festival like Bonnaroo which had a crowd of 90,000 last year. At that particular show we play right between progressive metal band Mastodon and Icelandic ambient rockers Sigur Ros (one of my current favorite bands), and I think Zappa music certainly could appeal to fans of either of those groups. And that's just one of several fests we're playing this summer, all over North America and Europe. Not to be a name-dropper, but to be included in the same sentence as all of the bands I've listed in this post is an honor, and certainly nothing I could have ever predicted.
Be sure to check out zappaplayszappa.com for info, and look for me jumping around (my bass rig is all wireless now) on stage at a festival near you. And don't forget about GryphonLabs.org for all the updates about my band.

New ZPZ Dates, GryphonLabs.org, 4/23 Baked Potato show, and more

Well, with all this down time from Zappa Plays Zappa I've been able to work a lot more on the Gryphon Labs project, recording new songs and trying to get the name out there, as they say. Be sure to tune in to The Fusion Show with Randy Allar this and every Friday from 1-3 pm EST on WCSB to hear Gryphon Labs along with lots of other great "Fusion Progressive Instrumental Music."
I'm also proud to announce the launch of GryphonLabs.org which will have all sorts of news, pics, and recordings of the band, plus cool things like unreleased live tracks. Also, come out to the Baked Potato on April 23rd for our next Labs gig. We'll have new tunes, both covers and originals, plus special guests and other fun surprises. Like maybe pony rides...or maybe not.
And finally, new dates for Zappa Plays Zappa have been announced, and it's time for me to start learning yet another batch of tunes from Frank's seemingly endless catalog. I can't wait to get back on the road with everyone, as far as I know we'll have the same lineup as last year, but knowing Dweezil I'm sure there are plenty of surprises in store.
And in case you missed us on Craig Ferguson here it is.

More ZPZ on TV

First of all, thanks to everyone who came out to the Gryphon Labs show at the Knitting Factory in January. The feedback we received was overwhelming, both in the crowd's reaction and several people contacting me through this site or the Myspace Page.
So, expect to be hearing about more gigs soon. And, the Blinded EP is now available for purchase through CDBaby.com
for those of you who'd like to have physical copies of the CD. Or, you can just email me at pete.petegriffin@gmail.com if you'd like a copy. And, as always, you can purchase and download the tunes through the player in the posts below.
Then, the very next morning after the Knitting Factory show, most of Gryphon Labs and all of Zappa Plays Zappa boarded a plane to Japan for a brief but fun 3 show run. The picture above is Mt. Fuji, shot through the window of the Shinkansen, or bullet train, from Osaka to Tokyo. Once again, the reach of Frank Zappa's music astounds me. From Iceland to Japan to Cleveland, these songs are so important to the people in our audiences, and in many cases it's obvious that the words they're singing out loud comprise the only English they know.
And speaking of reaching audiences...ZPZ will be appearing on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
next week. I believe the show airs on Wednesday, but check your local listings.

The Birth of Gryphon Labs

<-------------NEXT TUESDAY, JUNE 26th!
We had our first Gryphon Labs rehearsal for the upcoming show the other night, and I was blown away by how quickly these guys picked up my songs, especially knowing that their brains are just as taxed as mine with Zappa material. Fortunately, my music is not nearly as intricate as Frank's (whose is?) and these three gentleman are mad geniuses on their instruments.
But, I realized in ZPZ rehearsal the other day that the mastery of muscle memory in our band is only part of why I think we sound so good. An equal element to this gig, and to all musicianship I guess, are our ears and the amazing ability to hear the different parts going on in these songs. Granted, on some songs we have the technological ability to listen to the different instrument tracks individually thanks to our access to the master recordings in the Vault. But just the way Scheila has been picking out and arranging Frank's dense doo-wop-like vocal harmonies, or Dweezil being able to hear and learn his Dad's compicated rhythmic and melodic figures without the aid of reading music, or how Aaron and Billy have been figuring out how to transpose and re-arrange orchestral sections to be played by our instrumentation, shows that the ridiculous things these people can do on their instruments is only half of their immense talents.
So, come on out on the 26th and see what these guys can do with their hands AND their ears.

Life After ZPZ

Well, we've got one more Zappa Plays Zappa show before a 2 month hiatus, so if you haven't seen us yet you can come to Casino Morongo on Dec. 30th for our quasi-New Year's celebration. Also, to kick the new year off right, I'll be playing at the Baked Potato (even though my name isn't on the website) on Thursday Jan. 4th with Amalgatron, which is one of the many bands of guitar wiz John Zeigler. Come on out and say hi, should be quite a fun evening.

What a year it's been...if you told me last December that I'd spent most of 2006 playing the music of Frank Zappa with distinguished alumni from his bands I would have punched you for teasing me. Now it looks like most of 2007 will be spent the same way, and I couldn't be happier.

It took a lot for Dweezil to get this band off the ground, and it blows my mind that certain people, due to affiliations with other non-official Zappa cover bands, actually wanted this project to fail. Ever since our first gig there have been a few posts on various forums trying to put down the Zappa Family Trust for putting on this tour, saying mean and untrue things about the members (including myself) as well as Dweezil and his family. It seems to me, if you're a true Zappa fan, that you would be excited for this official tour to finally happen, regardless of loyalties to other projects. I was never able to see Frank live, but having seen many concert videos and listened to many of his shows I think we've put on the best possible representation of the composers music, by using the resources of the Vault (and the Vaultmeister) as well as the blood line of the man himself. It's unfortunate that jealousy and fear of becoming obsolete now that this tour is so successful has overshadowed those few people's enjoyment of the first official presentation of Frank's music since his death. Thankfully, the true fans have spoken (and spoken much louder) by coming out and supporting us from the beginning, and I can't thank you enough for that.

My Fingers Hurt...

So, one week into this leg of the tour and I'm pretty exhausted from playing 5 shows in a row, 3 hours straight each night. It's a better workout than going to the gym! In Atlanta we had the honor of being joined by Denny Walley on slide guitar for "Advance Romance," and between playing with him, Terry Bozzio, and Napoleon Murphy Brock I got to pretend for a minute that I was in the band from Frank's album Bongo Fury. Dweezil made the official announcement on the ZPZ website that we will be recording a few of the shows on this tour with the intention of releasing a DVD, which excites me to no end.

In other Zappa news, the Making Of Freak Out! (MOFO) has been released, in 2 disc and 4 disc versions, and they both have incredibly interesting unreleased tracks that give some insight into Frank's mindset when he was recording that groundbreaking album. And, my name appears in the thank you section of the 4 disc version, thereby letting me say yet another sentence I never thought I would; "My name is on a Frank Zappa album!"