Inside the Musical Mind of Zach Gill
Ticket holders line the Santa Barbara sidewalk, blanketed by a cool salt breeze. Snappy piano music beckons from inside the historic building like a hot drink in winter. The notes are quiet at first but grow more pronounced with each step. Inquiring minds need to know. A flyer, damp now from the ocean air, taped to the Lobero Theatre door advertises:
Celebrating 150 Years
Jack Johnson and hometown hero, Zach Gill
Live Tonight!
doors open at 7pm
The crowd grows larger with every pitch. You find your red velvet covered seat, settling in for the show. House lights dim, stage lights focus and a baby grand piano anchors the production. Only his back, arched artfully over the keys, is visible at first. Bringing long musician fingers up into a single wave, he stares directly into the sea of faces with a comfortable smile. The show begins.
“A couple years back, I played the Lobero Theater, one of the oldest theaters in California. Jack did a benefit thing there, and I was the opening act, doing it solo. Midway through, all the power went out,” Zach Gill tells me with a sparkle in his eyes. Considered a master improviser by those who know him well, what happened next was natural. “I just kept playing, then all of a sudden people held up their phones with the flashlights on. So I went to the edge of the stage and played my accordion. Eventually, Jack joined. The audience stayed in the dark, and it was quiet enough that we did the whole thing like a campfire. That was an amazing show.”
Zach settles into easy conversation with me from his home studio in Southern California. I first saw him play live weeks ago at the Jack Johnson SURFILMUSIC concert in Berkeley. Iconic pillars of the Greek Theatre framed the musicians but appeared subdued with such renowned performers beneath. Jack Johnson, a household name, led seamlessly with calm familiarity. In contrast, Zach lit up the night with dynamic musicality and seemingly endless energy. Where did this natural born performer get his start?
“I’ve been playing since the 3rd grade and come from a family of performers. My band ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) started in junior high. Back then we were called 1% Away, and then in high school we became Django,” he explains. The group all began attending college at University of California, Santa Barbara, and eventually crossed paths with Jack. “In 1993, being a band in Isla Vista was pretty fun, and we already had 60 cover songs, and a whole bunch of originals. Jack's band, Soil, kind of disbanded and they moved their gear into our garage where we practiced.”
Both intrinsic songwriters, Jack and Zach became close friends and collaborators. “We got into the four-track, and would get together and make weird little recordings. We’d show each other our songs and see what the other thought. Honestly, the seeds of what we do today were all there.”
Those garage jam sessions and college parties led to bigger venues, separate ensembles, and multiple albums. Simultaneously, Zach’s band, ALO was gaining steam booking shows every week around the Bay Area.
“Dave, our drummer at the time, had a connection with James Brown and was going to audition with his group in Augusta, Georgia. We decided to all go, book shows along the way, and see what would happen.” They sent their demo tape out as Django and lived in Georgia for 2 months, writing music and gaining notoriety with every concert. “We actually got pretty good and suddenly were playing multiple nights every weekend. Eventually, we did meet James Brown and got his blessing, but he told us to go back to school because we were all about to drop out. So we did.”
After that, the group decided to retire the band name, Django. They changed it half a dozen more times until a friend who was quite an “eccentric character” told the band he had a dream right as the troupe had decided to add a five-piece horn section. In this dream, they played with John Lennon and wrote a song together called Animal Liberation. The Animal Liberation Orchestra and the Free Range Horns was officially born and their fan base continued to grow. Local Santa Barbara venues like Giovanni’s Pizza became crowded and overflowing during their shows. “People were climbing in the windows, and we were like, whoa, this band is doing way better than our other bands.”
Around the year 2000, Zach’s first daughter was born, changing the trajectory of his career. While Jack went on to make surf films, Zach found himself diving into an entirely new venture teaching music at a private school, playing for a community theater in Marin County, and becoming a dad.
As Jack’s career took off, he and Zach stayed close friends. “He’d come back from surf trips with these songs. Suddenly labels were interested. He started inviting me to come sit in to sing, or play accordion, at The Fillmore and The Greek Theatre. During a small tour when his second album dropped, he invited me to join. I was late. I had been playing for The Wizard of Oz, and had to drive from Marin to San Francisco. He called my name onstage, and I'm, like, running, and just barely made it in time.”
Around 2002, Zach’s band was on hiatus and an intuitive feeling overcame him. What would life look like if he decided to really take things seriously with Jack? Whether it was magic, destiny or both, stars aligned (literally) and the rest is history. They have been collaborating as bandmates ever since, even sharing the same birthday.
From Saturday Night Live to iconic venues like Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks and The Gorge, the two musicians have performed all over the world together. Most recently, they completed the North American Leg of SURFILMUSIC – 43 shows from June to October.
“At the last show at the Hollywood Bowl, it started to rain right when Jack sang the opening lines of Banana Pancakes. The crowd went wild. I took my accordion and there was this catwalk that cruised into the audience, and I was out there swirling around in the rain playing. I was just so stoked. It was a really joyful moment, I think, for everybody,” he smiles.
Leaning back and readjusting funky, cool 70’s frames to sit higher on his face, Zach appears as invigorated by our conversation as I am. “So, what’s next for you?” I inquire.
Since January of this year, he’s been releasing a song of the month – all home recordings – that will be winding down soon. After the band finishes the European leg of SURFILMMUSIC, he’s eager to get back into the studio. Perhaps a solo piano album awaits. He’s not certain but the urge to create remains strong. He muses, “I think that's the goal with passion projects. Can they become self-sustaining of their own momentum? Where there's enough people in the world, on a relational level, who are excited about it. But I think the big magic trick is a lot of repetition.”
Whether it’s experimenting with odd sound makers, clay creation, new recipes, water coloring, or writing vibey music he calls Cocktail Yoga, it’s all done with an inquisitive nature. When he’s not touring, Zach plans to soak up normal life with his family. Beach walks, running errands, and mundane chores become that much sweeter when you’re away from home.
“More than anything, I'm realizing, Alyssa, it's so fun to just have another thing cooking. As one thing is winding down, you've got to have the next thing that you're excited about. It’s that spark and fire thing. The momentum starts to feed,” he ends. I nod in heartfelt agreement. Wherever that movement takes him, we’ll be watching. To quote Zach himself, “All endings are also beginnings.”
Follow along with Zach’s zany adventures on Instagram and sample more musical flavor on zachgill.com
