Debut
"Protein"

Artist:	"Protein "
Title:	"Ever Since I Was A Kid"
Label:	Work
Release Date:	2/25/97
Available:	Most Major Music Store
Reviewed By:	Mary Ellen Gustafson
Rating:	4 1/2

Billed as a "left of center guitar rock" band, PROTEIN'S first release is a real mixture of styles, pace changes, strange lyrics and a big sound from just three guys: Josh Zee - Vocals/Guitars, Dan Thompson - Drums and Russ Violet - Bass. According to their bio, after getting kicked out of high school Josh and Dan started playing music together. "I think we were the only fiftee-year-old kids I ever knew in a blues band. We were terrible," says lead singer/guitarist Josh Zee. Dan and Josh were in several rock and blues bands throughout their teens. They lost touch for a few years, and Dan moved to San Francisco. One day he called Josh and told him he'd joined a joke band full of cross-dressers and transsexuals that needed a guitar player. Josh moved in with Dan and joined the band. The two of them realized right away they needed to put a REAL band together, so they got a friend of theirs, Russ Violet, to play bass in their new band PROTEIN.

This album shows the diverse musical background of each member of the band. "The cohesive fiber in our band" explains Josh, "is that we were all full-on metalheads. If you were a metalhead, basically you liked all metal bands, didn't you? It didn't matter if it was "Dio" or "Judas Priest." It wasn't 'til I got out of high school that I could admit I liked bands like "Duran-Duran." While growing up, Josh mostly listened to his dad (a professional musician) play folk music. Dan remember's imitating Buddy Holly when he was very young, but his career in music began with a snare drum in a junior high brass/percussion class where he found he could read time signatures. Russ was given his first guiatar at age 10. When his parents couldn't afford lessons, he got bored and sold it. "I've never met anyone with such a good ear for music who sang so terribly," Josh says of Russ. "But his ear for bass and production make up for his lack of singing!"

The band takes Josh's lyrics and music, and collectively arrages the songs. The result if PROTEIN'S playful, sardonic style is influenced by everything from Hank Williams to Pantera to "Star Wars." The song "My Blood" is the first single release from the album, and the lyrics "Little highways for my big love, Like plastic tracks for my Hot Wheels, Going to you but you don't know it, Gotta let that faucet run . . ." to the tune of some pretty awsome guitar riffs, and an almost "Beatles" sound when Josh sings, should give you an idea of what to expect from this release. There was also a video shot of "My Blood" directed by Clark Eddy.

The cohesive, experimental and excellent musicianship on this album is surprising in such a young band on their first release, but these guys have figured out how to mix effects, melodies, harmonies, instrumentals and lyrics that pack a hell of a punch. There is no doubt there's a lot of talent going on here, and Josh Zee writes excellent music for the rest of the band to work on until it's up to their standards. I found the lyrics put me off somewhat, because they're almost too "creative." I guess I didn't expect a band with this kind of musical talent to be singing ". . .the waitress has fangs in my dream, it's so strange 'cause the waitress is Jesus, it's over my head . . ." (Track #3, "Over My Head") Then there's "Refrigerator," that starts "Got a refrigerator, heavy as can be, and everywhere I go, it goes with me . . ." that also has references to "Darth Vader" stealing a skateboard.

One of the best songs musically, "Maybe I Will," has lyrics that I found a bit disturbing, as I discussed in the interview with Josh below. Example: "A thing that I always wanted to, but I never did, was push someone who's standing at the top of a staircase and I'm laughing and yelling as I watch them fall." and "A thing that I always wanted to, but I never did, was drive my car and turn my wheel to the right going 90, laughing and yelling as my head explodes." with the chorus "Things that I've wanted to do just for fun, things that I've wanted to do but never done, maybe I will."

"Martian Prophet" is a speedy little tune, with some spoken word in the intro, and a sort of 50's type jitterbug style to the music, with some interesting usage of pace change, pauses and a bluesy instrumental bridge. "Duct Tape," is a melodic "love song" with some insightful, if weird, lyrics which I've now come to expect (the lyrics that is). "In Half" is a heavy rockin' tune that shows a whole other side of the band, and then there's "Roadrash," another rocker that showcases the band's talent of switching gears in mid-stream, in style, pace and lyrics. There are also some excellent instrumental solos in this tune.

So, what's the verdict? This album is a kick to listen to, even if some of the subject matter is less than usual - but then that's what sets this band apart. There is no question they're a talented trio, who will forge ahead and push the edge of the envelope in the years to come. To come up with a debut album with this much polish and style is indeed an accomplishment. Overall I liked pretty much everything about this album except maybe some of the lyrics which were, in my opinio, just a tad over the top when everything else about it is so good. That's the reason that kept me from giving it a 5. Still, it's definitely worth checking out, and I don't think these guys will ever end up as "one hit wonders."


Interview With Josh Zee Vocals and Guitarist for PROTEIN Interview Conducted by Mary Ellen Gustafson

AMZ - I've reviewed and interviewed several bands from the Bay area in the last month or two, and it appears that the Bay area is becoming the mecca of the pop/punk sound. Is there a lot of competition among the bands in the area?

JZ - I sort of saw the bay area music scene on the decline. Like when we were first starting out a couple years ago it seemed like there were a lot more bands around and there was a lot more competition then than there is now.

AMZ - It just seems like suddenly San Francisco seems to be the place to be from instead of Seattle.

JZ - I think a lot of those bands might be like East Bay or South Bay bands more than San Francisco. I think San Francisco itself is on a decline in the music scene. A lot of people that aren't from San Francisco tend to lump the Bay area together with it, but it's sort of a separate entity. In my opinion, and the opinion of some of my peers in San Francisco, we feel that the city is waning in terms of the music scene. My experience in San Francisco is that there just aren't as many bands any more. It seems to go in cycles.

AMZ - The musical portion of your album is very sophisticated - deceptively so. If a person wasn't really listening to it they would never recognize the nuances and attention to detail. That's what music is all about in my opinion. How do you come up with these perfect mixtures to accompany the lyrics?

JZ - Just wrestling and editing. Each song is sort of a complicated process that's different every time. A lot of luck and a lot of hard work are involved. Sometimes it takes six months to write a song.

AMZ - Does the music come first?

JZ - Well that's what I'm saying. Every time it's different. Sometimes I have lyrics that I like so much that I want to put music to them, and sometimes I'll have some music and a melody in my head and I'll write the lyrics around that. It's just different every time. Basically you can break a song down into lyrics, melody and music, and they never come in the same order for me.

AMZ - My next question is about the lyrics. From your bio, and the press kit, they're called playful and subversive. Is that how you would describe them?

JZ - Some of them are playful, some of them are comical, some are serious. I don't think they're subversive.

AMZ - How do you come up with such strange ideas for the lyrics? Some of them are very odd.

JZ - Just like songwriting, it's different every time. Some of them come from dreams I've had, some are inspired by movies I've seen, some are lies I've made up about myself, and some are legitimate memories, points of view, opinions and feelings that I've had growing up. So it's a little bit of everything.

AMZ - Did you ever get into writing poetry or short stories?

JZ - Yeah I have tons of books full of poems. Never got into stories, although I like that kind of writing and I appreciate good writing, but I don't think I have the attention span for it.

AMZ - I kind of got the impression that you were a writer of other things besides songs.

JZ - Yeah, I've definitely been in and out of that for many years.

AMZ - Most of the pop/punk I've been hearing in that past few months is either very innocent/innocuos in it's music and subject matter or extremely political, and your band has been lumped into the pop/punk area. To me, you doesn't fall anywhere in that category. The songs somewhat remind me of old stuff from David Bowie - really off the wall but cool at the same time. I mean the overall effect. It's just not run of the mill music. In all the bio info I have here, it says somebody's a Hank Williams fan, somebody's a Judas Priest fan, but it emphasized there were a lot of musical influences in your life before you formed the band. Is that because you've pulled your influences from so many different types of music?

JZ - Yeah, that's definitely true. You could atrribute it to that. I steal from so many different people it ends up sounding different somehow.

AMZ - The song "Things That I've Wanted To Do" is one of the best musically on the album in my opinion, but the lyrics are more than a little disturbing. Do you ever wonder if some kid is going to get really into it and go do something crazy?

JZ - I wonder about that with other bands and movies, so I understand that is a possibility, but I feel that those kind of people are sheep and there's nothing that can be done to stop them. If it's not us that they're taking a bad example from it will be something else. They'll find a way to ruin their lives. I think it's inherent in someone if they're going to ruin their lives or be a bad person. If they don't get it from you they'll get it from someone else.

AMZ - So in other words, it's not up to you to protect the people that are listening to your music because you're just expressing yourself. You're an artist, and if they're going to do something wacko they're gonna do it anyway.

JZ - Yeah, exactly. It's not up to me to protect them, because these are people who, no matter what, will find a way to destroy themselves.

AMZ - I can understand your point of view, but at the same time I sometimes wonder when lyrics are semi-dangerous, and some kids are easily influenced, if the artists worry about that. Do they think "Should I do this or not because maybe some kid's gonna go get hurt or killed?" The lyrics in "Things I've Always Wanted To Do" made me want to ask that question.

JZ - The world's gone so far now, there's so many thousands of ways that you can destroy yourself, that one song or one movie is not gonna make a difference any more. I can't offer any hope for those kind of people or that problem.

AMZ - I know you just started touring again. How long is this one, where is taking you and are you the headliners?

JZ - It's sort of different in every city. Our other tours, up until now, have been with a specific headliner and it's been the same every night. But this tour we're kinda picking up different shows from city to city. Basically it goes from California pretty much straight through the country to the east coast and then we go home through the south.

AMZ - Are you heading for Europe in the near future?

JZ - No, we're not going to Europe on this tour, but we hope to soon.

AMZ - Is there a single out already, and if not which song will it be?

JZ - The first single, "My Blood" has been released to radio and it's getting played in certain spots around the nation already.

AMZ - Any plans for a video?

JZ - We made a video for "My Blood" already, but MTV doesn't play videos unless you've got a nationwide radio head.

AMZ - What do you like to do in what little spare time you have?

JZ - Collectively, in our band, our hobbies are gambling and bowling and golf. We try to hit every Indian Reservation Casino on the road while we're touring.

AMZ - Well, that's a heck of a hobby! Good luck with the new record and your tour!

PROTEIN Tour Schedule

3/11/97	Wilkes-Barre, PA	Market St. Square
3/12/97	Baltimore, MD	8 X 10
3/14/97	Atlanta, GA	Cotton Club
3/15/97	New Orleans, LA	Howling Wolf
3/16/97	Houston, TX	Urban Art Bar
3/18/97	Dallas, TX	The Galaxy
3/19/97	Austin, TX	Emo's
3/22/97	Phoenix, AZ	Nita's Hideawaz
3/23/97	San Diego, CA	Casbah
3/25/97	Los Angeles, CA	Dragonfly

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