Zeno Tornado and The Boney Google Brothers :
Swiss Downtown Cowboys!

By Jens

I'm a huge fan of American roots music, be it Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Dillards or Legendary Shack Shakers. It just has a true honest feel to it like any good soul or blues record. Not many Europeans can master the craft but sensational Swiss bluegrass rocker Zeno Tornado is about to change that. Armed with a guitar, a voice so southern fried you'd believe he was born and raised in Hicksville, Alabama, and a bunch of rude fun songs about sex, drugs and madness, Mr. Tornado is one of the most unique and unlikely rising stars of Europe's music scene. So of course I contacted him to tell me the whole story behind his hillbilly project. Other partners in crime are The Boney Google Brothers which include Satch Google (banjo, madolin, lap steel), Manic Google (fiddle), Magot Google (stand up bass) and drummer Swan Lee (no relation to the Danish pop band).

LC: Bluegrass C&W and Switzerland? So it's not all cheese, clocks and Celtic Frost metal?

Zeno: Well we got all these cows here and lot's of farms and hillbillies, although we're not really in this kind of scene. We're more the downtown cowboys.

LC: Voodoo Rhythm Records and Beat Man have in my opinion moved the spotlight away from London, yeah, even Sweden, aren't you proud to be a part of this rootsy revolution? The label is kind of an Euro version of the American Bloodshot Records...

Zeno: I couldn't imagine being on a better label than Voodoorhythm, 'cause people know, you love it or you hate it. and most of the folks who love it can be sure that they like all of the VR Bands. it's a name that guarantees.

LC: You started in a hardcore punkband called B.U.R.P., what made you interested in doing Southern country and folk music? I'd imagine that Sun rockabilly artists and people like Hank Williams Sr. and Merle Travis are important inspirations?

Zeno: I started listening to country music when I was very broken hearted, with a gun in my hand. By the time I was ready to pull the trigger, I realised that I just made a song, so I put that gun away and took my guitar. Country is a straight-from-the-heart thing that's what I really like about it, and with these nice dirty texts over it, it becomes very interesting. Also our man from the studio says we're doing countrypunk. The folks I listen to are: Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Hank III, Shell Silverstein, Doc Watson, Kinky Friedman...

LC: You dig Kinky Friedman? I'm a huge fan of his absurd crime novels as well as his hilarious C&W records…

Zeno: Kinky is great!! First I started with reading the books of Kinky Friedman and I liked them a lot, about five books I ate. "Roadkill" (about a murder plot against Kinky's good friend Willie Nelson, ed.) is the best I think, then I started to get into the music. I love "Men's Room, L.A.", this one is very funny: A guy on the toilet with no paper and the only thing there is to wipe his ass is a picture of Jesus. I also like "Wild Man From Borneo" and "Asshole From El Paso".

LC: It's must be a lot easier to be able to do acoustic sets at bars than having to rely on Marshall stacks and more or less sober soundmen at rockclubs?

Zeno: Travelling is a lot easier, without them big amps and stuff with the soundmen it's a bit difficult because they're not used to violins, banjo and mandolin.

LC: Where did you get the Google Brothers from?

Zeno: I met The Boney Google Brothers at a concert in the famous Zaffaraya in Berne, and when we met we knew that we had to do something, with their great musical talents and my lyrics it just fit altogether. The BGB are also from Berne, they played in metal and hippiemetal bands before they got into Irish folk, and from Irish folk to bluegrass C&W, it's not a too big step.

LC: How long did it take to record "Dirty Dope Infected Blue Grass Hillbilly Hobo XXX Country Music"? The album has a very loose, lively and spontaneous vibe to it...

Zeno: We had two recording and two mixing days, it was incredible how fast we could work in the Startrack studio, it was just the right moment and the right folks to work with. We're on our new album right now, and it takes way more time than the first one.

LC: What are songs like "Road Movie" and "Vanbang" about? Your lyrics are a bit, eh, ruder than usual C&W, haha.

Zeno: "Road Movie" is about the last journey of a real fucked up guy who wants to leave this sad world with a big bang. "Vanbang" is, eh, about, eh, real hardcore sex-partys everyone is dreaming of but won't talk about. That's also a difference to them mainstream country folks, we say what we think and the way we live we have seen lot's of things.

LC: Isabelle Hell sings on "Vanbang" and "Blah Blah Baby", she's got an excellent voice, where did you find her? Is she a permanent member of the band or a 'guest musician'?

Zeno: Mrs. Hell comes from Germany but she lives in Switzerland now and has several bands, Doubledown or Fight Club for example, and I'm not gonna tell you how we met, she was part of our crew for the recording sessions and sometimes we play together...

LC: What'd Willie Nelson think of your version of "Highway Man", would he kick back and light up a reefer and get down to it?

Zeno: There 's a fault on our record, "Highway Man" was originally written by Charlie Pride, a black country musician. But I believe he would do so. Since a long time we want to send our music to some country folks. So if Mr. Nelson has our record we probably smoke together one day.

LC: What do you think of new rootsrockers like Legendary Shack Shakers, Asylum Street Spankers, Meat Purveyors, Sadies, Big Sandy and The Inbreds? Have you heard Powersolo of Denmark?

Zeno: Haven't heard of any one of them, but I will hang an ear in it and maybe steal some songs.

LC: What do 'mainstream' country fans think of the band? I've previously interviewed Cowslingers and Legendary Shack Shakers, and they said there's no way in hell that Nashville C&W radio stations would play'em...

Zeno: Nashville must be hell: a bunch of money-addicted backstabbers who are not in it for the music but for the gold. Lot's of Swiss country fans don't seem to understand English very well, so they like what they hear, if they would understand, we'd probably would be running out of the clubs without our pants. We also don't have anything to do with the Swiss country people, we more likely do our shows in undergound clubs in the big cities. Also in bluegrass you are not allowed to have a drum or any electric instruments on stage. Let squares be squares!

LC: What song did you wish you had wrote and why?

Zeno: Do you know "Freaking at the Freakers Ball" from Shel Silverstein, it's a wild song about weird people doing a wicked party...

LC: Ambitions and plans for the future?

Zeno: As I mentioned before, we're just finishing our new album which will be coming out early next year I hope, then we gonna do a European tour in late spring or early summer. And besides that we're doing shows in Switzerland.

http://www.zenotornado.com