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By Chris Newton
What makes a musician successful? Some would say fame, fortune, record and ticket sales, popularity, or general stardom, but those people are probably not musicians. All of those things lead one to believe that there is an endpoint, or a definable pinnacle that all musicians set their sights to, and once a musician reaches that endpoint, they are successful. Real musicians have no endpoint; they understand that music and its encompassing possibilities are infinite. Pinnacles occur, but they are rarely planned or expected and often are not realized as pinnacles until much later.
Steve Kimock :: By Tobin Poppenberg |
Most musicians, especially younger ones, will say that success is simply being able to call your relationship with music a "career," that if you can go out and play your instrument in front of people who pay enough money to enable you to eat, put clothes on your back, and buy new gear, you have become successful. This attitude has become both a blessing and a curse for people striving to become career musicians. On the one hand, this pure love and dedication for music drives the creativity and passion of a musician to brilliance. On the other hand, club owners and other industry villains are aware that musicians have always been revolutionary and non-conforming, and most will play for next to nothing just to maintain their artistic integrity.
Steve Kimock is a successful musician. For the past two and a half decades, he has earned a living wowing all kinds of audiences with his extraordinary guitar abilities. Truly a Renaissance man, Kimock's guitar prowess has been heard in dozens of bands and special guest appearances, and he has embraced music (or has music embraced him?) in every aspect, from building his own amps and indulging in gear technology, to teaching his son the ins and outs of the music industry, to compiling ideas to put out an outside-the-box instructional book sometime in the near future. This man lives and breathes music, and his carefully spoken, thoughtful responses emphasize his enthusiasm and respect for this ancient form of artistic creative expression.
Zero :: 03.11.06 :: Denver, CO :: By Tony Stack |
Recently, Kimock organized the reunion of Zero for a three-night run in Denver. The shows were successful and rewarding, and the band is gearing up for festival season, beginning with next month's Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, CA, followed by High Sierra, Oregon Country Fair, Gathering of the Vibes in New York state, and Jam Cruise 5 early next year.
Zero began in the mid-80s when Kimock and drummer Greg Anton teamed up in an old horse barn in Marin County near the Bay Area in San Francisco. Kimock and Anton have always been the backbone of the lineup, which has changed numerous times over the years but remained true to its family roots, always drawing from the same pool of players. But after about 15 years, several albums and tours, Kimock and his band mates felt other projects pulling them in different directions.
Steve Kimock & Rodney Holmes |
"I'd been playing in Zero for my entire adult life," Kimock explains, "and I got to a place in my life where I needed to do things differently." Kimock took the opportunity to stretch his guitar virtuosity into several projects, including several tours with Phil & Friends, the Other Ones, and the formation of Steve Kimock Band, whose lineup also rotates from time to time.
Recently Kimock has been everywhere, playing not only with SKB, but also with New Monsoon, PBS, Rhythm Devils, Banyan and others. As his role varies from project to project, Kimock approaches playing in all these unique styles and with dozens of different musicians from a philosophical perspective. "A band isn't running on autopilot. Everybody is listening and contributing in a very heads-up way. If you can listen and let the music push you as your guide, you can get to a place you know you've never been before. And when a band realizes that and shares this sense of discovery, that is the golden moment of the thing. A shared moment of consciousness with the band and the audience – that's what I'm going for." By immersing himself and his playing into all these projects, Kimock definitely leaves his mark – literally: "The New Monsoon thing [in mid-May] was a riot – I get to pee in their pool again at Harmony."
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A shared moment of consciousness with the band and the audience – that's what I'm going for.
-Steve Kimock
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Steve Kimock by Jennifer Brunner
Kimock is clearly an advocate for reaching out to and absorbing all types of musical experiences. "It's one of those things you have to do as a musician to keep that perspective," Kimock states, speaking about playing in several different bands and projects. "You have to collaborate with people, go through that learning curve, take direction and give direction – all of that is part of the package. Musicians need balance in their musical life – it's a fantastic thing to have." Kimock understands that the best way to learn and grow is to play with other people, to share creative experiences, ideas, and knowledge about music, art, or anything else in life. All of those experiences stay with you and contribute to future endeavors, whether they are new projects or old ones revisited, like the recent Zero reunion this past March.
Kimock & Donna Jean (Zero) |
"A Denver promoter called and asked for a Zero gig," Kimock explains. "I didn't think it was possible at first, but it wasn't that difficult to get through to make it happen – everybody was into it. It was kind of Blues Brothers style." Kimock also credits Zero's "unbelievably loyal fan base" for the reunion, appropriately called the Chance in a Million Reunion.
The lineup this time around consisted of Kimock, Anton, Martin Fierro (sax), Liam Hanrahan (bass), Pete Sears (keys), Judge Murphy (vocals), and special guests Donna Jean Godchaux -Mackay (vocals), Arnie Green (vocals, guitar), and Steve's son John Morgan Kimock on drums.
For the Zero reunion, the vibe was positive all around. "Sometimes when a band stops working, the sting of it lingers," Kimock says. "But you just have to get your ass on stage. For me, and I think for everyone else, I remembered all the good things." Kimock remains positive and open-minded about the future of Zero, declaring,
"The lineup is not fixed, and the future [of Zero] is every bit as kaleidoscopic in its personnel as its past has been," Kimock explains. True to his word, Chip Roland will likely replace Pete Sears on keys at the Harmony Festival. "We are working with a pool of players, a Zero family tree."
Steve Kimock :: By Tobin Voggesser |
A family tree indeed, one that now extends to Steve's son, John Morgan Kimock. "We work on stuff that's off the page, like attitudes he'll need to have to deal with people in the business," Kimock says about playing with his son. And while the elder Kimock is no rookie to the road, he expresses concern for musicians his son's age who want to tour. "With gas prices and the economy, it's almost at the end of an era. To put a bunch of guys in a car and play everywhere until people know who they are – that's very difficult to do these days. Kids, it's not getting any easier."
The upcoming Harmony Festival will be a homecoming of sorts for Kimock and Zero. An East Coast native who recently moved back to Pennsylvania with his family, Kimock loves to return to the West Coast, where he lived for twenty-plus years, and revisit his old stomping grounds. "Anytime I get to go back to the Bay area, it feels like a homecoming. Harmony has always been such a local thing for me, for a long time I lived twenty minutes away from it." When asked to give advice to the festivalgoers who have never seen Zero before, Kimock exclaimed, "Wear a belt!"
Steve Kimock :: By Jake Krolick |
The Harmony Festival itself is a very progressive, eco-friendly festival and delivers a positive message through music, arts, ecology, and healthful living. Judging from the lineup, the surroundings, and the overall significance of the festival, this year's attendees will certainly not be disappointed.
The motivation to play and to experience music comes from many different sources. Some of these sources, like the desire to be wealthy, usually blind musicians from the true beauty of the craft and corrupt the creative art form into a money-hungry business machine. Other sources of motivation are often unexplainable; the musician simply plays music because he has to and understands on some level that by expressing creativity and emotion through music, the musician contributes positive and creative energy to the whole of existence, and that energy travels to other people's ears and inspires them to do the same. Perhaps the latter is the definition of a successful musician.
While discussing the future of his career, Kimock mentions putting out a music book. "I have been putting material together to write a music book by year's end, which will contain some alternative thinking on instructional material, some philosophical aspects, and when it gets out there, it will piss off some traditionalists!" Let's keep our fingers crossed. We'd all love to hear the secrets of his success.
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