An interview with Zaine from Long Beach based punk band “Wacko”

Ikaika: Where does the name Wacko come from?

Zaine: I used to sing in another punk band a few years ago called “Inzaine”. It was this fast heavy punk band. Inzaine kinda got pretty big for being a side band, and I had a lot of fun with that. Then, that band broke up, and years later I was like “Shit, I wanna be in another band like Inzaine”. I was like “I should name it something that kind of is in the same realm of Inzaine... Inzaine is a play on insane so…Wacko.”

I: How do you think Long Beach has influenced your music?

Z: I would say for me personally, all my biggest influences have always been the artists and musicians around me. Long Beach has affected me in the way of which I’m only out here to make art.

I: Who are you influenced by?

Z: Every single person that I’ve ever been in a band with: Luke (bassist), Alan (drummer), and even though she doesn’t jam with us anymore, Gartex (ex-guitarist). The world hasn’t realized it yet, but those are our future Picassos. Most people only kinda see what we do at shows or what we record, but I get to see the art they make in their every day. From the way they talk to the art they make, to the way they think. I’m surrounded by people who are so good at their craft. That’s usually what I tell everybody who asks for my inspiration. My brain doesn’t have the capacity to take more inspiration than the artists around me. When I was 13-14, first getting into punk shit, my biggest inspirations that definitely still affect my art, music-wise, are the Dead Kennedys and Crass. They took their art far enough to get fucked with by the government.

I: What are you inspired to make music about? You touched on politics a bit, but can you elaborate?

Z: Yeah. Initially, in Inzaine, I wrote crazy, stupid, funny lyrics that were catchy, but about stupid stuff like smoking weed. Ignorant shit. This time in this band I didn’t wanna sing about stupid shit. Especially now. There’s so much to talk shit on and be mad at in the world. Punk music is and should be thriving right now because of the shitty state of everything. I personally have enough lyrical content for the next five lifetimes. Maybe when we start living in a utopia I can start writing about stupid shit again.

I: What does punk mean to you? Is it just music? How does it go beyond that to you personally?

Z: That's a cool question. I guess it probably means a bunch of different shit to a bunch of different people. Personally, it should be a rebellious statement against the typical two-car driveway, suburban home, American dream. There’s a lot of shit to be mad at. It’s the representation of the opposition to societal norms. A lot of punks see societal norms as a surrounding evil. Punk shit to me, not only is it cool, not only is it fun, but it’s important. I got this new art piece collage I’m working on that’s gonna have Luke’s (bassist) hand and he’s gonna be lighting a lighter and he’s gonna be wearing a cool glove and on the glove it says “This punk shit is important.”

I: There’s a lot going on right now. Politics wise, human rights wise, and also the pandemic. How do you think that’s gonna affect the punk scene in the future? Where do you think it’s gonna go from here?

Z: Who knows! Thank god we’re already halfway through 2020. Who knows what’ll happen next, who knows when it’ll be done with. The pandemic has a direct influence on everything. From our little stupid punk shows to big money people. It’s affecting literally everything. I think about that question all the time. I think it’s easy to say how it’s affected the punk scene. Kids can’t go to shows anymore, kids are going crazy. I don’t doubt that when it’s safe to hit the mosh pit again that shows won’t be popping off as hard. A big thing people will have to focus on is venues. Who knows where venues will be at the point of reopening. Who knows where these businesses will even be and if they’ll be able to financially support these stupid little punk shows. People may have to get creative again.

I: When I looked you guys up, one of the things that came up the most was the Denny's thing. Do you wanna talk about that?

Z: This kid hit us up to play in a Denny’s and we said yeah. I made the flyers, and it was funny because it was the first show he’d ever thrown. He was 17 years old and didn’t understand that so many kids would show up. There was a 50 person capacity and 250 kids showed up. But gosh, that was a whole lot of fun. The whole night seems like how a dream would feel like. Memories of it are very fleeting. Gartex said it was like a fever dream. It was like a dream you have when you’re sick that’s like, out of the world you know? It was a great thing that happened and it took our musical careers to the next level. Who knew, all we had to do was play a show at a Denny’s and then all these opportunities would come. I would’ve done it a long time ago if I knew that.

I: What opportunities came from that experience?

Z: Just you know, the kind of opportunities that come with going viral. It was extra cool because we went viral for playing music. The kind of opportunities that came at us were people hollering at us to be our managers. We found these two really cool dudes to manage us. I wonder if they’ve ever dealt with musicians that are crazier than me, Alan and Luke. I know we’re a huge headache for them. But yeah, bigger show opportunities. 2020 was supposed to be our year. We were gonna go on two/three tours. We were gonna go up to Canada, then across to New York and then we were gonna try and hit Japan. We had the money to do it just from selling merch and playing shows, but then Coronavirus came and everything fucking stopped. A lot of the opportunities kind of ceased for now, but we have cool managers that are looking out for us. Casey and Pergo shoutout.

I: What guitar do you play?

Z: That’s a sick question and I’m glad you asked that! I get so excited when people ask me this because it's my total little kid dream come true. Lily Strets is the girl that I play with in the other punk band Meow Twins. Her dad is the bassist of JFA which is still one of my most favorite 80’s punk bands ever. I’ve known Lily and her dad since I was really little, and her dad also makes guitars. He told me to draw the shape of any guitar I want and to pick a color and then he’d make it for me. He built me that guitar over the course of a year. I’ve played shitty guitars my whole life and all of a sudden I’m given the best, most priceless guitar. It sounds absolutely amazing to me. He put their last name on the top, so on the head it says “Strets”. Then I told him to put my initials on it so people would know it’s my guitar, but he didn’t do that, he just put one of my tattoos on it. It’s so sick he engraved it in marble. It’s the sickest guitar ever pretty much.

I: Cool! I think we’re about to run out of time, so is there anything else? Any last thoughts?

Z: I know that when I first got into the punk scene when I was 14, it was one of the most powerful moments of my life. Being a part of a cool music scene that's out of the norm is powerful. It was one of the influential moments of my entire life. Having Wacko kind of blow up and seeing a lot of the kids at our shows makes me nostalgic. I used to go to shows when I was their age, and see bands that were my age. If there’s any last thing to say, I guess that it’s for the kids that come to our shows. A lot of them seem to be as lost or confused as I was at that age, and that seems to be very normal, growing up different in this fucked up world. I just wanna say power to the kids out there. Make the best art you can, have fun, and take care of yourself and the people around you. Those are my final words.

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