Zapp Band
Part 1
By Kyle Eustice
In 1977, four brothers from Hamilton, Ohio emerged with a fresh funk sound that eventually inspired an entire sub-genre of hip-hop in the '90s. Called Zapp and Roger, brothers Roger, Larry, Terry "Zapp" and Lester Troutman exploded on to the local scene armed with a talk box (vocodor) and one of the meanest stage shows anyone had ever seen. Funk music had already begun to infiltrate American culture thanks to artists like Parliament Funkadelic, James Brown and Kool and the Gang. After playing around the Cincinnati area for many years, they eventually released their debut album, Zapp, in 1980 on Warner Brothers Records. The album yielded the massive hit, "More Bounce to the Ounce" and catapulted them to a whole new level. After Zapp II, III, IV and V, the group kind of disappeared and in 1999, they disbanded altogether after Larry and Roger Troutman's apparent murder-suicide. They eventually bounced back with 2003's Zapp VI and began performing again. To this day, the Zapp Band's live show is unparalleled. At nearly 60-years-old, Terry "Zapp" Troutman hits the road as often as possible. Zapp took some time to talk to RAPstation about the group's influence on hip-hop culture and his brothers' untimely deaths.
You've influenced countless hip-hop artists, in particular the G-Funk era in the '90s. Did you ever think you’d be such an enormous inspiration to so many people?
I don't think I could have imagined doing something in my childhood and later it influencing so many generations after that. You can't even imagine. Look at people on TV and think about people like a superhero. In my generation, it was Superman. I thought, 'Wow, everyone in the world knows Superman and that must feel really, really cool.' Then when you look up and meet guys like Snoop, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang, Too Short, Ice-T, all those guys, and they say 'oh man we love you. We listen to you.' It's amazing. I can't believe it.
How did the Tupac and Dr. Dre song "California Love" happen and was that you being sampled or you actually singing on the track?
"California Love" was not sampled. That was chemistry. That was live action. There was no sampling at all. That was all performed live. It was my beloved brother Roger. That was our guy. He was great. He was responsible for bringing those two cultures together. Roger was such a nice guy. They latched on to him. He was very likable. You know the persona that all rappers are gangsters? Roger saw that wasn't the case. Roger was special. He touched their souls and their hearts. He could play almost anything.
You brought up a very sensitive subject and I wasn't sure if I should approach it or not. When you found out your brothers Larry and Roger were both gone, what was that moment like?
We were shocked. It was devastating. There was no climate. There was no atmosphere. There was no air to breathe. It was really bad and that was 15 years ago. It was interesting. Do you have a sister?
I have a brother and a sister.
Can you imagine waking up one morning and someone calls you on the phone to tell you they're both gone? After living with them, doing music with them and growing up with them, can you imagine that? I remember sitting in our office. We would sit there sometimes and try to sort out some of the business mess we were left with. I remember a DJ calling me from a radio show in LA, NY or Dallas, I can't remember, and he says, 'Lester, how you doing?" I said, 'Man, it's terrible around here.' He started asking me what happened and it turns out he had me on the air the whole time and millions of people were listening. I was like, 'Wow, that is the coldest thing a person could do.' Imagine that. Imagine just trying to answer that question.
I can't imagine. That's a horrible thing to do to somebody.
What's your name?
Kyle.
I want to be on a first name basis. Is this going to be on TV or online?
Just in print.
Good. I can take off my makeup and my wig now [laughs].
[Laughs] Don't do that on my account. Let's discuss the talk box. Were you credited for using it?
People always say we invented it. No, no that's not the case. There were many people who used it before we came on. People had songs with it. Everybody that recorded records with it, with the exception of a song Stevie Wonder made, made it sound garbled. Peter Frampton used it all the time and he was clearly way before Zapp and Roger. There was a song Stevie Wonder wrote for Chaka Kahn, "Tell Me Something Good," that used it. That was way before Zapp and Roger. We loved rock music, Roger and I, this was before Terry started playing with us, and a lot rock guys used it. Joe Walsh used a talk box. A lot of guys experimented with it. When we finally had a chance to get one, Roger took it upon himself, like he did with every instrument, to perfect it. The talk box was a little more challenging so he went and perfected it. So when we did live shows, before we were Zapp in 1980, after the shows we would do songs with the talk box. He learned how to get clarity with it. Finally, when we got a chance to record, we used it. We had a hit with 1975's "Freedom" and at the end of the song we used the talk box. It was a hit in the tri-state area. It sounded like a person singing. So that's what we were credited for. People could clearly understand what he was saying. Roger did it with so much finesse.
Exclusive: Zapp Band - The RAPstation Interview - Part 1
Zapp Band
Part 1
By Kyle Eustice
In 1977, four brothers from Hamilton, Ohio emerged with a fresh funk sound that eventually inspired an entire sub-genre of hip-hop in the '90s. Called Zapp and Roger, brothers Roger, Larry, Terry "Zapp" and Lester Troutman exploded on to the local scene armed with a talk box (vocodor) and one of the meanest stage shows anyone had ever seen. Funk music had already begun to infiltrate American culture thanks to artists like Parliament Funkadelic, James Brown and Kool and the Gang. After playing around the Cincinnati area for many years, they eventually released their debut album, Zapp, in 1980 on Warner Brothers Records. The album yielded the massive hit, "More Bounce to the Ounce" and catapulted them to a whole new level. After Zapp II, III, IV and V, the group kind of disappeared and in 1999, they disbanded altogether after Larry and Roger Troutman's apparent murder-suicide. They eventually bounced back with 2003's Zapp VI and began performing again. To this day, the Zapp Band's live show is unparalleled. At nearly 60-years-old, Terry "Zapp" Troutman hits the road as often as possible. Zapp took some time to talk to RAPstation about the group's influence on hip-hop culture and his brothers' untimely deaths.
You've influenced countless hip-hop artists, in particular the G-Funk era in the '90s. Did you ever think you’d be such an enormous inspiration to so many people?
I don't think I could have imagined doing something in my childhood and later it influencing so many generations after that. You can't even imagine. Look at people on TV and think about people like a superhero. In my generation, it was Superman. I thought, 'Wow, everyone in the world knows Superman and that must feel really, really cool.' Then when you look up and meet guys like Snoop, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang, Too Short, Ice-T, all those guys, and they say 'oh man we love you. We listen to you.' It's amazing. I can't believe it.
How did the Tupac and Dr. Dre song "California Love" happen and was that you being sampled or you actually singing on the track?
"California Love" was not sampled. That was chemistry. That was live action. There was no sampling at all. That was all performed live. It was my beloved brother Roger. That was our guy. He was great. He was responsible for bringing those two cultures together. Roger was such a nice guy. They latched on to him. He was very likable. You know the persona that all rappers are gangsters? Roger saw that wasn't the case. Roger was special. He touched their souls and their hearts. He could play almost anything.
You brought up a very sensitive subject and I wasn't sure if I should approach it or not. When you found out your brothers Larry and Roger were both gone, what was that moment like?
We were shocked. It was devastating. There was no climate. There was no atmosphere. There was no air to breathe. It was really bad and that was 15 years ago. It was interesting. Do you have a sister?
I have a brother and a sister.
Can you imagine waking up one morning and someone calls you on the phone to tell you they're both gone? After living with them, doing music with them and growing up with them, can you imagine that? I remember sitting in our office. We would sit there sometimes and try to sort out some of the business mess we were left with. I remember a DJ calling me from a radio show in LA, NY or Dallas, I can't remember, and he says, 'Lester, how you doing?" I said, 'Man, it's terrible around here.' He started asking me what happened and it turns out he had me on the air the whole time and millions of people were listening. I was like, 'Wow, that is the coldest thing a person could do.' Imagine that. Imagine just trying to answer that question.
I can't imagine. That's a horrible thing to do to somebody.
What's your name?
Kyle.
I want to be on a first name basis. Is this going to be on TV or online?
Just in print.
Good. I can take off my makeup and my wig now [laughs].
[Laughs] Don't do that on my account. Let's discuss the talk box. Were you credited for using it?
People always say we invented it. No, no that's not the case. There were many people who used it before we came on. People had songs with it. Everybody that recorded records with it, with the exception of a song Stevie Wonder made, made it sound garbled. Peter Frampton used it all the time and he was clearly way before Zapp and Roger. There was a song Stevie Wonder wrote for Chaka Kahn, "Tell Me Something Good," that used it. That was way before Zapp and Roger. We loved rock music, Roger and I, this was before Terry started playing with us, and a lot rock guys used it. Joe Walsh used a talk box. A lot of guys experimented with it. When we finally had a chance to get one, Roger took it upon himself, like he did with every instrument, to perfect it. The talk box was a little more challenging so he went and perfected it. So when we did live shows, before we were Zapp in 1980, after the shows we would do songs with the talk box. He learned how to get clarity with it. Finally, when we got a chance to record, we used it. We had a hit with 1975's "Freedom" and at the end of the song we used the talk box. It was a hit in the tri-state area. It sounded like a person singing. So that's what we were credited for. People could clearly understand what he was saying. Roger did it with so much finesse.
