In 2017 drummer, composer and painter Terry Bozzio – who’s just been named as the new drummer in King Crimson side-project Beat – looked back on a his life and times with Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and UK, and said his 2010 collaboration with Allan Holdsworth, Beat’s Tony Levin and Crimson’s Pat Mastelotto was one of his greatest experiences.
You’d had quite a lot of experience before your audition for Frank Zappa. But was it still daunting?
It was amazing! He said he wanted to hear me after he’d heard the rest of the guys, and nobody wanted to audition after me. He said, “It looks like you’ve got the gig if you want it.” My words were, “Are you sure I can do this?” He said, “Do you want to do it?” I said, “Yeah!” I wasn’t sure if I was heavy enough to work with his guys – he told me that if I was willing to work hard I could do it. So like a good father, he took me in.
I came to him so naive. Every negative thing he said about the music business or politics I almost refused to believe because I couldn’t go there – I couldn’t lose hope, you know what I mean?
But everything he said has come to pass. Everything he ever said, as cynical as it was, was true. He was really one of these guys who was like an arrow. He could cut through anything, get right to the heart of it and sum it up in the most succinct way.
How did you come to leave Zappa’s band?
I’d been playing with Patrick O’Hearn, Mark Isham and Pete Maunu as Group 87 and we’d been to audition for a deal at CBS. I was late for rehearsals with Frank because of it. He sensed what had happened.
We started playing something but he felt that I didn’t have the heart for it any more. He said, “Bozzio, step into my office.” We went behind the little riser in the rehearsal studio and he said, “I think it’s time to go out and do your own thing.” And once again, I said, “Are you sure I can do this?” Like a good father he kicked me out of the nest.
What’s the thing you regret the most about that period with Zappa?
That I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t want to show my ignorance. Many times he used words I didn’t understand and I’d just laugh because I didn’t want to appear stupid. I wish I’d asked what the words meant. Stuff like that.
But I was young and just happy to be there, going through all the rock’n’roll, groupie bullshit. Nobody can tell you how to handle success. When it comes you’re on your own, and you just get swept along with whatever’s happening. Later, you learn through experience that it may not have been the best way to do this or that.
What was the transition from Frank Zappa to UK like?
It was painful. It was depressing. I did the Group 87 record, but as a sideman – looking at the record contract was really shocking so I’d decided not to sign. A year later I think I had an audition for Thin Lizzy that didn’t come together. I’m not a drink-fight-and-fuck kind of guy. Gary Moore wanted me and we got on great, but I was not in that same headspace as the rest of those guys. So it was the right thing.
Allan Holdsworth was playing his ass off! He’s a complete master of guitar. He’s taken it places that nobody else has
Eddie Jobson talked to me about [departing members] Bill Bruford and Allan Holdsworth wanting to be more jazz, whereas John Wetton and he wanted to go more rock. So I started in UK in ’78. That was a tough transition. I was still just a sideman; I didn’t want to sign another contract where the company owns everything into perpetuity.
Eddie and John made all the decisions, and there’s always that Upstairs, Downstairs thing when you deal with the English! Eddie and I just cannot see eye to eye. He looks at it like a corporation and he’s the CEO, and I don’t feel I’m respected as somebody who contributed to what they are, and even what they can be today. I have much respect for Eddie as a composer and a musician; but as people, we have two different ideas about how things should be.
Out of all your varied bands and projects over the years, what stands out for you?
My stint with Allan Holdsworth, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto in 2010 under the name HoBoLeMa was one of the best experiences I ever had. I regard that band as incredibly important. Allan was playing his ass off! He’s a complete master of that instrument and he’s taken it places that nobody else has.
It’s a tough environment for musicians to make a living. How do you stay optimistic?
With my work. I release my music and my art on my website, so now I can sell directly to the public. I’ve been very, very lucky and I’m grateful to have had the life experience I’ve had. I’ve never had to have a day job. I’ve been lucky to just survive and learn and try to grow from all the experiences I’ve had. I’m very blessed to have had many brushes with greatness.
