Zach Gill is keeping busy this summer touring internationally with two new albums from two bands. While Gill and his band ALO are not yet household names, Jack Johnson is one of the most recognizable singer-songwriters of the decade.
Bridging the gap between rock and jam band, Gill and his band mates in ALO began playing together Saratoga High School. Gill first met Johnson when the two were attending college at University of California, Santa Barbara.
“We were in rival bands, then we ended the rivalry and eventually started playing together,” Gill said. “I moved up to the Bay area to do stuff with ALO, and he stayed in Santa Barbara and did gigs in L.A. Years later he was really popular. He picked ALO up on his label and eventually I joined his band. It all kind of happened gradually.”
ALO re-released their first album “Fly Between Falls” on Johnson’s Brushfire Records in 2006 and recorded “Roses & Clover” in 2007 after opening for Johnson across Europe in 2005.
“He had a trio for the longest time,” Gill said. “The first time I ever sat in was at the end of the night on accordion. It was a pretty good vibe. Then it was ‘why don’t you come out and play piano on a couple songs and we’ll see how that works.’ At first it was just going to be a couple songs, then it was a few more, then all of a sudden it was the whole night. I don’t think he had in mind that I’d become a member of the band.”
Gill became a member of the band on Johnson’s “In Between Dreams” playing piano, accordion and melodica.
“That was my first tour,” Gill said. “I was still the new guy. It was a pretty good time to come on board. I skipped a lot of the mini-van touring. My first gig was Saturday Night Live when David Spade was the host.”
The biggest adjustment for Gill was the size of crowds at Johnson’s shows and the adjustments required musically.
“When I first started playing in Jack’s band, it was a whole new experience to play for crowds that big,” Gill said. “ALO is a band that does well in the small clubs. We just have that kind of energy. I had no idea it would sound so different on the stage. Being in a small room you feed off the room itself. You hear and see so much of the crowd. Then you’re standing on a big stage and you hear a lot of the echo coming back to you.”
Johnson has the blessing and curse of his voice sounding nearly identical from album to stage. Adding Gill’s piano accompaniment and backup vocals provided a new dynamic to the live performances and Johnson’s last three studio releases.
“There was a little bit of piano on Jack’s album before I joined the band; It wasn’t a totally foreign sound,” Gill said. “But any time you incorporate a fourth member in, it changes. I sing a lot of harmonies live. We’ve discovered a lot of things live, then when we’ve gone to the studio we’ve incorporated those things in.”
Many of those discoveries can be heard on Johnson’s latest release “To the Sea.” Johnson has influenced Gill’s band as well, producing “Man of the World,” ALO’s third studio album.
“It feels fresh and is some of my favorite music to play with ALO,” Gill said. “It got me pumped because the whole process of making it was different than our other albums. In previous albums the instruments would be isolated. This time we were all in a room together. It felt more musical and playful. It ended up being a lot more fun. Everybody is excited to go back into the studio again.”
Gill prefers the passion and imperfection of recording as a group rather than recording parts individually in the studio. “What is perfect, and what is everybody’s goal? Is it to get the perfect drum take or is it to serve the recording? When you don’t have the luxury of overdubbing, you get into a cool place where there’s a little bit of an edge. You know if you go too far you might blow it for everybody else, but your instinct is to go for it. You get into a nice zone.”
Gill’s instinct to “go for it” extends to the stage, where his number one goal is to appease the crowd.
“ALO is always caught between trying to keep the party going and getting introspective on ourselves,” he said. “Every album is a blend of those two things. When playing in front of a bunch of people, my instinct goes toward a celebration. There are all these songs that never end up getting played because you tend to gravitate toward the up-tempo ones.”
Tempo is not the only issue determining Gill’s song selection. He finds some material too inappropriate for such a large audience.
“At the time you write them they seem appropriate,” Gill said. “Some songs make you feel weird when you play them even though you kind of like them. It’s like South Park. Sometimes you watch an episode and it’s really biting satire. It’s really true but really harsh, and I just really don’t want to go there with the music. I have a song about a nudist colony. It’s pretty good, but it’s easily misconceived.”
Gill was able to incorporate his songwriting in a more family-appropriate manor when he recorded his first solo album “Stuff” in 2008.
“I was so deep in band land,” Gill said. “Bands are so much about building something together, so there’s going to be a lot of compromise. Everybody gets a little bit lost in that process sometimes. It becomes a process of self-exploration to get back to your comfort zone. I’ve been in a band since I was 12. Most people went through a time of playing by themselves, but I’ve been in a band for as long as I can remember. It was a nice break.”
The other members of ALO also stayed busy during the break with touring or recording their own material.
“If we didn’t let that space happen…you’ve seen the VH1 Behind the Music specials,” Gill said. “It’s easy when you’re young to go with the group. As you get older, your identity and ego gets more solidified. Everybody has side projects, and that really stokes the ALO fire. It’s good for us to keep a diverse palette. Part of success is being able to arrange your life in a way to keep it inspiring.”
The inspiration for Gill’s solo album came mostly from his wife Jessica and their 10-year-old daughter Jaden.
“My wife got pregnant right when I graduated college,” Gill said. “I had all these plans to start touring. I was lucky enough to keep finding work as a musician. My parents and my wife’s family and my wife are all really supportive. Family and music have always combined for me. When I finally made a solo album, I had a lot to think about.”
Johnson is also known for being a family man. He has two boys and a girl with his wife Kim. He was as supportive and excited as anyone to hear Gill was going to be a father.
“I remember calling up Jack,” Gill said. “When I would tell everyone else they sort of acted like I told them I have cancer. Jack thought it was awesome and couldn’t believe it. I never forgot that. It worked out so well in a way I never could have imagined it.”
Gill and his wife have another daughter on the way. She recently had to leave the tour with a due date in September. Johnson and Gill’s wives both tour with the bands and have developed a close friendship. Kim Johnson runs the Hawaii-based Kokua Foundation and Jessica Gill manages the mainland branch of the organization.
Gill has also received inspiration from a diverse range of musical interest.
“My first four concerts were Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis and the News, the Grateful Dead and Billy Joel,” he said. “Between those four, that was a good foundation for me. I love the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I always come back to those. I’ve been really into Regina Spektor lately too.”
The varied musical backgrounds in ALO led to many changes of the band in the early years. Each change was usually accompanied by a new name as well. They started at Django and settled on Animal Liberation Orchestra.
“I don’t think any of us expected to keep that name. We went with what was happening in the moment. Over time, the name got a lot of baggage because of the Animal Liberation Front and stuff. We never had any political affiliation. I realized over the years the name has a lot of loaded symbolism in it.”
While Gill never put much thought into the name, he is amused by how people overanalyze it.
“An orchestra is the ultimate in not being liberated; it’s a very structured, civilized thing,” Gill said. “The animal is wild and the orchestra is civilized. In between is this liberation. For a while we got tired of thinking about it so we went by ALO. When you’re making music, you don’t think of how the name will be perceived.”