Zappa
By Michelle Stremke and Ken Garen
FRANK ZAPPA: From the Mouth of the Mighty, eloquent and well edited remarks about America today. L.M.
On Culture in the United States:
There is nothing cultural at all about the United States, you know, it's a slave labor industrial society. I think that a society, to be democratic, when you go back to the Greek origins of that, ought to have some sort of an ideal goal of beauty toward which they might be striving. There's no sense of beauty in the United States, no sense of anything artistic or cultural, or anything other than industrial.
DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD HAVE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES OF ART CENTERS?
No, but the people should be given a choice. Right now the massmedia screens out certain types of art and artistic expression that they can sider inferior, not fit for public consumption.
BUT DOESN'T THE PUBLIC GENERALLY REGULATE WHAT THEY WANT? LIKE ROCK TEN YEARS AGO: THERE WAS SO MUCH PRESSURE AGAINST IT, BUT IT SURVIVED.
It survived only because certain people found they could make money from it, it didn't survive because people thought, "Hey, here's some that will grow into an art form in twelve years." People said, "Hey, these kids are looking for something to do. Let's put on a rock and roll show and make a few bucks."
On Misinformation:
The government is supposedly this system of checks and balances with this wonderful president and a really boss cabinet who knows what's going on, and they put together these great ideas, and then they send them through the Senate. But these guys are very sluggish and they're looking out for their own interests, you know. It's all really greedy.
A MAJOR PORTION OF THAT IS THE AMERICAN PUBLIC'S FAULT, BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN AMAZING FACILITY FOR FORGETTING HOW THEIR CONGRESSMAN VOTED.
Most people don't even know the name of the congressman let alone how he voted. And the thing is, I find it very difficult to believe that people are really that stupid naturally: I have a feeling that the apathy and stupidity have been engineered. I can lay the blame on the school system and the media that feeds information to these people, and colors time information in such a way that these people become badly informed or informed of a viewpoint that is going to have unfortunate results later on.
On Representation in Government:
I think that Black Power is fine, also Brown Power, Gray Power, also Green Power, all those things ought to be represented in the government. The thing that causes most of the disturbances now is that people of all different colors and all different ages are not properly represented in the government. It's a big old merry-go-round, a lot of laughs. One of these days those people who have not been represented in government are going to say that government itself is not necessary. We're not represented, it's not just the Black people, because you've got a lot of Latins in the country, and a lot of old people who are too tired to do anything about it, but they're not represented. The worst aspects of what they think they want are always foisted off on the rest of the population. Sometimes the voice of the little old lady doesn't get them what they need. When a congressman gets a letter from a little old lady he counts it as 20,000 votes, and he says, "Here's 15 points for me," It's his way of helping her across the street. It's the same with young people, the largest unrepresented minority in the U.S. Young people of all colors, that's a pretty big minority group.
SO HERE WE HAVE A BAD SYSTEM, THE WAY IT'S RUNNING NOW. HOW DO YOU PROPOSE TO GO ABOUT CHANGING IT?
First of all, I think the kids should start pushing their weight around with their parents, and oven if it looks hopeless try to exp1ain their point of view to them, and try to get action through their parents vote. The opinion of their parents can be swayed in the same way a father is influenced by his son on what car to buy. I think parents today are a little envious of the kids and if you can give them a little touch of youthful fun, it might be an even trade. "I'll let you feel good if you'll help me get the legislation I want." That would be a nice guerilla tactic.
Agreed. Mr. Zappa, agreed.
photos by Ken Garen
interview by Michelle Stremke and Ken Garen