This week's installment of our Hi-Fives is with the man behind Zvex Effects; Zachary Vex. Give his little interview a read to learn his top-5 takes on some random subjects.
Top five strangest custom paint requests
- A blue monster with three mouths eating people in each mouth
- J. Mascis riding a purple horse holding a sceptre on a purple sparkle finish
- A silverback gorilla with a sombrero riding a giraffe
- Two three-eyed laser cats
- Arial view of a TV dinner tray
Top five pedals you wish you’d came up with
- The E-Bow
- Jordan Bosstone
- Tel Ray oil can delay
- Echoplex
- 1.5V Maestro Fuzz-tone
- Mutron Gizmotron
Top five best things about running your own company
- Having people tell me they're my biggest fan, when I'm actually their biggest fan.
- Waking up and making phone calls to my own warehouse from bed.
- Seeing my name in lights at the NAMM show (10,000 watts).
- Not having to answer to anyone except everyone at the shop, dammit.
- Being able to put a 3' diameter ZVEX logo on top of my million watt electric dragster.
Top five ways people ask for free/promo pedals
- Hi, I do online reviews...
- Hi, I'm in the military...
- Hi, I play in a church group...
- Hi, I'm a paraplegic... (this has happened surprisingly often)
- Hi, I'm in junior high school...
Top five meals on the road
- Sushi
- Chipotle
- Whole Foods (when staying in Austin, TX at a hotel with a kitchen in the room... I made panna cotta and mushroom risotto for GHOSTT [Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl] at SXSW last year and they LOVED it!)
- BBQ Chicken across the country at home-style joints
- In-and-Out Burger or Five Guys, depending on the area
Top five worst jobs you’ve held
Sorry, I've loved every job (except one) I ever had. My first paying job was building an antenna deployment mechanism for a rocket headed through the Northern Lights, to do analysis. My second was as a technician in a microelectronics lab making chips, and I got a 10% raise on the first day, from $2.50 to $2.75 per hour. My third was repairing guitar amps, and that's where I learned a lot of my chops. My fourth was a lab technician making chips, my fifth was as a field service engineer with a company car and basically 75% paid free time, and ever since I've either been a recording engineer/producer or a pedal manufacturer.
The one bad job I had was working for free for my brother pulling nails out of pallet boards to make recycled wood furniture. It was my first job... I was a true slacker. Hell, I've always been a slacker who crams when things get tight.
Top five movies
- The Incredibles
- Apocalypse Now
- Star Wars (first one)
- Shawshank Redemption
- 2001
Top five rooms in your house
- Kitchen
- Bedroom
- Loft
- Workshop
- Other Bedroom
Top five non-guitar related things to do
- Sex
- Race electric drag cars
- Sex again
- Play cello
- Cook, eat, then more sex
Top five songs on your iPod you’d be embarrassed to play with friends in the room
That stupid U2 album that self-downloaded, and is the only music on my iPhone
Otherwise, I'm proud of my vinyl collection.
Top five things you’d rather be doing than answering these top fives
- Sex
- Answering email (oops, that's what I'm doing)
- Practicing my comedy routines (I'm not quitting my day job)
- Sex
- Answering the top fives on the phone instead, don't worry, no sex involved
