Pittsburgh multi-instrumentalist Zack Leya loves to write songs, and he finds inspiration even in the most mundane situations. His song “Hang Out” came together after killing some time with friends at a local bar.
Zack recently spoke with WYEP's Joey Spehar.
What’s your musical history up to this point?
I started playing guitar when Santa brought me an Ibanez electric guitar after I just turned nine. I immediately formed a band with my brother and cousin, writing songs using the 4 power chords I learned. Around then, I also joined the school band in the percussion section. This kickstarted my interest in exploring other instruments beyond guitar. After some time, I started creating songs using GarageBand on my iPad. This really helped shape my understanding of how using different sounds, layers, and mixing can affect a song’s composition, and I started recording punk songs and silly GarageBand-synth music in my bedroom.
Over the next few years, my guitar teacher Bud really challenged me to be a better musician by giving me music theory lessons and assigning me Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed tunes as guitar homework. This, paired with the freedom I had to make music at my dad’s recently founded studio/venue Liveburgh Studio, allowed me to explore songwriting and music further than I ever had before. All of these things ultimately lead me towards pursuing a degree in music performance at Duquesne University. By studying music at a collegiate level and playing in bands with my classmates only further solidified my love of making music.
After playing with a number of acts in Pittsburgh since I was a kid and studying music/music theory with some of the best guitarists and musicians in the city, I’ve realized the thing I love the most about music is actually crafting the songs themselves. I do love performing, but some of the most enjoyment I’ve got from making music came from the projects where I was behind the computer screen, in the “studio” (AKA my bedroom), and writing/recording compositions track by track. This includes everything from the short films I’ve composed scores for to the nights where I’ve got free time and just recording something for the sake of making a new song. All of these experiences lead up to today, where I continue to write and record music myself, while performing and making tunes with my band Thick Magician.
How do you describe your sound?
I probably gravitate towards a punk/rock sound in general, but my music hard drive is filled with Logic projects that span all kinds of genres. I try to take influence from everything I listen to. Ween is a band who I take a lot of inspiration from because their discography is filled with all different kinds of sounds. The record I put out this year, "Music Album with Songs," is mostly in that punk/alternative zone, but I definitely don’t want to limit myself to that. With my previous band Flubdub, I was writing songs that fit more into the Jam genre. And with my current band Thick Magician, I’m trying to bridge the gap between punk and jam, as well as whatever other kinds of songs I bring to my bandmates.
Tell us more about the song "Hang Out." What inspired you to write it and what does it mean to you?
Musically, this song started with inspiration from the band Pavement. That’s how I came up with the guitar riff for the verse, the rest kind of fell into place from there. I had a whole instrumental of the track done before attempting to write any kind of melody or lyrics over it. One day I just started writing about drinking with my friends at Froggy’s in Bloomfield and how we go there almost every week when there’s nothing else to do. Suddenly I had the melody and lyrics to fit over the instrumental!
What was the first album that really changed your life?
"American Idiot" was the first album to change my life and how I viewed music. I remember being a kid and being blown away that an album can tell a story, and how one song can connect to another song later on in the album (literally and figuratively). Music aside, I specifically remember how cool it was to learn new swear words by reading the lyrics in the CD booklet. Some of those songs were the first explicit songs my parents let me and my brother download onto the family iPod.
Who are some other Pittsburgh artists you think more people should listen to?
I do my best to not miss any performances by The Clock Reads. They don’t play out that often anymore it seems, but I’ve seen them 4-5 times and I’m blown away every time by the caliber of their musicianship collectively and individually. I feel the same about Chalk Dinosaur. I’ve seen Chalk open for Clock a couple times and those were some of my favorite Pittsburgh shows ever!
I also got recently turned on to One Eyed Daddys after my band Thick Magician had a gig with them. Those dudes rock! They have super cool songs that are accessible to listen to but also subvert expectations in a way that blew me away. Definitely a band I would recommend anyone go see live.
Any other super interesting things about you we should know?
My favorite concert in recent memory is Ween at Peach Fest 2023
My favorite album is probably "Dark Side of the Moon"
My favorite TV show is "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
My favorite movie is all three Lord of the Rings
On "Music Album With Songs," everything you hear was played myself. But I gotta shoutout Jake Leya and Ian Zuber who are the drummer and bassist in my band Thick Magician. Stay tuned for music from the band!
