You may know Zach Lucero from his stint as a popular DJ for NU 107, or as the drummer of rock band Imago, or his startling resemblance to a certain shirtless Bench billboard underwear model. As of last March 24, however, you will know him for another major achievement: the launch of Fall Crash Infect, his solo album.

It’s an excellent independent release featuring nine tracks of guitar-pop goodness laced with electro-flourishes, that calls to mind the best bits of recent pop-rock history, from 90s Britpop to the fairly recent penchant for dance-punk. It also has a lot of guest vocalists, like Kris Dancel of Cambio, Sarah Marco of Taken By Cars, Micaela Benedicto of Outerhope, and Lourd de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project. I interviewed Zach about his first full-length solo effort:

You’re in Imago, one of the country’s best known bands. Why come up with a solo album?

This is  something I’ve always wanted to do, make an album where I get to  play all the instruments, sing on it, and produce it. I thought, “Ah yesss... I get final say in everything... mwahahahaha...” But, as I discovered in the middle of recording, it can get difficult. With Imago, the dynamic is different. I have my bandmates to ping pong ideas with, to argue with, etcetera. When you’re alone, well kaka sira ulo din.

What do your bandmates think of the album and your solo career?

What did my bandmates think? Well, siyempre sa simula they were threatened, as in insecure and all, as in they wouldn’t talk to me. As in, to them, this was big time CONFLICT... Joke... hahaha! They were very supportive, they would give suggestions to me and all, and also I’d get the occasional “Uy... singer... nahks naman...” What few people know, is that before I was a drummer, I was a singer and a guitarist. I sang for a band called Fearless Freep, this was in the [Club] Dredd EDSA days noong mid ’90s when I was about 11 years old. [Luis’ note: Zach was probably older than that in the mid-90s.]

Where did you get the phrase “Fall Crash Infect?”

Fall Crash Infect... hmmm. Crab mentality without meaning to. One goes down, at may nadadamay na iba. “Oh ah... Lalim Zach ah!”

Will you be gigging to support the album? What will your live lineup be like?

Actually I was so nervous on launch night that I figured “Screw this gigging... I’ll just sell the album,” haha. Eh after the gig it went well naman, so mas palmuks na ako. Bring it on! Lez play! So yeah, I will be gigging. The band will be Eo Marcos (of the bands Salamin and Severo) on drums, Marie Jamora (Boldstar, Blast Ople) on synth, Nix Puno (Us-2 Evil-0) on bass, Jason Caballa (Pedicab) on guitars, and Kris Dancel (Duster, Fatal Posporos, Cambio) whenever they are free.

You have an amazing array of guests on the album. Why so many guests?

I felt that the songs could be further pushed with the additional talent of the guests I invited. The songs are pretty much different from each other, hence the variety. When I made the songs, a certain character would come to mind, like let’s say for “Bob,” Kris immediately came to my mind, or like Marie Jamora for “Fall Crash Infect.” I just figured it would be nice to have them on board... bagay eh.

The collaborating part was really fun. The guests’ ideas were amazing. Their contributions were invaluable and their talent very much appreciated. I would get really excited whenever I had a guest come in. I guess it’s akin to Tom Hanks seeing another human after so many years in Castaway. I never realized how atat I was to have someone else in the studio. Hahaha.

You always have a sense of where the local music scene is at and where it’s headed. What is the state of the music scene today and where do we go from here?

Everything is a cycle. Sorta like what Kim Atienza says in his weather report: “...ang buhay ay weder weder lang...” Music is like that, seasonal. Where is it  headed at this point? Well, if we’re down now, then it can only go up... hehe. Seriously though, right now I believe it’s like limbo. Good stuff is coming out, but the people, I feel, are still sorta like taking a nap. What will wake ‘em up? That, I wanna see... ‘Coz when we talk about the scene, we should see it in its entirety, audience included. What is their state of mind at this point? Sometimes, good stuff can come up in the scene, brilliant songs and all, but with everybody else distracted, or “napping,” those songs can fall on deaf ears...

Will there be future solo Zach Lucero recordings?

Oh definitely yes. I wanna do another solo, I think next time, God willing, I’d like to do an instrumental album... I’ve been dying to do a Garlic album (my other band with Louie Talan and Francis Reyes), but their schedules are worse than mine. So yeah, maybe something in that direction.

Send questions and comments to Luis at thekingofnothingtodo@yahoo.com.