Enuff Z’nuff Still Have ‘Gas in the Tank’

"When new fresh stuff comes up, it lifts the barometer for everybody else to come up with great stuff," Enuff Z'nuff bassist Chip Z'nuff tells Noisecreep of modern music. "At my older age, I have always embraced music, period. I don't care where it comes from, what walk of life, what part of the country; it doesn't matter. If it's great stuff, it usually seeps through the cracks and people start getting it.

"There's a lot of records that have done that in the past that first nobody got and it was so good, you couldn't stop it. But I'd like us to be one of those bands. And there's just luck, that's where preparation leads to opportunity. It's all about the song. It's all managers and agents and record companies care about the next good song, who's got it."

Z'nuff knows about writing songs. A prolific writer along with Enuff Z'nuff band mate and singer Donnie Vie, he's written hundreds of songs for other artists across all genres and formats, including movies. He's worked with Twista, a rapper who once held the title of the world's fastest emcee. Then there's the new Enuff Z'nuff record 'Dissonance' that was recently released in Japan. Z'nuff is hoping an American release is close behind.

"With our catalog and years of playing we've developed a pretty good fan base," Z'nuff continues. "I think people will be pleasantly surprised to see us out on tour, playing new songs. We've put a new record on the radio so it's not like we're touring on [old hits] 'New Thing' or 'Fly High Michelle.' We did this record and we sold it over in Japan, went over there and toured that country, it was wonderful. [And we] realized that there was still some gas in the tank."

That "gas in the tank" is pushing Enuff Z'nuff to release 'Dissonance' in America, play festival gigs this summer and even write songs for a possible new record.

Enuff Z'nuff will play two shows at the Download Festival this year: a regular set and an acoustic show. The band will also play Rock n' America this July. Z'nuff says the excitement and honor of playing Download isn't lost on him or the other members of Enuff Z'nuff. In fact, the band hopes to capitalize on the experience.

"It's really opened up a lot of doors for us...we hope everything goes nice and smooth. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to have the whole show recorded live, maybe put a CD out with it in the future and a DVD. I'm really proud of what Donnie and I have accomplished up until this point. I think there's still a little bit more BS to take, some fumes there; I want to take advantage of it."