Sunday, March 17, 2019

Interview with Chip Znuff- Bassist/ Lead Vocalist for Enuff Znuff.

Enuff Z'Nuff (a pronunciation respelling of "enough's enough"), is an American rock band from Blue Island, Illinois. Founded by singer Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z'Nuff, this Chicago area band is best known for their charting singles "Fly High Michelle" and "New Thing".
Enuff Z'Nuff has continually recorded and toured throughout their career of more than 30 years, releasing 14 studio albums and a total of 22 CDs to date. Their songs have been recorded by several other musicians, some of which include Paul Gilbert, the Tuesdays, the Wildhearts, and Nelson. The group has appeared on MTV, Howard Stern and David Letterman. In addition to their independent label releases, their music has been released on the major labels Atco Records and Arista Records
A short time after Enuff Z'Nuff parted ways from Arista Records, guitarist Derek Frigo left the band, though he still recorded on occasion with them. Despite this setback, the band continued touring and recording, releasing albums on several indie labels and finding a solid fanbase overseas.Some notable events include many appearances on The Howard Stern Show, local appearances on the Mancow's Morning Madhouse radio program, a 1998 performance on The Jenny Jones Show, a pair of features on VH1 about hair bands in 1999, and attaining an opening slot for Poison's 2001 "Glam Slam Metal Jam" tour.
Lead singer and songwriter Donnie Vie stopped touring with the group in 2002 out of frustration and to embark upon a solo career. Enuff Z'Nuff continued to tour in his absence as a "3-piece," with their lead guitarist Johnny Monaco also serving as the band's lead singer. Despite not touring, Vie would still write and record with the band in future studio releases.
In 2004, former lead guitarist Derek Frigo died from an apparent drug overdose at the age of 37, soon after the band planned a Japanese tour with the original line-up. Another tragedy struck when the band's drummer Ricky Parent lost his long-time battle with cancer in October 2007. Parent had been with the band for approximately 12 years. 
In 2006, original members Chip Z'Nuff and Donnie Vie reconvened to shoot a pilot for the VH1 reality television show, Bands on the Run.[16] The show's pilot episode never aired. However, during that time the reunited band held their initial recording sessions for their 12th record. Several songs from these sessions eventually resulted in their latest studio album of new material, Dissonance, which also features former Ozzy Osbourne / Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee on guitar. With Vie rejoining the live shows in 2008, Dissonance was released in 2009 in Japan, with a U.K. release following in 2010. In support of the album, Enuff Z'Nuff toured both Japan and Europe, including the Download Festival in the U.K. As of May 2013, Donnie Vie once again left the band. Johnny Monaco returned to Enuff Z'Nuff as the band's singer.
There was more band member shuffling in May 2014 when guitarist Tory Stoffregen and drummer Randi Scott each left the band. Drummer Erik Donner joined on drums in June, while Enuff Z'Nuff continued touring as a 3-piece. In April 2016, Metal Sludge confirmed via an interview with Johnny Monaco that he is no longer in the band. The band is continuing with Chip Z'nuff as the lead singer, Tory Stoffregen back on lead guitar, Tony Fenelle (Ultravox) on guitar and Daniel B. Hill on drums.
Enuff Z'nuff released an album of older, previously unreleased original material on Frontiers Records in late 2016, titled "Clowns Lounge."  It mainly features demo material from studio sessions originally recorded in 1988 and 1989. Enuff Z'nuff plans on releasing an album of new material with Chip Z'nuff on lead vocals, titled 'Diamond Boy,' August 10 on the Frontiers label. It will be their first recording without contributions from former Enuff Z'nuff singer/songwriter Donnie Vie. Vie is still active musically and has created a Pledge campaign for his next solo album, also tentatively due out later this year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enuff_Z'Nuff 
INTERVIEW BY : ROBERT LUCIANO

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