FLYING COLOR & THE ZEROS - Hector Penalosa interview

When I decided to review the FLYING COLOR album for the ‘I'm a bathstar in my poproom’ column, I researched it as best I could. As I was ‘friends’ on fb with Hector Penalosa, the band's bassist, I got in touch with him to ask him a few questions and that's how this itw came about. I have to thank him, of course, for taking the time to answer my questions while on tour with his first band, Les Zeros. Thanks also to his girlfriend, Laura Clifford, who provided the link to Hector's answers. This little story should result in the re-release of this famous one-off album by a quality French independent label. We're working on it..... 

How would you describe your musical background? Have you received any formal musical training and who would you cite as key influences before you joined Flying Color?

My father was a pianist. When I was 6 or 7 years old I discovered my father’s record collection and I was curious about the music on those records. I had seen my dad play those records and I wanted to do that too. He had a very eclectic collection with jazz, rock n' roll, bossanova, soul, Motown, classical and traditional Mexican music, such as mariachi trios etc. So I was exposed to all kinds of music from a very early age.
My dad didn’t want me to play with or touch his records while he was at work but my mom was very supportive of my musical interests and would let me play the records just telling me to be very careful with them. My favorite was the Supremes Greatest Hits, especially the song “I Hear a Symphony” Also, Cy Coleman’s LP The Ages of Rock which was classical pieces played with electric guitar, bass, drums, piano etc. Those 2 records in particular sparked my love of music….of course the Beatles records were next!

I taught myself how to play guitar, then bass guitar, drums and some piano. I didn’t have any formal musical training which is probably why I play left handed, upside down, I used what I had, a guitar gifted to me by my aunt.

My major influencers were the Beatles, the Ventures, the DBs, Roxy Music, Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls but of course there are many more.

In the liner notes for the reissue of the album on Spanish label Munster Rds, you were quoted a saying: ‘[I was] a young musician with a dream like so many others out there in the world. Eager to play in front of a crowd. Yeah I’m special…’ Can you elaborate on that? In what way do you think that was a special trait? It sounds like irony to me but I just wanted to make sure it was!

Thinking that “Yeah….I’m Special” I believe is a way of thinking when you are young, motivated and excited to be alive, full of energy and in my case an obsession with music. I think I was ‘special’ or perhaps just different from other kids in that from a very early age I knew in my heart I ONLY wanted to BE a musician.

What was the musical scene in San Francisco like in the 80’s?

The San Francisco music scene was really mixed. A lot of cool alternative type bands like the Cat Heads, the Ophelias, Blue Movie, The McGuires and also more punk bands like the Dead Kennedys, The Avengers and The Afflicted were able to play in many clubs like the Mabuhay Gardens, the I-Beam, the Kennel Club, Nightbreak, On Broadway, Kilowatt etc…

Just a few words about the Zeros, so inconic 80s band ?

The Zeros were the first “Punk” band in San Diego, CA. We formed in late 1976 when we were still in high school. “Punk” didn’t even exist yet! We liked the New York Dolls, The Seeds, Count 5, Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richmond, The Ventures, Eddie Cochran…iconic 70’s bands.

How would you describe the early days of Flying Colot when you created the band with Richard Chase?

Richard Chase and I started writing songs together around 1982. We wrote around 20 songs then we wanted to hear what they would sound like with a full band, 2 guitars, bass and drums. That’s how Flying Color started. Richard and I auditioned a lot of musicians for the band but most of them did not meet our standards. It was Kevin Hunter of Wire Train who told me about Dale Duncan. We met Dale and he suggested John Stuart for the drums and we became Flying Color.

The recording of the album took approximately 10 months – between the summer of 86 and the spring of 87. What took so long? Were multiple studio sessions required to complete the songs?

The recording of the LP took 10 months because Tom Mallon the producer, (who also offered us the record deal on Grifter), was recording Chris Isaak in the same studio so Flying Color could only record when Chris was not using it. Chris was on Warner Brothers Records so Tom was getting paid lots of money for those sessions but Tom recorded us for free!

Did you tour a lot before and after the album was released?

Flying Color played in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley most of the time. We had a 45 on Crypto Vision Records a label from New York. We flew to New York to play 2 weeks in New York City and New Jersey. He had also played in Eugene, Corvallis and Portland OR before the LP came out.
After the LP came out we toured the US for 6 weeks with the Bo Deans. We also played with The Ventures, Smokey Robinson, Let’s Active, Timothy Leary, Replacements, Camper Van Beethoven, Chris Stamey, 10,000 Maniacs and Pandoras.

Songwriting-wise, how did things work within the band? Was the person who brought a song to the group naturally and automatically appointed as the singer for that tune?

When it came to singing the songs in Flying Color, if I wrote the song for the band I would sing it. The same with Richard Chase. Dale wrote “Dear Friend” and asked me to sing it, so I did! Richard Chase wrote most of “Bring Back the Rain”, I helped with some words, and he asked me to sing it. The same with “I’m Your Shadow”, it’s Richard’s song but he asked me to sing it.

Can you say a few words about the break-up of the band?

Flying Color broke up during the planning for the 2nd LP. All of us in Flying Color would give Tom Mallon cassette demos of our songs and the agreement was that he would pick the ones he thought should be on the record, that’s how the first Flying Color record was made. The 2nd LP was never recorded because Tom picked 9 of my songs, 1 of Dale’s and 1 of Chris Von Sneidern’s (Richard Chase had left the band by then). Dale was not happy with only having 1 song on the record and he became very hard to work with and it became a very unpleasant experience. I decided to leave the band and Flying Color got a new bass player. Nothing really happened with Flying Color after I left.

I don’t know if you were aware that Flying Color did perform twice in 2022 in San Francisco. We all had a great time and have spent time together again.

What happened after Flying Color?

After Flying Color I joined MCM and The Monster. Baba Chenelle from the Zeros was the drummer and it was a Rap/Rock n’ Roll band with a huge local following. We were especially known for our live shows in the Bay Area many of which can be seen on You Tube. I played rhythm guitar in the Monster. I was with them for 3 years and we recorded 3 CDs and 1 45 record.

Thank you Hector Penalosa and Gérard Girard