Interview by Rebecca Beilinson and Rachel Didsbury

Recently, the Phoenix interviewed Zach Berkman, a singer/songwriter and music producer from New York City. As well as having a solo album and a few EPs on iTunes, his band The District also released its new album, Wellfleet, on December 21st. To watch the full interview and hear him sing one of his songs, visit youtube.com/phsphoenix.

Phoenix: How did you get into music?

Zach:I guess I’ve always been singing and playing music and stuff like that, but I didn’t start doing it seriously until I moved to Chicago. I grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and I went for my last two years of high school in Chicago. I had more time to do music because I was doing fewer extra-curricular things, and I started playing at open mikes and writing tunes. I really got into it enough that that’s what I went to study in college.

Phoenix: We’ve heard that you have a solo album coming out soon; could you tell us anything about that?

Zach:Well I put out a full-length two years ago, and I put out an EP in between, and then I put out a bunch of singles as well. I just had a lot of songs sitting around, and I needed to make a new record. So now I’m just working through that. Actually, right now, I’ve taken a break from that. I just did Ron Pope’s record. And right now I’m sitting in my family’s summer home in Cape Cod where we are making the next record with our band The District, that we all played in in college. [Editor’s Note: This album, Wellfleet, is now out on iTunes.] So that’s what I’m doing this week, and as soon as that’s done, I can really get full steam ahead on my own record. That record will be all new songs, one hundred percent new material.

Phoenix: Do you know when it will be coming out?

Zach: Well, that’s a very good question. (laughs.) I hope to finish it during December and January, and then hopefully it will be out February or March. I may be doing a little acoustic EP in between, but we’ll see what happens.

Phoenix: Are you planning to schedule a tour with the new album?

Zach:My plan is to tour with Ron Pope and Ari Herstand in the coming year, starting in March. I think we’re going to do the whole country. I couldn’t give you specific cities, but if you live in any part of the Lower 48 we may be near you.

Phoenix: Could you tell us a little bit more about The District?

Zach:So when I got to college I met a couple of guys; Paul Hammer and Chris Kienel and Will Frish and Mike Clifford and Ron Pope. And we all ended up, over the course of time, being in this band, The District. And we all had fun, and it was a great band to be in, but everybody kind of had their own project to work on. I have a solo project; Ron has a solo project; Paul’s in the band Savoir Adore and they were just featured on MTV; Mike Clifford is a solo artist; and Chris has like a regular human day job. So we had all taken a break from The District project. We hadn’t played a show together in a long time and even though a bunch of us worked together still on our music, we didn’t have the opportunity to make the kind of records we always wanted to make where everybody plays a lot of different instruments, and everybody sings, and everybody takes turns at a lot of stuff. Now, we’re all good enough at music to kind of do that, and we had an opportunity to go up and make this record in a house, which is kind of what I’ve been trained to do. That’s the kind of audio engineering that I studied and worked in for a couple of years. So now we get to hang out and make exactly the record we want to make without any boundaries, because it’s just for us.

Phoenix: So you’re also a music producer; who are some of the musicians you’ve worked with?

Zach:Well, I produce my own records, and then I produce the Ron Pope records. I do the engineering and the mixing and stuff like that. And then, I worked for a live recording company for a couple of years during college and after college. And in recording for that, I worked with U2 and Maroon 5 and Buddy Guy and Duran Duran and Brian Adams and all these people that kind of came through because it was owned by XM Satellite Radio, so anyone who was performing on XM Satellite Radio we recorded. Also, this was the company that did the Grammy’s for the last couple of years, and we did a lot of live recordings so I went to Bonnaroo Music Festival and recorded at Bonnaroo; we also went to Austin City Limits and recorded one of the stages there, which was pretty cool. And since I was based at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, there were also a ton of club jazz acts that came through that place that we were recording on a weekly basis.

Phoenix: You were a contestant on the MTV showStarmaker last year. What was that like?

Zach: That was a strange experience. I mean it was really neat, and overall it’s super positive. I got to be on TV; I got to to perform. Every kid who wants to make pop music hopes that their abilities will take them to be part of the content that’s on MTV, because, you know, at least until recently when it became all reality shows, that’s where the music was at. So it was cool, I mean, I lived in a house with other people, Real Worldstyle with a microphone pack on and cameras around me every day. We had to perform in this big soundstage with a big audience, and we got to work with a really great band and there were all kinds of cool people that guided us along. I wouldn’t say I would ever do a reality show again; one is my quota for life. No Rock of Lovefor me. But it was a really cool experience. I got to meet a lot of neat people and there were a lot of really talented contestants on that show.

Phoenix: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Zach:Oh man, that’s a difficult one. I suppose some of my favorite groups and people...I love Ryan Adams, and I love Death Cab for Cutie. The first record I bought was a Green Day record and the second record I bought was a Boys to Men record. So I loved listening to R & B growing up, and hip hop. I’m a huge Eminem fan. I think he’s, you know, while vulgar, incredibly clever. As a wordsmith, there’s no one more talented than him. But for my own music, my friends are a huge influence. The people I’ve been able to work with have really shaped the way I make music.

Video interview with Zach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdv5lrBb31Q

Zach singing and showing us the studio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nppCIJcLdUw&feature=related