There’s not much that Billy Zoom can’t or won’t make a joke about. The 67-year-old is known as a “nice guy” and for his signature wide, Cheshire cat-like grin, which he flashes as he performs live with his pioneering L.A. punk rock band X.
Despite being an influential guitarist within the genre, his bandmates have also pointed out some other endearing qualities. Vocalist Exene Cervenka has flat-out referred to Zoom as “one of my favorite people on the planet” and bassist John Doe has commented in interviews that Zoom’s perfectly coiffed hair is one of his better attributes.
Zoom has always had a playful, maybe even a little bit of a twisted sense of humor that has served him well during rough patches in his life. He’s going through one of those right now as he battles bladder cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Though the situation is serious, this cancer is treatable, and Zoom opts to look on the bright side: He still has his luscious locks and he’s been able to shed a few unwanted pounds.
“You have to have a sense of humor about these things,” Zoom said. “That’s just me though, I joke about everything. The worse it is … the better the joke. That’s just how I’ve always gotten by.”
The diagnosis, which he received a few weeks before a quartet of shows at the Observatory in Santa Ana with X in early July, sidelined him from embarking on an extensive North American tour with the band. Zoom said he’s feeling good now and looking forward to getting back on stage for the band’s upcoming annual A Family X-Mas tour, which includes four nights at the Roxy in Los Angeles Thursday through Dec. 6 and a one-off concert Dec. 11 at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. The band will ring in the New Year Dec. 31 at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.
X, consisting of Zoom, Cervenka, Doe and drummer D.J. Bonebrake, started tearing up L.A. clubs in 1977. Its debut 1980 album, “Los Angeles,” is still ranked among the top “must-have” punk rock albums, as is its follow-up, 1981’s “Wild Gift.” Its next two records, “Under the Big Black Sun” and “More Fun in the New World,” are also fan favorites. Those four releases, all produced by the Doors keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, are the ones that, three decades later, all four original members continue to perform in their entirety at gigs.
However, there have been extended periods of inactivity for the group as its members have worked on various other projects, such as the folk and country band dubbed the Knitters. Doe got into acting and releasing solo efforts. Zoom had officially left X in 1985 after the release of its fifth record, “Ain’t Love Grand!” He dabbled in several projects, but mainly focused on building amps and other electronics, which he continues to do at the Billy Zoom Custom Shop near Old Towne Orange. In 1998, Zoom reunited with X and they’ve been playing together ever since.
“I’m enjoying it more than I used to, I think,” Zoom said, noting that he and his bandmates seem to enjoy each other’s company much more at this point. “I guess we’ve kind of gotten used to each other … finally.”
In 2010, Zoom was diagnosed with prostate cancer and after undergoing a radical prostatectomy procedure he was given the “all clear” by his doctors, but he was unable to work for almost a year. As a man who lives rather modestly with his wife and twin 9-year-old kids in Orange, where he’s resided since “escaping from Los Angeles” in 1993, Zoom’s financial reserves were quickly depleted as he paid for his health care. As a lifelong musician, he said he’s never really had health insurance, though he now has Medicare, which will help cover the costs of surgeries and treatments, but not “feed his children, pay for their schooling and keep up with the mortgage,” he added.
Somehow, he said, he managed to get by. But, when he was diagnosed in June with an aggressive form of bladder cancer, he immediately underwent surgery to remove several tumors and began extensive chemotherapy treatments at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, which instantly caused a hefty financial burden.
The news of his diagnosis was revealed via a press release the morning of the first of the series of X shows in Orange County. The band’s longtime manager, Mike Rouse, and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a local nonprofit that provides financial assistance to career musicians, set up a Go Fund Me page for Zoom. Fans responded in a big way, quickly exceeding the $50,000 goal and contributing over $98,000 in just a few months. The band also raised money for Zoom while out on the road by selling exclusive “Support Billy Zoom” merchandise that sold out of quickly.
Thousands of fans who donated anywhere from $5 to $5,000, bought the T-shirts and left hundreds of encouraging messages on the Go Fund Me page.
“That was absolutely amazing and I really don’t know what to say to them,” Zoom said. “I couldn’t read all of the messages, but I tried. There were just pages and pages. There’s no way for me to respond to each one, but I would if I could have. Instead I just sort of posted general paragraphs on the page every once in a while.”
Right now, Zoom said he has good days and bad days. Unfortunately, the day of our interview wasn’t one of the good ones. He has eight weeks in between chemo treatments and during that time he’s getting as much work done at his shop as he can and preparing himself for the upcoming holiday gigs.
Though Zoom said it was important for him to be forthcoming and share his diagnosis with fans, it was far more difficult to explain to his young son and daughter.
“We explained to the kids, carefully, that there are some cancers worse than others and that this one happens to be treatable,” he said. “They’re still young enough to trust what we tell them and trust us when we say that it will be OK. I think it will be OK.”
He’s optimistic, but also very grounded in reality. What worries him the most at this point is the next cancer.
“They just keep checking me now,” he said, adding that doctors were able to remove all of the cancer with this latest surgery. “I go in a few times a year anyway to get checked for my prostate and I’m sure that will continue with my bladder for the rest of my life, assuming I get to keep my bladder. They tell me there’s an 80 percent chance with the treatment they are giving me now.”
In January, he will go back into be thoroughly checked over to make sure the cancer has not returned.
“If I’m lucky, then I go back into doing chemo for a month after that,” he said. “We will just have to wait and see what happens. For now, they have me scheduled for chemo until I’m 79 … if all goes well.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com
