AES Los Angeles 2016 Presenter or Author
Joe Travers
Primary Affiliation: Vaultmeister for the Zappa Family Trust - Los Angeles, CA, USA
In 1995, while drumming for Ahmet & Dweezil Zappa’s band “Z,” Joe landed the role of archivist for the Frank Zappa archive. His knowledge of Zappa’s extensive career awarded him the opportunity, but he was soon to realize the importance of handling the exhaustive contents. Media of all different types ranging from the late 50’s to the present day live in the infamous “Vault.” Frank Zappa was known to document everything he could which resulted in years and years worth of live tour tapes, studio sessions, field recordings, interviews, videotape & film - all of which need to be evaluated and treated before playback as tape and film fall prey to the passage of time. Joe had on-the-job training in the preservation and handling of these precious elements, allowing him to digitally capture the data from audio & video masters. “Vaultmeister” is a term given to Joe by Gail Zappa, Frank’s wife and chief operator of the Zappa Family Trust until her passing in October 2015. It’s a play on the word “Clonemeister” which is a term used by FZ and given to a specified band member who is responsible for rehearsing the group when Frank was not present. Joe’s work as Vaultmeister has involved him in over 40 releases in the Zappa discography, including supervision and production.
Session List
Oct 1:
Restoration Audio: Music Today and Tomorrow (Panelist)