How long have you been playing with Omar off and on?
This is the first time I`ve actually worked with him in a band situation. His last drummer, Rich, his son contracted some rare disease. So, he can`t travel, he stays home and takes care of his son. I had just finished working with a guy named Guy Forsyth. I`ve been recording Omar`s albums for quite a while, for years. The album had just come out that we did and he said you know all the songs. Terry Bozzio, a really great drummer also played on it. He played in the middle ‘70`s with Frank Zappa and he did Jeff Beck`s guitar shop. Great drummer. Real world class drummer. So, he and I both did the album. So he had this new album coming out and all of a sudden, no drummer. Since I had recorded with him, he asked me if I would do it. I was happy to do it because Omar`s what I refer to as rock-steady. He just does what he does. It`s pretty honest. I like him for that reason and it`s challenging from the discipline point. It`s a very disciplined gig, it`s set.
No improve?
Well, that`s the discipline, trying to fill the parameters. The parameters are narrow and trying to fill the parameters as much as possible without going outside the line to make it kind of happen. It`s like the challenge and discipline of remaining in this real simple form but trying to push it as much as possible.
It stretches your creativity a little?
Yeah, it`s different style of creativity because it`s like there`s a ceiling. It isn`t like you can explode and do anything you want to do. You can explode but there`s a ceiling to it so you have to try to go right up to that ceiling and push on it a little bit and finding where all that stuff is. Just like in a relationship. I think it was Chris Rock that said when you meet someone, you are not really meeting them. You`re meeting their representative. And then when the relationship begins then you start meeting them and it`s like “Ohhh! Whew!” So it`s kind of like that. But I really enjoy working with him because of what he is about. Plus I get to go to Europe six or seven times a year!
Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo!
I have a question. Where did you get the name Frosty?
Back in the late 40`s early 50`s, police, courts, everything was very loose. My mother remarried and they just gave me the name of that last guy instead of going and changing my name legally or anything. So, for a long time I was Frost. Then later when things started tightening up, all of a sudden I was in court doing business, nothing drastic. Then the Judge said, “Excuse me. But, who are you?” He said, “You`ve got two names here.” I explained it to him and he said, “Well, to do business you`re going to have to be one or the other.” So I went back to my original name which was Smith and I just kept the Frosty always as a nick name. So, I just paid a little money and got it changed. “Ok - we know who you were, but now we know who you are on paper.” That name has always been around. It`s real ironic because that name really is the name of my nemeses. Here I`ve created this career with this name.
Once when I was in Fort Worth these big biker dudes came up to me and said, “Is your name Frosty?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “ We want to talk to you.” We went outside and they were really drilling me, “Are you the Frosty that plays drums?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “You`re from Fort Worth?” I said, “No, I stayed here a few times when I worked for Delbert but I`m a California boy.” They were real unsure I wasn`t this guy and they were looking for action. So that cleared up. The third time this happened, there were these three guys and they wondered if I was this guy. I said, “I`m Frosty and I play drums but I`m not this guy from Fort Worth. I`ve been asked several times before.” I just tell them I`m not the guy, I`m not from Fort Worth and I`ve never even eaten Chicken Fried Steak so I`m not a Texas guy. Obviously there were some problems several years ago and they were still looking for the guy.
I like your business card with the little snowman on it.
That`s not a snowman, that`s what I look like when I come home. It`s more like a cloud with the straight hair coming up. Us musicians are either in some kind of altered state when they get home and after you`ve played really hard, you`re usually pumped up, you know. You come home and everyone else is asleep and you`re like “HI!” Turn on the TV. That`s what I look like when I come through the door.
What would be your greatest accomplishment?
Hopefully, I haven`t accomplished that yet. But as far as I`m concerned, my greatest accomplishment so far has been when somebody comes out of the audience and honestly says, “Tonight I came out because I felt so bad, such and such has happened.” (What ever their circumstances were.) And they say, “Listening to the music, I feel so much better now.” For me, that is absolutely a great accomplishment. Because that`s a real thing. It`s like having a child. It`s real. You know, it doesn`t come with any qualifier. It`s straight, it`s real. So you`ve actually through your music touched somebody and made them not well, but better. So that`s for me a real good accomplishment.
It`s time for you to go back.
Calmly he said, “It`s close to time, but I think I`ll have another cigarette.”
This is the first time I`ve actually worked with him in a band situation. His last drummer, Rich, his son contracted some rare disease. So, he can`t travel, he stays home and takes care of his son. I had just finished working with a guy named Guy Forsyth. I`ve been recording Omar`s albums for quite a while, for years. The album had just come out that we did and he said you know all the songs. Terry Bozzio, a really great drummer also played on it. He played in the middle ‘70`s with Frank Zappa and he did Jeff Beck`s guitar shop. Great drummer. Real world class drummer. So, he and I both did the album. So he had this new album coming out and all of a sudden, no drummer. Since I had recorded with him, he asked me if I would do it. I was happy to do it because Omar`s what I refer to as rock-
No improve?
Well, that`s the discipline, trying to fill the parameters. The parameters are narrow and trying to fill the parameters as much as possible without going outside the line to make it kind of happen. It`s like the challenge and discipline of remaining in this real simple form but trying to push it as much as possible.
It stretches your creativity a little?
Yeah, it`s different style of creativity because it`s like there`s a ceiling. It isn`t like you can explode and do anything you want to do. You can explode but there`s a ceiling to it so you have to try to go right up to that ceiling and push on it a little bit and finding where all that stuff is. Just like in a relationship. I think it was Chris Rock that said when you meet someone, you are not really meeting them. You`re meeting their representative. And then when the relationship begins then you start meeting them and it`s like “Ohhh! Whew!” So it`s kind of like that. But I really enjoy working with him because of what he is about. Plus I get to go to Europe six or seven times a year!
Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo!
I have a question. Where did you get the name Frosty?
Back in the late 40`s early 50`s, police, courts, everything was very loose. My mother remarried and they just gave me the name of that last guy instead of going and changing my name legally or anything. So, for a long time I was Frost. Then later when things started tightening up, all of a sudden I was in court doing business, nothing drastic. Then the Judge said, “Excuse me. But, who are you?” He said, “You`ve got two names here.” I explained it to him and he said, “Well, to do business you`re going to have to be one or the other.” So I went back to my original name which was Smith and I just kept the Frosty always as a nick name. So, I just paid a little money and got it changed. “Ok -
Once when I was in Fort Worth these big biker dudes came up to me and said, “Is your name Frosty?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “ We want to talk to you.” We went outside and they were really drilling me, “Are you the Frosty that plays drums?” I said, “Yeah.” They said, “You`re from Fort Worth?” I said, “No, I stayed here a few times when I worked for Delbert but I`m a California boy.” They were real unsure I wasn`t this guy and they were looking for action. So that cleared up. The third time this happened, there were these three guys and they wondered if I was this guy. I said, “I`m Frosty and I play drums but I`m not this guy from Fort Worth. I`ve been asked several times before.” I just tell them I`m not the guy, I`m not from Fort Worth and I`ve never even eaten Chicken Fried Steak so I`m not a Texas guy. Obviously there were some problems several years ago and they were still looking for the guy.
I like your business card with the little snowman on it.
That`s not a snowman, that`s what I look like when I come home. It`s more like a cloud with the straight hair coming up. Us musicians are either in some kind of altered state when they get home and after you`ve played really hard, you`re usually pumped up, you know. You come home and everyone else is asleep and you`re like “HI!” Turn on the TV. That`s what I look like when I come through the door.
What would be your greatest accomplishment?
Hopefully, I haven`t accomplished that yet. But as far as I`m concerned, my greatest accomplishment so far has been when somebody comes out of the audience and honestly says, “Tonight I came out because I felt so bad, such and such has happened.” (What ever their circumstances were.) And they say, “Listening to the music, I feel so much better now.” For me, that is absolutely a great accomplishment. Because that`s a real thing. It`s like having a child. It`s real. You know, it doesn`t come with any qualifier. It`s straight, it`s real. So you`ve actually through your music touched somebody and made them not well, but better. So that`s for me a real good accomplishment.
It`s time for you to go back.
Calmly he said, “It`s close to time, but I think I`ll have another cigarette.”
