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Rather than answer a reader's question this week, I've reprinted a short interview I did with Autumn Kelly of Highlights magazine back in 2023. I'll return to answering specific reader questions in the next issue. HIGHLIGHTS: Thanks for talking with us today, Martin. ZELLAR: My pleasure. HIGHLIGHTS: You’ve said that after releasing your latest album, Head West, you "felt like Rip Van Winkle" because the business had changed so much since your last release. Given how rapidly things change in the music business, is it hard for an older musician to keep up? ZELLAR: That's an interesting question, and it brings to mind something my Aunt Pat once said to my Uncle Lowell: "Slow down, Lowell, you're driving like a mad cat!". It was New Year's Eve, and we were headed to Kroger to buy snacks. I must have been about 9 years old. Anyway, the adults used to dump all of us cousins at my grandparent's house while they went out to an actual New Year's Eve party. We’d just watch a TV movie and eat Chex Mix. I remember one year we watched The Bridge on the River Kwai. Even as a kid, I remember thinking it was an odd film to air on New Year's Eve. HIGHLIGHTS: Um, okay. Growing up in the meatpacking town of Austin, MN town seems to have influenced much of your early songwriting. Can you comment on that? ZELLAR: Sure. Our house was located on 2nd Avenue, about four blocks up from the athletic field and water tower. My friend Nic's house was located about five blocks from us, on 8th Avenue. We spent a lot of time hanging out at Nic's house. They had a shed in their backyard that kids would sometimes make out in. I was very shy as a kid. I never made out in the shed, but I loved hanging out at Nic's because the freezer was always stocked with Dairy Queen treats. And not just the cheaper ones like Dilly Bars, but also top-shelf items like Peanut Buster Parfaits. HIGHLIGHTS: And that influenced your songwriting? ZELLAR: Not really. HIGHLIGHTS: Okay. Moving on. I read somewhere… ZELLAR: Sorry to interrupt, but I want to add that it wasn't just Dairy Queen treats. They also kept a big selection of Little Debbie snack cakes at the house. HIGHLIGHTS: Oh, okay. I read somewhere that your first musical obsession was the soundtrack album for the movie American Graffiti. What was it about that album that spoke to you? ZELLAR: Well, the album's cover art was a Vargas-style painting of a carhop on roller skates. I was in sixth grade, and going roller skating at Del's Roller Rink in Brownsdale was the cool thing to do. A bus would pick everyone up at the Sterling Shopping Center and shuttle us to Del's, which was about 15 minutes outside of Austin. A group of kids would always sit in the dark in the back of the bus and make out. A lot of those kids showed up for school on Monday mornings with hickeys. HIGHLIGHTS: I'm not sure I follow. Did they play music from the American Graffiti soundtrack at the roller rink? ZELLAR: No. The music they played at the rink creeped me out. KC and the Sunshine Band, 10 CC, Chaka Khan, Hot Chocolate—basically radio hits from 1974-1977. Music I dislike is rarely about the music itself but rather its tie-in with a time and place I'd just as soon forget. HIGHLIGHTS: Have you ever revisited those tunes to see if your feelings about them have changed? ZELLAR: God, no. Why the hell would I do that? HIGHLIGHTS: I was just thinking that maybe… ZELLAR: I just remembered that the DJ at Del’s sold weed on the side! He also worked at Younkers in the Oak Park Mall. The Oak Park Mall is gone now. It died a long, slow death. I remember my mom saying that toward the end, you could fire a cannon down the middle of the mall on a Saturday afternoon and not hit a soul. HIGHLIGHTS: You seemed distracted. Would you rather continue this at another time? ZELLAR: Yeah, sorry. I've been thinking about the Dairy Queen that used to be on Ford Parkway in St. Paul. It recently changed into some sort of fried chicken restaurant. Not a KFC, but one of those hip, spicy chicken-type places. My Grandma Wilson was from Kentucky, and she knew Colonel Saunders. I say my Grandma Wilson, but she was actually my great-grandmother. My dad's mom died when he was young, so he was raised by his grandmother, and we all called her Grandma Wilson. We also called my mom's cousin Aunt Joanne because they grew up together in the same house. HIGHLIGHTS: Right. Okay. Well, thank you for your time. ZELLAR: Not a problem. Hey, while you still have your laptop open, could you search what time the Dairy Queen on Lake Street closes?
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