Robin Taylor Zander's (RTZ) Newest Album, "The Distance"

Thank you for reading or watching or listening to our 100th episode of Radar! At the risk of sounding like an awards acceptee while the band begins to signal my necessary move from the stage, I’d like to thank all of the wonderful guests who have given generously of their time to share their insights about projects that they are involved in. Thank you as well to the publicists behind the scenes who serve as liaisons and ensure that these interviews actually happen! And of course, thanks to The Vinyl District for providing a weekly platform to share my chats with you, dear readers and listeners. Of course, thank you - too - to WFDU, 89.1 FM for giving me the opportunity to transmit these interviews over the FM airwaves throughout the greater New York City metropolitan area. We hope you’ll stick around for the next 100 episodes. If you enjoy this podcast, please make sure to tell your friends about it.

This week, our guest is Robin Taylor Zander, better known as RTZ. As you might have guessed by his unique moniker, RTZ is the son of Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander. Not only is Zander a fabulous musician who has filled in for each member of Cheap Trick at some point prompting Rolling Stone to refer to RTZ as, “Cheap Trick’s secret weapon.” However, he’s also a talented writer and producer who will be releasing his first album in April titled, The Distance. The album was also mixed by the rock and roll dream duo of Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith) and Jay Messina (Aerosmith, Kiss, Lou Reed) who have worked together for 40 years: that is another story all unto itself.  

RTZ joins me - ezt - this week as we discuss his excellent new release, the production and composition which went into it, how he navigates inhabiting Cheap Trick’s world, and where he’s going next.