You read that correctly. Lez Zeppelin is an all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band. Although the concept could be lame or fall short, Lez Zeppelin in fact kicks some serious ass. The gals do quite a credible job to their classic counterparts.

We recently had the pleasure of talking to Bonham counterpart Wendy Kidd. Read on to find out what it's like to follow in the footsteps of greatness.

Drummer: Wendy Kidd
Band: Lez Zeppelin
Location: New York City
Clips:
Black Dog
Whole Lotta Love

Photo by MARO

CWS: Where do you live, where are you from, and where do you want to be?
WK: I live in New York City. I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Suburbia.

I’m happy living in NYC for now but I also want to have a place in the country so I can chill out, play my drums, and listen to the birds sing. I want to travel with my band to different cities in the U.S. and also to other countries starting with England the birthplace of Led Zeppelin. Maybe I’ll want to move somewhere else in the future…who knows?

CWS: How many years have you been playing drums?
WK: That is a question I can never quite answer because I can't keep track of time, except for when I'm actually playing the drums, when time is of the essence. But seriously, I can't track how long because it's never been a straight road until recently.

CWS: How did you get started in drums? What made you choose drums over other instruments?
WK: I feel like I've always wanted to play. I think I asked my parents for drums as a kid, and they gave me a guitar instead. Then my mother remarried a drummer and suddenly there were drums in the basement of our house. That was around age 15. I just sort of sat down and started playing. It was love at first bang. I think the drums chose me.

CWS: How many hours a week do you practice?
WK: I try to stick with at least 20 hours a week practice routine for my own time on the kit. That's separate from band practice. There's always so much to work on. When I practice I really notice a difference in my playing. Sometimes the improvement is immediate and sometimes it comes as a surprise during a gig. The way something just pops out when I'm playing and I know it came from some practice routine I’ve done.

CWS: Describe your current project
WK: My main gig right now is a band called Lez Zeppelin. LZ is an "All Girl All Zeppelin" rock show. This band is sort of a phenomenon with four women rocking the fuck out of Zeppelin with the spirit of the original band in tact. We're a gender bend but that seems to get lost in the music. We just play the songs with our own chemistry. The power and sexual intensity of the music just pours out naturally. It's probably the best gig any drummer could have.

John Bonham was such an amazing drummer, and I'm lucky for getting an opportunity to peek into his world. I never get tired of listening to what he was doing. Learning the notes as well as understanding the vibe he created is challenging and totally inspiring. Playing this music is exciting all of the time.

Lez Zeppelin is being featured in an upcoming issue of Spin Magazine in an article on female tribute bands.

CWS: Describe your drum style
WK: I think my style is still developing. For now, I'd say I'm hard hitting but sensitive - just like my personality.

CWS: Describe your kit
WK: I have two GMS kits. One is a beautiful Orange Sparkle kit. They call it Tangerine Sparkle at GMS. The sizes of the drums are: bass - 22x18 and toms - 9x12 and 12x14. There's an 8X10 tom that came with the kit that I don't use much yet.

The other GMS kit I have is a black diamond finish. The sizes of the drums are: bass - 22x16 and toms - 12x8 and 16x16.

I use a Vintage 1968 Ludwig Supraphonic metal snare 6 1/2 x 14 for the Zeppelin gig. I also own a 1966 Ludwig Supraphonic metal snare 5x14, as well as a GMS Orange sparkle snare 5x14, a Noble and Coole 6 1/2x14 snare and a 5x14 Tama Stewart Copeland signature snare drum.

My cymbals for the Zep gig are Paiste 2002 series. 15 inch sound edge high hats, 22 inch ride and the crashes are 18" and 19".

I have a variety of other cymbals for various gigs.

I use a Tama Iron Cobra foot pedal and a mixture of hardware.

I use a snare mounted high tom because I like to set up my kit pretty tight. The drums are pretty close together so I can get around them quickly. I like to have the snare and high tom at a certain heights and positions that I can only get with this set up. Plus the snare mounted tom looks cool! It's best to mount it so it isn't too tight in the basket as it will resonate more this way.

CWS: What's your favorite drum beat, fill or warm-up?
WK: My favorite warm up is something called a Fat Back exercise taken from a book by Gary Chaffee called Patterns. Fat Backs are an instant gratification exercise that I like to do every time I practice. You can use different ostenatos on top while the bass drum is going through every combination of 16th notes possible. The exercise is done slowly like at 52 bpms, or whatever slow tempo that feels good, but slow is the way to go with this exercise.

The idea is to really dig in to get the notes between the hands and feet falling together and to have the duration of the space between the notes be where it should be.

Fat Backs are one of the only exercises that improve playing right away. It's grounding and it just feels good to do.

CWS: What is the most fun gig you've ever played? What made it so fun?
WK: Let's see the most fun gig I’ve ever played would have to be the Sarasota Film Festival. A number of things made it really fun. First it was Lez Zeppelin's first fly away trip. We were all on an airplane together. My friend and mentor, Rob Draghi came down with the band and was helping to take care of things for us. It was really great to have him there. We arrived in Florida and walked off the rear end of the airplane onto the tarmac. We felt like we were in the famous photo of Led Zeppelin where they are standing by the wing of their jet. It was totally a Zep moment. Yes we are obsessed.

The show itself went as follows:

We started out by getting to meet Jerry Wexler, one of the founders of Atlantic Records. Jerry is a charming 89 year old gentleman who was responsible for signing Led Zeppelin to Atlantic back in the 60s.

The night of the show invoved an award presentation for lifetime achievement to Levon Helm of The Band. Levon's band played on the same bill as Lez Zeppelin. It was great to see him play drums, and the singer of his band Little Sammy was straight out of a New Orleans scene. Also appearing that night was Tom Scott. Mr. Scott is probably the world's most sought after saxophone player. He has played on more records than I could count or mention. It was an honor and a blast to play along side these very talented musicians.

Also in attendance was Mr. Jack Douglas who has produced records for everyone from John Lennon to Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and many other famous rock bands. Lez Zep had done a live radio show that afternoon before the gig, and after the gig we had a television interview. Probably the best part of the whole night was that the sound system was massive. I felt like we were playing Madison Square Garden because the sound was huge.

It felt like Zeppelin the way it is supposed to sound. Big, powerful and loud as fuck. It was great!

CWS: Has there ever been a situation where you feel being female has helped or hurt you as a drummer, and why did it help or hurt?
WK: Well, the Zep gig was for a female drummer, so obviously it helped being a female because I qualified right away. As far as I know being a female hasn't hurt me except for when I'm moving heavy gear all over town and my body realizes that I'm not a 6' 2" guy with arms the size of tree trunks.

CWS: Tell us something you've learned over the course of your drumming life that you wish you'd been told when you were a beginner.
WK: Well, when I started playing shows, it was always a nightmare to get my kit set up and ready to go onstage because no one had ever shown me how to do it. NYC clubs are ruthless when it comes to setting up quickly and getting off stage quickly. If you don't know how to put a drum set together it can be like trying to build a spaceship two minutes before takeoff. I used to dread the inevitable setting up process. I was more nervous about getting the drums together so I could play them properly than I were about the actual playing. Learning how to set up the kit so that it is comfortable for your body is so important. Learning how to do it when the clock is ticking, the sound people are cranky, the audience is in your way drinks spilling all over the place, and you have to get your ass on stage to be ready to play is vital.

CWS: What has been your most disappointing experience as a drummer? What has been your most inspirational experience?
WK: My most disappointing experience as a drummer was getting an audition for a great band, but I wasn't good enough at the time to land the gig. I got through the first run of auditions but made mistakes through my second try out. I was bummed, but it motivated me to get better.

My most inspirational experience happened recently. My grandma was in the hospital and I was really bummed out about it. I had to play a show in spite of how terribly sad I was feeling. I decided to play the show in honor of my Grandma. I didn't tell anyone. I just knew that's what I was doing. I took all of the emotions I had and love that I have for my Grandma and put it into the music. It was the first time I channeled such intense feeling into my playing. The result was a total satisfaction when the show was over. I knew I played with passion and the audience felt it. I felt so much better after playing and I learned how to be inspired even when I feel like everything sucks.

CWS: What are your strong and weak points as a drummer or band mate?
WK: I think my strong points are my timing and musical sensibility. My ability to play what's right for the song. At the moment my weak point is my right foot. For regular rock stuff my bass drum foot is more than adequate, but to play Bonham requires footwork that is lightening fast and more powerful than a Mack truck. Check out the 8th note triplets on Good Times Bad Times, and you'll see what I mean.

CWS: What is the single most important thing you do to continue improving your chops?
WK: Practicing basics all of the time is the way I believe chops improve.

CWS: Do you write music? If so, describe your songwriting process.
WK: Sometimes I write little songs just for myself. The process is I strum the five or so chords that I know on my guitar and start singing. I write down some lyrics, and before you know it I have a nice little song just for me. I also sing songs to my Boston terrier Quentin. Our favorite is "Who’s Got the Fluffy"?

CWS: Do you sing while you drum? If so, describe your mic setup.
WK: No I don't sing while I'm playing. It's too dangerous. Like driving drunk.

CWS:Who are some of your drumming inspirations and why?
WK: The first two people who inspire me are my mentors Paula Spiro and Rob Draghi. Paula is the founder of Female Drummers Workshop in Brooklyn, and Rob Draghi is a master drummer from Berklee College of Music. They are both amazing musicians and wonderful teachers. Whenever I play there is always something that comes from what they have taught me.

Up until the Zep band, I never really had just one favorite drummer. Currently because I'm studying John Bonham, he is my biggest inspiration at the moment.

CWS: What do you like most and least about playing drums?
WK: I love everything about playing drums. What I like least is trying to find a cab in NYC to pick me up with all of my drums.

CWS: Is there anything we didn't ask that you wish we would?
WK: If I want people to throw money at me when I play? The answer is yes!

CWS: How did the idea of an all female Led Zeppelin cover band come up?
WK: Our guitar player Steph Paynes thought it up. I think she was contacted by alien beings that instructed her to put this band together. She simply obeyed.

CWS: What are your most popular songs?
WK: They all seem to go over pretty well. People especially lose it when we do Whole Lotta Love. The Theremin middle section is pretty cool and our singer looks and sounds like she's having the hottest sex ever.

CWS: How long have you been together?
WK: The band's been together over a year and a half.

CWS: Is there a lot of pressure being compared to the original band?
WK: Yes and no. I think we put a lot of emphasis on getting the sound and the performance of the band to a level we feel respects the original as best as we can. It's challenging trying to duplicate such amazing musicians both note for note and in stage presence. Our band has its own unique energy that comes through the music even though are playing Led Zeppelin songs. We love the songs so much that the spirit and the feeling of the real McCoy does seem to come through.

Of course since we're all women there's always the added ingredient of people coming to see us just to judge if we can pull it off or not. Women playing Led Zeppelin are hard to find. We've heard people say they came to see if we could do it and that they forgot about all that once we started to play.

I think since it is Led Zeppelin, and they were arguably the greatest rock band ever to exist, it's only natural to be compared to them when we play.

CWS: As a drummer, how much do you try to imitate Bonham, and how much do you go your own way?
WK: I try to get Bonham's vibe as much as possible. He was obviously an irreplaceable part of that band. His sound and his presence were so signature, so important to the energy of the music, that when he died, Led Zeppelin was over.

As for playing Bonham's drum parts, I follow his patterns, fills, and feel on the songs as much as possible. Then there are times when I'm playing a gig and something extra wants to pop out. I've learned that there are certain parts of songs that I can play with a bit, and certain parts of songs that need to be exactly as they were written. It's impossible to improve on Bonham, so the times I may add something in are mostly in places where playing the song live is a bit different from the recording because of guitar layering or a fade out ending, etc.

We play Ramble On, and I don't think Led Zeppelin ever played that one live. So in the end, we rock it out more and I add in some extra stuff here and there in the outro. The closer I get to how Bonham was playing, the more I'm able to feel myself in the music. It's pretty cool.