Zach Brock on Dirty Mindz, Effects, and Shaping the Modern Violin Sound

Interview by Jack Impink

You’ve performed with everyone under the sun: from Stanley Clarke, to Wycliffe Gordon, to Phil Markowitz, to – of course – Snarky Puppy. How would you say your playing style has changed through years of playing out with different acts?
Every project I’ve been a part of has left a mark on me. Playing with someone like Stanley Clarke—a living legend in the lineage of jazz history—opened up a whole new world of phrasing and pocket for me. And then with Snarky, you’re talking about this deep collective groove and a massive sonic palette — you start thinking differently about space and texture. I think over the years, my playing’s gotten a little more patient, maybe a little more intentional. Still love to burn, but I like other vibes just as much.

Growing up, you obviously studied the violin, but you also listened to hardcore punk and played the guitar in a rock band. How does that influence your playing style now?
Totally. That stuff is still in my DNA. There’s this raw energy and directness in punk and rock that I’ve always loved, and even though I might not be cranking out power chords on stage, I still try to bring that honesty in intention—especially when I’m improvising. Classical music gave me technique and a certain aesthetic, but punk taught me do-or-die intentionality.

Your solos in Snarky Puppy are electrifying. What specifically brought you to using effects in your performances?
Honestly, it came from just wanting to make the violin sound bigger—not just louder, but bigger. I wanted to get these guitar-like textures, or synth-like swells, or just break out of the “clean, sweet violin” box. When I started messing with effects, it felt like opening a whole new instrument.

Do you ever use effects for a more traditional quartet or ensemble setting?
Yeah, but it’s more subtle. I don’t want to take over the vibe. I might sneak in a little reverb or a touch of delay to give things some air, but it's always about blending. You’ve gotta read the space—and the arrangement.

What would you say is different about performing and improvising with and without effects?
Playing with effects is like driving a different vehicle. You’ve got all these textures to play with, but you also have to think more like a producer—shaping the sound as much as the notes. Playing without effects strips it all back; you’ve got to say more with less automation. Both keep you honest in different ways.

Your most recent album Dirty Mindz stands in such stark sonic contrast to your earlier albums. What brought about this change in the studio?
I think it was just time to stretch out. I’d been sitting on a lot of different influences—funk, jazz-rock, electronic stuff—and I wanted to get that all out of my system. The studio was the perfect place to play mad scientist and just go for it. Plus, working with guys like Eric Harland, Mark Lettieri, Justin Stanton, and Jonathan Maron really pushed it into new territory.

What was different about writing the songs for Dirty Mindz as opposed to writing the songs for earlier albums?
It was way more groove-driven this time. Earlier albums were more melodic and harmony-focused. With Dirty Mindz, it started with beats, with feels. And I wrote a lot more with the band in mind—knowing how Justin or Mark might interpret a section made it easier to leave room for magic to happen.

Throughout the album, your violin at times sounds strikingly close to an electric guitar. Growing up, would you listen to any guitarists that guided such a sense of distorted shredding and virtuosity?
Oh yeah. Hendrix was huge for me. I was also big into Albert King, Van Halen, Zappa, Vernon Reid, Steve Vai, John McLaughlin… the list goes on and on.

What’s on your pedalboard, and how do you track into it?
I usually run a regular violin with a pickup made by Eric Aceto into a Grace ALiX or FeliX preamp, and from there straight into my pedalboard. The core of it is an H90 (used to be two Eventide H9s), plus an expression pedal and the Melody EQ/Overdrive from J Rockett. It all goes into an amp and DI.

What led you to using not one but two H9s?
One just wasn’t enough! [laughs] Nah, it’s really about having flexibility. You can stack delays, reverbs, modulations—all without sacrificing any sound quality. It lets me build more complex patches and switch between sounds on the fly. Now that I’m exploring the H90, I’m realizing that my imagination is the limiting factor, not my gear.

Songs like “Dirty Mindz” and “The Way Home” cycle through an incredible tonescape—you can hear distortion and fuzz, reverb and delay, among lots of other flavors on your violin. What makes up the tones for some of those riffs and solos?
It’s a mix of things—overdrive from the Melody EQ/Overdrive, fuzz from the H9s, layered with stereo delay and reverb. A lot of it’s custom presets I’ve built over time. I just try to let the sound fit the mood. Sometimes it’s gritty and gnarly, other times it’s washed out and spacey.

And on the other hand, there is a consistent tone—light wah/phaser, delay—through songs like “Country Church,” “The Last Song,” and “Who We Are,” albeit with slight changes for each song. What makes up that ‘classic’ tone, and how do you change it so subtly?
That one’s kind of my go-to—light phaser from the H9, a soft delay, maybe just a hint of verb. It’s warm and a little mysterious, without taking over the track. I’ll tweak the depth or delay time slightly depending on the song’s vibe, but the foundation stays the same.

How often were you using studio rack FX versus your H9s?
Pretty much stuck with the H9s throughout. I wanted the tones on the record to be close to what I can do live. We did do some extra sweetening in the mix here and there, but the heavy lifting was all pedals.

On Dirty Mindz you’re working with drummer Eric Harland, who also joined you for your more traditional jazz album Almost Never Was. What was it like playing alongside him on such a different project?
Eric’s just this endless well of creativity. Doesn’t matter if it’s a straight-ahead tune or a groove-heavy track—he finds something fresh every time. On Dirty Mindz, he brought this elastic, unpredictable energy that really shaped the way we recorded those tunes.

Also on the Dirty Mindz roster are Snarky Puppy bandmates Mark Lettieri and Justin Stanton. What’s it like playing alongside them in your solo project as opposed to playing alongside them in other projects?
In Snarky, there’s this democratic swirl of ideas—we’re all supporting the whole. But in my band, they’re stepping into my musical world, and that dynamic lets them open up in different ways. They’re such killer musicians, they bring their full selves no matter what the setting is.

Would you ever plan on performing some of the Dirty Mindz songs with Snarky Puppy, or even stripped-down versions of them with a traditional jazz ensemble? Or do you think they exist in their own world?
You know, I think some of those tunes could totally work stripped down—maybe with a jazz quartet or even trio. But a few of them definitely live in that Dirty Mindz universe. That’s the beauty of it—some songs are meant to be chameleons, and some are just wild animals that can’t be tamed.

What’s next?
More music, always. I’ve been writing, experimenting with some new sounds, maybe even a more acoustic record down the line. But for now, I’m just excited to play these Dirty Mindz tunes live and see where they take me.