Quasars, Photons, and Clint Black

Former Zom Zom and Old-Timer Patrick Healy sounds off about his high-energy solo project Pataphysics, his upcoming ski trip, his Austin City Limits debut with Clint Black, and why he qualifies to play the Make Austin Weirder Fest Saturday at Lovejoy's, starting at 4pm. Might as well jump:

"My new live show is called Pataphysics. It's more in the vein of the Old-Timerz, but there's no band yet. I've been taking my time recording an album that will be called Pataphysics. The project itself has been around the longest out of all my bands, because it's just me making up songs that I think are fun and having some of my friends sing or play instruments on them if they have time. For instance, my song "You Make Me Feel Like a Weirdo" features my friends Isabel Martin and Jennifer Moore [of Yellow Fever] on backup vocals, the leftist Le Tigre schlock of "Shopping Mall" was composed with Matt LaComette, aka Aunt's Analog, and my cover of Nirvana's "Breed" features vocalist and synth enthusiast Phil Philmapster. That song may end up on a compilation that Dustin Pilkington of Best Fwends is putting together with Finally Punk, Dumb Haircuts, the Sneeze, etc.

"I will be going on a skiing trip with Phil pretty soon. My mom is worried because some 14-year-old kid died at the park we are going to in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Travis snowboards, and I ski, but we have both been doing it since we were knee-high to a grasshopper. We're going to totally shred the slopes. Hopefully we don't die. My goal is to download the same playlist that Captain Nowak listened to in her car on the way to Florida and put it on Travis' mp3 player that we used on Zom Zoms tours. That way we will be really pumped up for the drive across West Texas.

People might doubt that I could make Austin weirder than it already is, but I will give it a good try. And how could I have the temerity to claim that I am weird enough? Hell, I've already been on Austin City Limits, and I'm a nobody. How's that for a start?