Zammuto of 'The Books' Also a Thru-Hiker

Nick Zammuto, half of the musical duo, or band, or sound artists, "The Books," is profiled in a piece titled "The Books; Making sense of the noise" that appeared in the 14 June 2007 features section of the PreFixMag.com web site for "prefix magazine". [at least I think that's the correct citation]

Anyway, Zammuto is a former thru-hiker!

"Do you ever get inspiration for your samples by just walking outdoors?

"Oh, absolutely. I hiked the Appalachian Trail back in 2001 from Maine down to Georgia and that was a reset button for my whole brain. It was so nice to be outside in the peace and quiet. I didn't listen to music during that time and I didn't make any recordings, but I did a lot of listening to the natural sound of the forest. It's amazing how spending time outdoors can tune your senses in a way; it kind of brings you back in touch with the world in a really healthy way. I'm speaking for myself. Even my sense of smell has increased like a hundred times; it's been incredible. And a lot of our percussion comes from stuff we've found out in nature, like steeping on pinecones and snapping twigs and things like that.

"How long did it take you to hike the Appalachian Trail?

"One hundred twenty-nine days."

Well. Try this: go to the band's website at http://www.thebooksmusic.com/ and 'click to enter'. Then click on the blank check box (it'll make sense when you see it). It leads to a neat little piece about the Appalachian Trail hike. OR, given that these guys are artists, their whole web site may be changed by the time you get there and that part won't exist.