By Brett Ratner

t's always interesting talking to a musician a few years after their big hit single.

From the limited perspective of an ardent MTV viewer, the rock/pop outfit Enuff Znuff was your basic "one hit wonder" band, cleverly packaged in a most timely manner. As far as we knew, these could have been four dudes with cool hair and the right look plucked off the sands of Venice Beach and dropped on a video set to lip sync to tracks laid down by top session players. The "band" becomes temporary star before returning to their surfboards while the producer, musicians and record company pick up their checks business as usual.

Fortunately, this isn't the case. Making a hit record, (or single for that matter,) is a long, arduous process: the result of years paying dues playing bar gigs, living in your van, making yet another demo tape and still finding the time to write songs despite the fact you're not sure where your next meal might come from.

Enough Znuff is a prime example of this. The group has been in existence 10 years, long before "Fly High Michelle" exercised its short lived domination of MTV airwaves. The band has completed seven world tours since and has no plans of letting up. A brief conversation with bassist/vocalist/songwriter Chip Znuff revealed an intense individual possessing considerable business savvy tempered by a genuine passion for music. It is this combination that helps yield tunes which upon close examination are finely crafted, catchy pop-inflected rock songs. With the release of Tweaked, the band has been enjoying healthy sales in foreign markets. In reference to the November '95 U.S. release on the independent Mayhem record label, Znuff expresses slight disillusionment with the very system that garnered them fame a few years back.

"We have a great fan base," Znuff said, referring particularly to markets in Japan, where Tweaked has been selling considerably since its late 1994 release. "Bands that are huge here are just cult bands over there. It's living testimony that songs speak for themselves out there."

Znuff says that having a foreign market enables American bands to enjoy long-term careers and make more albums.

"[Foreign audiences are] a whole different trip," Znuff said. "It provides options when you're not getting radio or MTV support."

Acquiring stateside corporate support of any kind has posed a sizable problem for Enuff Znuff. It took almost eight months for American distribution to surface. At the time of this interview, the album had been out three weeks with little to no radio support. Nonetheless, Znuff is proud to have accomplished the album's completion and planned on marketing it the old fashioned way.

"It's a therapeutic record. We worked hard, we had no budget to produce this record," Znuff said, noting that the band will be hitting the road hard in support. "We were always a radio band, now we're starting anew."

While Znuff looks forward to upcoming gigs, he's also wary of pitfalls recently inherent to the live circuit.

"It's not as easy as in the old days when you'd pack up the bus and play," Znuff said. "There's so much product out there and not enough demand."

Znuff, along with lead vocalist/guitarist Donnie Vie, lead guitarist Gino Martino and drummer Ricky Parent look forward to their February trip to Japan, where they know they're in demand. The band also looks forward to a gig at Holland's "Melk Vig" and a headline slot at High Time's "Cannabis Cup" in Amsterdam. U.S. fans are encouraged to keep their ears peeled for "Bullet From A Gun", Tweaked's first single. In keeping with their recently acquired grassroots approach, the video was shot by Columbia College film students. Znuff also encourages listeners to check out his foray into producing with Stoney Records recording artists June Bug. The album Ticket To Hell features former members of Badfinger, David Lee Roth, Tora Tora, D'Molls and Degeneration.

Znuff is quick to express gratitude to national and international fans not influenced by fads and radio play for enabling Enuff Znuff to continue to make records and bring the music to the people.

Znuff said simply, "We hail you."