Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951) is an American poet,percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels. He is regarded as a pioneer of industrial music.
In 1983, critic Roy Sablosky wrote: "Z'EV doesn't just break the rules, he changes them." Journalist Louis Morra wrote in 1983: "Z'EV is a consummate example of contemporary performance art, as well as modern composition and theater." and, "Z'EV realizes many of modernist art's ultimate goals: primitivism, improvisation, multi-media/conjunction of art forms, the artist as direct creator."
His work with text and sound has been influenced by Kabbalah, as well as African, Afro-Caribbean and Indonesian music and culture. He has studied Ewe (Ghana) music, Balinese gamelan, and Indian tala.
From 1959-65 he studied drumming with Arnie Frank, then Chuck Flores and then Art Anton at Drum City in Van Nuys, California.
See saw - up and down - around and round we go
Too late - we're out on the brink
Our love's in the sink - washed up
And when I'm walking down a rainy street
I think I hear you calling out to me
But it's just an echo I've arranged to meet
Free fall - we're out of control -
We never will know what went wrong
Too bad - what we had for a while
Has gone out of style this year
Your friends told me you moved out of town
I got your address and I wrote it down
I used the pen that you bought for my birthday
And every stroke, you know, reminded me of you
I realize that we'll never be together again
Wait a while - reclaim your loss
But it costs alot - you'll learn
Take five - it heals in time
You'll feel just fine - they say
But I feel it
See saw - in a way I'm glad
Though I still feel sad about you
I know it's too late for changing minds
And I'm still not sure I want to change mine
It's just a tiny part that says that this ain't right
See saw - up and down - around and round
They say it heals in time - they say you'll feel just
fine
In a way I'm glad -
Though I still feel sad about losing you