Laptop Jock

Zach Lewis is a simple guy. He doesn't need costumes, gimmicks, or other band members while performing as his one-man laptop act, Disposable Thumbs. Onstage it's just him, his guitar, and his notebook.

"There's a huge amount of freedom that comes with being a solo performer," Lewis says. "Onstage I've complete control over everything. The only person I need to sync up with is myself." Using, among other things, a MIDI pedal and light-sensitive oscillator (which he built himself), Lewis crafts upbeat electro-rock songs that bounce with a pop sensibility you'd expect from a major-label golden boy. His debut EP, We Watched the Sun Go Supernova, is a six-track record resonating with power chords and danceable beats. Being the ultimate DIY guy that he is, Lewis self-released the disc and says he plans to stay on the indie circuit despite his MTV-friendly sound.

"I don't know what [a major label would] be able to offer me without a lot of compromise," he explains. "There'd have to be some real big perk for me to consider it. There's neat little indie labels that [could group me] in with different kinds of bands that are doing similar kinds of things. I do all the recording at home, so I don't need anyone to finance that, and the manufacturing too — I've taken care of that myself."

Sure, a lot of doe-eyed musicians have said the same, but with Lewis you get the sense he really means what he says. If there's any doubt to his earnestness, consider his side project, Bird and Shirley Vermin, with girlfriend Alex Chitty. Together they coined the term envirock.

"It's synthetic music about climate problems and other things that are affecting Earth right now, like overpopulation and species depletion — that kind of stuff. So it's scientific and educational. Hopefully it will provoke some change on a social level for people to take a little more responsibility," Lewis says.

That's sweet, but Lewis also wants a little spice to kick up his various projects. For his upcoming EP, he's shaking things up by playing different instruments, like the bass, and working on more bizarre compositions. "I'm trying to get a little more experimental," he says. "The last EP that I did was pretty straightforward, and now I'm trying to write stuff that's a little less predictable but still has the same catchiness."