Like father, like son

DWEEZIL ZAPPA - eldest son of rock legend Frank Zappa - has been recreating his late father’s work onstage since 2006 as the leading light of tribute act Zappa Plays Zappa.

And he isn’t likely to run out of material any time soon as his old man released more than 60 albums prior to his death from prostate cancer at the age of 52 in 1993.

That said, even for a gifted musician like Dweezil, who first started playing at the tender age of 12, trying to match Zappa Snr’s monstrous guitar prowess is no easy thing.

“Dad’s style probably leaked through into me over the years, so I guess I’m genetically disposed to play some of it,” laughs the 43-year-old Californian. “But the majority I had to learn how to play from scratch and it took two years to sufficiently transform my own abilities to the extent I could pull it off – especially the songs off those early Mothers Of Invention albums like Freak Out and We’re Only In It For The Money.

“They might be more than 40 years old these days but they still sound like they’ve been beamed from the future. All you have to do is miss one little part and you can derail the whole band.”

The HMV Picture House, Lothian Road, tonight, 7pm, £30, 0844-847 1740