Alex Winter

MOST EXCELLENT, FILM-MAKER

What music are you currently grooving to?

I was completely immersed in Zappa world until very recently – I listened to Civilization Phaze III a lot. Also a lot of jazz, Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno, Harold Budd and the Shostakovich symphonies, which are huge and speak to the cacophonous moment we’ve had in America. And McDonald And Giles, I love that album.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

My favourite album period is John Coltrane, A Love Supreme. My favourite rock album is The Who, Live At Leeds.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Kiss Alive, from the local record shop in St. Louis. I was in the Kiss Army! I thought they were amazing. I saw them in the St. Louis Checkerdome. It was fantastic because during Peter Criss’s drum solo for Beth the hydraulics broke and were jerking him around like he was on a broken carnival ride. And like a champ, he got through it.

Which musician have you ever wanted to be?

John Entwistle. I played bass and he was the greatest player in rock history.

What do you sing in the shower? AC/DC, especially the Bon Scott era, at top volume. If I don’t want to thrash my vocal chords, Joni Mitchell.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Elton John, Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting. And Ziggy Stardust – [it has] an epic quality that kicks you in the backside but isn’t too dangerous.

And your Sunday morning record? Not to be too literal, but I like Sunday Morning, The Velvet Underground. The quietness, the mournful quality.

ZAPPA is available now on altitude.film and will be on all streaming platforms in late March before coming to the BBC later in the year