Toy - Interview

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 13 / 3 / 2012

intro

Anthony Strutt speaks to Maxim Barron about acclaimed Korg Delta led five-piece TOY’s two recent singles and his band’s debut album which will be out later this year.

TOY is a Korg Delta led five-piece which was formed in Brighton in 2010 and is now based in London. The group, which consists of Tom Dougall (vocals/guitars), Dominic O'Dair (guitars), Maxim Barron (bass/backing vocals), Alejandra Diez (keyboards) and Charlie Salvidge (drums/backing vocals, was noted in the first issue of ‘NME’ of this year as one of their new bands to watch in 2012. Their debut 12” vinyl single, ‘Left Myself Behind’, was released at the start of this year on Heavenly Records and is now in its fourth repressing. Its follow-up, ‘Motoring’, will come out in April this time on 7” vinyl to coincide with TOY’s first British headline tour. Both singles are also available as free downloads. Pennyblackmusic spoke to Maxim Barron about TOY’s two singles and his band’s debut album which will be out later this year. PB: Why the name TOY? MB: We saw the name engraved on an old toy chest at a friend’s house and the word jumped out at us. I think the name is succinct and memorable and goes well with our sound. PB: Were there any other names that you possibly were going to choose? MB: We were toying with the idea of calling ourselves the Fabulous Skymen for a while. PB: What is the history of the band? How did you all meet and when? Were you in any previous other bands? MB: Dom, Tom and I met at school in Brighton when we were thirteen and Alejandra moved from Leon in Spain to Brighton to work as an A and E nurse. We met her shortly after this and all moved to London together. We knew Charlie our drummer from Brighton, although he is originally from Gloucester. He joined us when he moved up as well. PB: You have toured with both the Horrors and the Pretty Things and been compared to both. Do you think you sound like them? MB: Not really no, although we enjoyed playing with them very much. We have listened to the Pretty Things from a young age so it was great playing with them. Dick Taylor and Phil May signed a copy of 'S.F Sorrow' for us. PB: You have been described as nugaze, psychedelic and just a good old-fashioned garage band? What do you see yourselves as? MB: We consider ourselves us. Each member listens to a lot of different genres of music and this influences what we do together. PB: Was anything released prior to 'Left Myself Behind'? MB: That was our first release. Our friends helped with the cover and Heavenly put it out. PB: Let me get this correct. Of that single a hundred copies were sold on the Horrors tour. Then 500 were sold in white vinyl and now 300 in black vinyl. Is this correct? MB: We sold a hundred white label at the Roundhouse supporting the Horrors with a photograph of the cover in the sleeve. I am not sure how many black and white vinyl we have done, but we have repressed it four times. We have a hundred left to sell on tour in April. PB: Why did you choose Heavenly to sign too? The white vinyl has been selling in the range of £20-£50 on eBay. Are you pleased with this? MB: Very pleased. The white vinyl looks great with the cover. I think we are getting a hundred white label of our new single for our tour in April and then we will release it properly on the 23rd. Heavenly were passionate about what we are doing so it felt natural to go with them. PB: Do you see yourself as part of a new scene at all? MB: A lot of our friends play in bands and we enjoy each other's company and music taste. If that's a scene, then so be it. A friend of ours Charles Boyer has just released his first single 'Ducks' on Blank Editions. Check it out! PB: Do you enjoying touring and playing live? MB: We absolutely love playing live. We can not wait for our first headline tour. PB: And what are your future plans? MB: We are getting ready to record our first album which is scheduled for release on the 10th of September, and we're doing some festivals this summer including Field Day, Green Man, Bestival and Summer Sonic. PB: Thank you.

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