#Recordit kickass.to how to

I wanted to use the record as an excuse to get on the road, play some new music and play a bunch of old music. When I decided to do this record, I just wanted to have a good time. The pre-production and rehearsals were all just shooting the shit about some crazy shit that happened 10 years ago. What’s it like to be back on stage doing Toadies songs? It’s a cool balance to find because not many artists can strike that. I like juxtaposing those two things together. I’ve always wanted to do music that was on one level smart and on another level basic and kind of stupid. It’s a very personal style of rock, but it’s fun at the same time. I just grabbed onto it and expanded it into that song. It was just a real brief, intense feeling. That’s where “So Long Lovey Eyes” comes from. So you sit down, write a couple of lines and see what comes out of you. As a writer, whatever you feel when you get into a creative zone is an extreme feeling. Other stuff is drawn from what’s going on immediately. It’s a way to process subconscious stories. You get that attitude when you wake up the next morning to write a song, and that asshole you thought about is in the song. A lot of the Toadies music is written from me thinking about a character or a storyline that I’ve either overheard and embellished on or just made up. I got a kick out of getting back into The Toadies mentality. “Flower” on the new album does that too.Īwesome, that’s great! Most of the lyrics are inspired by personal experiences.

It’s cool that you caught that.Ĭlassic Toadies songs like “Tyler” pull the listener right into the moment. I decided to get back into the abstract on this one and make it more visual. In my other band, Burden Brothers, I went in a more emotional, and, occasionally, literal direction. That’s another part of the band that I realized was a big element of the sound. Would you say you’re more of a storyteller than a lyricist? It seems like on songs like “Man of Stone” and “So Long Lovey Eyes,” you’re telling some vivid tales. I could grab whatever was floating around my brain in the middle of the night and put it down in the computer really quickly. I wrote a lot in the morning because it was when my head was clear. When it came time to record it, we stayed pretty faithful to those demos. I’d go back later and figure out what the songs were about or what was going on there. It was pretty much the first draft of everything. I’d get in there, sing the first thing that came to mind and then go back and change whatever I wanted to change. Some songs took a week, but some happened in a matter of two days. I just sat at home with my Garage Band program, and I started knocking songs out. I wrote the whole record between August of last year and April of this year. Right on! I wouldn’t say this record was written hastily, but I will say I was on fire. You guys always captured urgent moments, and that energy comes through on the record.

#Recordit kickass.to how to

It’s hard to describe, but I know how to do it. Once I dove back into it, I realized what makes the essential Toadies sound. Getting away from it for so long and pursuing a totally different vibe with another band really helped. What was it like getting back into Toadies-mode? No Deliverance sounds like you guys never went away. Hanging out, Vaden took some time to talk to ARTISTdirect about No Deliverance, telling stories and why it’s good to be back. It’s their classic sound with a wiser perspective, but more importantly, it’s a batch of kickass rock n’ roll tunes. No Deliverance, due out August 19, is a strange trip back to Texas that only The Toadies could take. So, minus bassist Lisa Umbarger, The Toadies are back, and they’ve made their best record yet. In 2007, it just made sense to get back together with the old gang and start writing songs.

The band disbanded in mid-2001 after releasing their second album Hell Below, Stars Above, and, even though Vaden’s enjoyed success with his post-Toadies band, The Burden Brothers, there’s been a void for The Toadies. They’ve never quite fit in, but that’s why you still remember them. That’s the name of the game for the quirky Texas rock band.

Remember the first time you heard the jagged, off-kilter rhythm of their darkly comic hit, “Possum Kingdom?” When wiry mainman Vaden wailed, “Do you want to die?” during the song’s final crescendo, it was strangely inviting. It’s really cool.” Whether you heard them on Guitar or Hero or in Mom’s CD player, The Toadies are one of those rare bands that you can’t easily forget. Or they show up because they played the song on Guitar Hero. Vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis laughs, “Now at our shows, people say, ‘My mom told me to see you guys!’ That’s bizarre. Artist Direct interview Interview with Toadies