California has always been best known for its great weather and beaches, and in the music scene, So Cal is known for its surf rock roots. Living here in LA, we all know that there’s nothing better than laying out in the sun on the beach or by a pool, grabbing a cold drink and listening to upbeat music that just makes you feel…good.
Northern California’s Bag of Toys is just that – an upbeat acoustic surf rock quartet that knows how to create the right sound for your pleasant day out in the sun. The guys are set to release their second full-length album “Afternooner” (a clever play off of their debut album “Nooner”) on July 1st. Perfect timing too, right before everyone hits the beach for Independence Day.
“Afternooner” features a fresh sound that the band says to have made completely their own. It definitely does sound like spanking new twist on surf rock, as the guys feature two acoustic guitars while shelling out a catchy groove. Just as they claim, Bag of Toys takes you to a better place with their kick-back acoustic surf rock that doesn’t suck.
LA’s the Place got to explore this Bag of Toys. Steve Cowgill, lead guitarist answered some questions about this up and coming band and their new album. If it’s anything like the first, it’s bound to be fantastic.
LA’s the Place: Tell me, what was the driving force behind this album?
Bag of Toys: It’s hard to pick one driving force, but for me personally, I wanted to make a CD that I’d want to listen to if I wasn’t in this band. That’s always been my goal…to make music that I like to listen to. I’ve said it before, but I want this CD to be the one that people pop in when they fire up the backyard barbeque and have some beers with their friends in the sun. If we can do that then I think we accomplished our goal and made a pretty good album.
LATP: That sounds fair enough. Now, tell us how the band first started out. Was it an instant connection from day one?
BOT: There was an instant connection from day one, but it took several months before the full band was in place. Robert Tait (vocals/guitar) and I (lead guitar) met first through the musician’s section of Craigslist. We had some beers and jammed a couple tunes at Tait’s apartment and decided to start a band immediately after. So there was an immediate musical and personal connection that took place there. Then it took us several months of auditioning bass players and drummers before we found Joe Schewe (bass) and Robert Stadler (drums). But as soon as we jammed with each of those guys we knew they had found the right fit. So yeah, instant connections all the way around.
LATP: That is awesome! Musically, what’s one thing that you love about CA, that you can’t find in the rest of the US?
BOT: Hard to say because I still haven’t been all over the US, but I think that the one thing that’s musically unique in California is that you can find just about every type of music scene you want in this state. California is probably the most diverse state in the country and I think that’s reflected in the diversity of the music.
LATP: How has "life on the road" been for you? Good parts? Bad parts? Any favorite stops along the way?
BOT: We really haven’t been out on the road yet for an extended period of time, although we’ve done several mini-tours down to So Cal. I would have to say that the worst part for me is all the driving around and waiting around before shows. There is a lot of down time on the road.
The good part is that overall it’s fun as hell. You get to cruise around with your buddies, check out new cities and play a bunch of shows. That’s pretty tough to beat. Plus there’s the standard booze and girls answer. That’s definitely fun too. We’re hoping to be able to get out on an extended tour in the near future.
LATP: Why so you can drink more booze and meet more girls? I am kidding… (sort of). So what can fans expect on this new album?
BOT: Fans can expect more of the same vibe and feel as there was on our first CD "Nooner," but they can also expect to see some musical growth from the band. On “Nooner,” Tait wrote all the songs, then the rest of us would come up with our own parts. I’d write a lead guitar line and a solo, Joe would hammer out a bassline and Stadler would bang out a drumbeat.
But the songs on “Afternooner” were a lot more collaborative and there was much more influence and input from the rest of the band. Other than one song called “She Said”, which I sing lead vocals on, Tait still handled all of the lyric writing and singing just like on “Nooner”. So there’s a lot of continuity on “Nooner” from a lyrical melody and content standpoint. But the actual music of the songs was much more collaborative this time around. Tait wrote some of the songs from start to finish then brought them to the band just like on “Nooner”. But on some of the songs I wrote the music and then dumped the song off on Tait to write lyrics. Some of them we wrote them together. Joe wrote a tune called “Here She Comes Again” and Stadler had a lot of input on it, too. So the sound has evolved for this album because there were a lot more cooks in the kitchen. Basically we wanted to make sure that people that liked “Nooner” would dig the new stuff too, but we also wanted to make sure that we weren’t repeating ourselves and just writing “Nooner Part Deux”.
LATP: That makes sense. There’s nothing better than a quality collaboration. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you play live in LA sometime soon!
Please check out: www.bagoftoysmusic.com and www.myspace.com/bagoftoysmusic.
