Toe To Toe released their new album, ‘Rise Up‘ late last month via Golden Robot Records.
If you are yet to do so, you can order the album on CD [Here], iTunes [Here] or Vinyl / Merch Bundles [Here].
They’re about to take the album out on an East Coast tour which runs through May / June up and down the eastern seaboard. You can catch them in Woy Woy, Ulladulla, Canberra, Melbourne, Frankston, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Dates and details further down the page. The originally planned Sydney show at The Record Crate has been cancelled. Stay tuned for a new Sydney show announcement soon.
To find out all about the album, we caught up with drummer Deitzy to answer our On The Record questions this week. Take a read of his answers while listening to the album below.
‘Rise Up‘ was always something that Toe to Toe has been about. The average Joe vs the rest of the world. We’ve all felt that kinda way at one time or another. You only gotta look at the world around us, big corporations run the show, so if we don’t stand united as the little guy, they’ll wipe us off the face of the world. So it seems kinda fitting don’t ya think?
Tell us about the artwork.
Macca came up with the whole art concept and theme, a classic Us v Them art to tie in with the title track.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
CD and Vinyl release bundles are up on our website as well as digitally on iTunes and Spotify if you can cop the ads!
Who will it be released through, and when?
Golden Robot Records released it on 28th April, 2017.
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We had all recorded in various studios around the country, but the label had some contacts with A Sharp Studios in Riverwood. Glad we did, coz Richard Lake went above and beyond to look after us out there, go check it out! Great sound, great dude, and downstairs had $3.50 Pork rolls!
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
We just didn’t want to write another “hardcore” record. We love big sing-a-longs, chants, and catchy choruses, so we spitballed about 30 ideas and got em down to the 12 on the record. Checky is actually the mastermind behind the songwriting on this record. He basically wrote this whole fucken thing. Checky, Macca and myself probably spent 6 hours a day on the phone to one another for the better part of a year recording, arranging, talking, psyching each other up and counselling each other on the roller coaster that was making this record. It’s hard when you all live away from each other, but with GarageBand, the internet and being on the phone at 5am on the drive to work, and til midnight every night after our families had gone to bed, we made this happen! And we are stoked with how it turned out.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
Nothing in particular, but I know there was some crazy conspiracy and religion doco’s, Biggie Smalls, some English Skinhead and hooligan tunes.
Were there any albums you were referencing in the studio to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Individually we all had an idea of how we wanted to sound, but no specific references. We had the help of Steve Balbi in the studio as producer and it was a breath of fresh air to have a different perspective on the music we love.
How long did you spend in the studio recording?
8 days all up for recording, another 5 to mix.
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
Each song was different, some songs I recorded with the demos, some just a click, some with Checky, some both, and our tempos varied a lot from what we demoed, just had to keep the energy in every song so that would influence how we recorded. But basically drums and bass guides first, then checky got his sounds and punched his songs out in record times then hit the bottle! Hahaha it’s not a recording without a drunk checky! Then guitars just leapfrogged each other and did the most they could on every track and we just picked the best and most effective parts to keep and finally Macca came in and spat gravel on them! We had some time constraints which I think helped made us push ourselves a little more and got everything we could out of ourselves.
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
Normally we do a live recording to keep that energy, but this was a little different. Still the same main focus, get in there and don’t fuck around, it is punk rock after all. Don’t bore us, get to the chorus!
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
No guests this time around, our last 7″ we had Lou and Craig from Sick of it All and Freddie Madball.
When it comes do naming the tracks, is there any particular approach or process to it all?
This is all Macca’s department but usually once he has his subject matter and chorus, the song title basically writes itself. He likes to leave it a little open to interpretation.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
Just different amps we never thought we’d use on a punk rock record, but they worked thanks to Steve and Richard.
Any memorable studio moments?
Lots of laughs, a few too many drinks, some pretty wild stories, but what goes on tour stays on tour!
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
Not recorded, but we’ve got enough songs to record another album tomorrow!
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
We’re pretty lucky that we can’t write a song over 3 minutes, so we’ll be able to fit fit most of em into our set. We love playing Sydney coz it’s a good singalong!
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
Bigger, better and the best songs that we’ve ever written!
Anything else you want to say or about the release?
This record almost broke us! There was a lot of changes and a lot going on in our lives around this release, so to have come out the other side with a finished copy that basically contains our blood, sweat and tears, makes us appreciate the fact we still get to do this 20 years after Toe to Toe’s inception.
TOE TO TOE
MAY
13th – Woy Woy Leagues Club, Central Coast [18+]
19th – Marlin Hotel, Ulladulla [18+]
20th – The Phoenix, Canberra [18+]
JUNE
3rd – Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne [18+]
4th – Singing Bird Studios, Frankston [18+]
9th – Crowbar, Brisbane [18+]
10th – Miami Shark Bar, Gold Coast [18+]
—> Tickets available now.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
Monolith
Bastards Luck
Endurance
My War, My Way
First Sin
Take Down
D.T.O.M
Rise Up
Blacklisted
Turn Your Head Around
Rub Of The Green
Sydney
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