Scared of girls have a knack for writing catchy radio ready songs. They have a kind of Poison sound with some grunge sound thrown in. With Toggos unique vocals, these songs stick in you head. Scared of Girls is on the verge of breaking onto the national scene from their home in Los Angeles. With Toggo on vocals and guitar, Gene on drums and Mark on bass, it is only a matter of time before this jewel of a band breaks the bounds of the club circuit and are thrust to the pinnacle of rock stardom.
I got to watch your show last night from the web site.
Toggo – Oh, cool you saw the webcast!
Yeah, it was like 2 o’clock in the morning here but I stayed
up and watched it. What did you think of that show? Was it a good show
or bad show for you and the band?
Toggo – I was really happy with it, the
crowd was incredible. The place was completely sold out. They were just
goin’ nuts.
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I saw some of the pictures you put up this morning
on the web page. Toggo – Yeah, it was a good crowd. It was sort of strange, no one could get within ten feet of the stage, because there were three camera men and a ton of photographers. Your set is all original songs, except for the little impromptu, “Relax” thing. Toggo – That was a real impromptu thing. It just sounded cool while we where up there. Here is the question you’ve probably been asked too many times, but is there any meaning behind the name Scared of Girls? |
It’s definitely one of those stick-in-your-head kind of names. Next question. How would you describe your sound and style?
Toggo – We have been called a hybrid. A mix of Green Day, Alanis Morrisette and Queen. I think that’s a pretty big complement. We don’t sound like anything on the radio right now, which I’m really glad about. All you’re hearing right now is the watered down, 10th generation, bubble gum, Blink 182 bands. And they all make Blink 182 sound like the Ramones or the Sex Pistols, which is kinda sad. But we do have a very radio friendly sound. So, I don’t know how else to describe it?
What then influences you in your writing? Is it TV or say, friends and family or other music?
Toggo – Yeah, relationships. You know the greatest thing in the world is to get dumped by someone, cause you get amazing lyrics.
You can get a whole album out of it.
Toggo – Yeah, yeah. There is one song on the album called “Monday Morning” cause up until about 3 years ago I had a day job and hated it. As far as musical influences, I would have to say the biggest is from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Acts like Billy Holiday, Ella Fitgerald and stuff like that. I think that’s why a lot of people hear Queen. Freddy Mercury was very influenced buy the same people. Other than that, I love Aerosmith and Alanis Morisette. Beth Hart is actually one of my influences. She had a quick little hit a few years ago, but she has an amazing voice. Most of my influences are female singers.
You have a pretty notable resume of sorts. From ESPN2, the Star Wars documentary, you even had a part in the movie Hollywood Vampyr, along with being on the sound track. I’m sure that has helped push you and the band in front of a larger crowd.
Toggo – Well, Hollywood Vampyr never made it to the movie theater, it’s a DVD and video rental. Galaxy Far, Far Away came out when the second Star Wars came out. That was in a lot of theaters and garnered a good bit of recognition. I think it was the number one film on Ifilm.com. They get something like 2 million hits a month. It was also the number one independent trailer for one or two months in a row. So oodles and oodles of people heard our song, “Head Over Heals”, because it’s featured in the whole trailer.
| You also took part in a documentary, too? Toggo – Oh, yeah. There is a production company called Street Music L.A. They made a documentary about us as a band. I guess they have Emmy awards for local L.A. things, too. It’s nominated for an Emmy award. Other than that, we have done a TV show in Japan. We got a lot of attention for that. Through that we are potentially in liaisons with Playboy Japan. So it looks like they are gonna watch us over there. That’s definitely got to be exciting for you. I understand you’re an avid skier? |
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So how did you end up in L.A.?
Toggo – I came here about ten years ago. I went to music school here and just ended up here.
All the guys in your band are from far away places. How did you all wind up in the same place at the same time?
Toggo – Yeah, Gene is from Canada and Mark, our bass player, is from Louisiana.
What are the chances of ever seeing Scared of Girls playing out here in the east?
Toggo - Oh yeah, for real. We are mixing in the studio right now. We really haven’t done a U.S. shopping. We just kind of bumped into the European and Asian stuff. We have been really fortunate to have a lot of people that want to work with us, so right now we’re gonna start taking on some decent size management and a new agent to get us out there on a national basis. So I really don’t know when, but hopefully it’s not too long before we start getting around the country.
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We talked about your live show earlier, but
so everybody knows, what would you say that someone could expect from
seeing you live? Toggo - I think it’s a very pure experience. The one thing that people always tell us is that the energy from the stage is overwhelming. It doesn’t have much to do with how much we move on stage. We really love being up there on the stage. Me as a front man, I don’t really have any fear of being up there, so when I’m there I connect with the audience. I always look at everyone and have fun. We have such a great time that 90 percent of the time I have a big grin |
That’s cool, cause if you see the band up there having fun it spills over into the crowd.
Toggo –Yeah, People can relate to it and think, he’s just like us. As long as you don’t bring any complexes, nervousness or shyness, leave that at the door. If you’re in a great mood and everything about you is let go up there, then they fully latch onto that.
Are there any plans for new material or recordings?
Toggo - Like I said, we are in the mixing stage. It’s not a full album, just a few songs. There is a brand new song called, “I Want You To Know”, that we are probably going to release on-line as a free download.
All the songs I have heard of you have been off your site, so that definitely works. And my complements to you and the rest of the band. Those songs should be all over the radio.
Toggo – Spread the word, brother. That is one of the most common comments we get, for the web site and shows and all of the world. People are like, “Why isn’t this on the radio?” That’s like the greatest complement to me. We do sound very different and people have the tendency to either fall in love with my voice or say, “Oh my god, he’s the most annoying guy in the world”, which I think is awesome, cause that’s the same that happened with Robert Plant or Alanis to Guns and Roses. Also, when you have something different you have to fight a little harder because it’s not the cookie cutter. We are definitely getting closer, it is going really well. We are excited about the next six months or so. People in high places are really starting to notice and our shows are selling out. So we are starting to become undeniable.