Chris Otero - vocals and bass
Ben Jones - keyboards
Randall Breneman - guitar
Pat Garvey - drums

12 Stone Toddler rock. But remember when rock was anti-fashion, didn’t stay in neat little categories, represented deviation from the norm?
Remember when rock plundered other genres and threw the bits into a hot cauldron?
Remember when rock meant bands with nothing in common other than a liking for loud guitars, stomping beats, electric hooks?
12 Stone Toddler bring this ethic back into the modern world. A marriage of opposites, combining heady eclecticism with a love of the three minute wonder. All shiny and new, yet visited at night by the ghosts of 20th century music. Swaggering with the chutzpah of a naked child threatening to wedge a fork into the electrical socket, each twist and swivel brings a new reason to love this band.

The enfant terrible of songwriters Chris Otero (vocals/bass) and Ben Jones (keyboards), infused with the potent musicianship of Pat Garvey (drums) and Randall Breneman (guitar), this is full blooded rock and roll, that recognises no boundaries.

With their boisterous debut album “Does It Scare You” already out on the streets and playing with the older kids, and having raised an army of followers and fanatics in their hometown of Brighton; 12 Stone Toddler spent the summer of 2008 unleashing their fierce live show out onto the UK festival scene:- straight after completing their second album “Scheming”, due for release in April 2009 on Amazon Records.

Having played live radio sessions with Mark Lamarr and Tom Robinson, received numerous plays on Radio 2 and Radio 6, sold out gigs at Brighton’s Komedia and Concorde 2 and London’s ICA, pulled big and loving crowds who jumped, gyrated and sang along at Glastonbury, Beautiful Days, Larmer Tree, Winterwell and Fire Gathering festivals; and with stunning videos shown internationally on MTV, here is a band accustomed to the big stage and ready to take on the world.

Ryan: Greetings, 12 Stone Toddler!
I do want to thank you all for taking the time out of your busy lives to do an interview for us here at HackTheMusic. So, thanks!

That’s perfectly alright, old fellow. Think nothing of it. And I mean that from all of us.

Ryan: So you have a new album, “Scheming”, pending release in physical format on the 13th of April. For the people who have not heard much off of this album, what can they expect to hear in comparison to your first album ‘Does It Scare You’?.

After going “flash, bang, pow, look at us!” with “Does it Scare You” we’ve taken the chance to do a few moodier songs and experiment with some subtler arrangement ideas on “Scheming”, although the new album does get just as heavy as the first, if not heavier… we’ve tried to venture deeper into both soft and loud realms, or subtle and blatant emotions- so hopefully the new one reaches further extremes.

In the running order it starts out on similar ground to “Does It Scare You” with the recognisable Toddler sound, in an opening salvo of snappy rock and roll treats. Then it darkens in tone as it ventures out into further musical territories, until eventually we reach the black heart of the album with songs like Scheming and Death in the Zoo which are quite melancholic tracks with fairly serious themes.

We tried to showcase Chris’s voice more with the new one and strip away extraneous musical distractions to let it shine through and demonstrate just what a great singer he is. We also used some more cinematic, atmospheric textures and (minimal) orchestral style arrangements on the new one.

There’s a graver mood that runs through the “Scheming” album whereas the first is a bit more boisterous and cheeky. There’s plenty of that kind of humour in “Scheming” also, but the emphasis is different, the humour’s more of a side dish than the main course.

Ryan: When I heard this new album, there was such an interesting environment to each song. There were plenty of instruments you don’t hear in mainstream or every day music, and they were used in very artistic and interesting ways. What was some of the funest and most bizarre instruments you played on this new album.

Our basic sound palette is of course vocals, guitars, bass, drums, organ, synth and piano,. These aren’t bizarre sounds, although they may occasionally be used in bizarre ways. The Hammond organ is certainly a very versatile instrument that can generate a surprisingly wide range of frequencies and sonic textures.

Then there are the extra instruments we brought in just for the recording: of these the only instrument that could truly be described as bizarre was the use of feedback generated by holding a microphone close to a tiny guitar practise amp, to sound like an uglier in-bred cousin to the theremin.

We used a lot of tuba, I suppose that’s a little unusual in rock although there are precedents- for instance there’s that Salvation Army band on Jugband Blues, from Saucerful of Secrets (Syd Barrett’s final song for Pink Floyd).

Our brass, flute and string sections were very satisfying to arrange and record, although not bizarre as such.

On the song “Scheming” we used a combination of glockenspiel and flute to sound like a mechanical organ like you’d find in a fairground carousel, again not unprecedented but vaguely esoteric. I so nearly gave myself a credit for the glockenspiel playing… some day we’ll release the prog rock version of the album credits, where it’ll say things like “Sir Patricke of Garvey performs rhythmes upon the bass drumme, the snare drumme, manifold cymbalines, assorted thom-thom drummes and divers percussione instrumentes for your listening delighte“. A special vinyl edition with a gatefold sleeve.

Oh, and the Jew’s (Jaws?) harp deserves a mention, that’s an instrument ideal for bizarre sections, making as it does a pleasing boiiingg sound which helped offset the seriousness of our foray into chamber music on “Drowning a Witch”.

Ryan: This album came out startlingly close to your first album. When I heard that Scheming was announced, I was almost speechless because it was so soon after. Are you guys going to tour a little bit and play some live shows, or will there be a new album next month [laughs]

Doesn’t seem that close to me, the first album seems a lifetime away! My daughter was born in the middle of the recording sessions for “Does it Scare You” so of course massive life changes have taken place for me since then.

Although between us Chris and I have about 80 more songs to finish, I suspect we won’t be recording a third album until we’ve gigged and promoted our work so far. Unless we’re offered lots of money to do it of course- in which case lead me to the studio! We’d like to gig more widely, and we’re very proud of our live show and band. Originally 12 Stone Toddler was an overwhelming live show, but like all songwriters we dreamed of making albums, so we got diverted into doing that. And we’re very glad we did, albums will live on after we die. But the recordings were only ever meant to approximate the spontaneous energy that happens with us live.

It’s good to know we have the potential to unleash sheer live mayhem at any moment, it’s a bit like wearing a superhero costume under your regular clothes.

Ryan: Unfortunately, I live so far away that I won’t be able to see any of your local shows. Can we expect any touring in America by any chance?

We have secret plans to get in through the back door. Watch this space…

Ryan: “Scheming” has some very interesting vocals, and equally interesting lyrics. What is your favourite piece based off of vocals, and what does it mean to you?

I love the haunting way in which Chris sings “Scheming”, which probably is one of the best songs lyrically also… I think Chris’s vocal brings out the mood of creeping paranoia perfectly.

My actual favourite bit is verse two of Seasick when the heavy guitars subside leaving just the brooding bassline and piano, hanging in the air like gathering stormclouds, and Chris drops the vocals an octave and whispers “adventurer who tried to touch forbidden treasure…” that’s the “shivers down the spine” moment.

Ryan: Have you turned on the radio lately? I do every now and again, and I was wondering what you think of what’s going on in the mainstream music industry?

I enjoy listening to Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio2, they often play songs I like. Mark Lamarr’s show is equally impressive. Radio2 also has a good folk show- I’m a closet folkie! There are a few other good Djs on BBC Radio6 although I gather this once great station has recently become subject to playlisting which is a great shame as it tends to lead to blandness.

I often have the radio on as background noise, but most radio music is kind of like a dusty old sofa you don’t particularly like or dislike but can’t be bothered to replace. You don’t find coins down the back of mainstream radio music though.

Ryan: “Does it Scare You” Is also an excellent album. I feel like there was an entire different mood behind this album, and was always curious of how you feel about that, and the transition into the style and mood of “Scheming”

With “Does It Scare You” we set out to make a bombastic, in your face kind of record, and we had a host of killer rock and roll tracks to launch it with. It kind of summed up what Toddler had always been, and gave suggestions of where it might be going next. It’s  deliberately a boisterous album, very like the name of the band in that it’s larger than life, demands your attention, is somewhat overwhelming, imaginative yet has a childlike innocence in a way, delight in breaking up old music and discovering/making new things.

Freud would call it anally expulsive!

Ryan: Now your style is so very unique, that I am curious to whom your musical influences are (or non-music influences are).

Well we all are fond of Frank Zappa although we don’t try to emulate his sound very often. I think Zappa’s eclecticism is a big inspirational factor, with iconoclasts like him or the Beatles you get to meet many different influences through a single artist, they can provide gateways into multiple styles and musical eras. Tom Waits is also a big favourite, although again we tend to try and avoid “doing a Tom Waits”.  We all have very eclectic tastes, there’s nothing much in the history of music that we’d consider out of bounds.

What are we listening to t the moment? When I’ve been in Chris’s van recently I’ve heard a lot of  Sam Cooke and 50s vocal harmony groups, and Tom Waits’ latest album is always on. I’ve enjoyed a live performance of Bach’s St John’s Passion this week, and listened to a lot of Mothers of Invention, and a little Abdullah Ibrahim, Charlie Mingus, and Dave Brubeck.

I think in songwriting one often draws on accidental influences rather than conscious or deliberate ones… songs can play unbidden in one’s head, often they’re other people’s songs, sometimes they turn out to be original ideas no one’s ever heard before.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’d thought I had a brilliant idea but had to scrap it because it was someone else’s all along. My favourite trick at the moment is the Salvador Dali thing of catching songs that come to me in dreams, I sing them into my mobile phone on waking. However they’re more likely to be an amalgam of TV themes from when I was little, nonsense from the radio, school hymns and the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber, than a careful distillation of “cool” influences.

Conversely, I was also very influenced by soul music in co-writing/arranging this new album, although it doesn’t directly sound like soul. The thing I drew from was placing the emphasis on a beautiful and emotional vocal performance, and stripping the arrangements down where necessary to emphasise that, something I’ve learned whilst moonlighting playing keys with soulstress Alice Russell (who kindly sang bvs on our second single) and her producer TM Juke.

Although comparisons between Chris and Mike Patten’s vocals have often been made, for me, Chris in his softer moments has a voice comparable to that of a classic soul singer like Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye, which deserves to be treated as such, with sympathetic arrangements.

Ryan: So who is your best ping pong player, because I challenge you! [flexes]

Randall our guitarist is the nearest we have to a sports jock- he’s a regular guy from sweet home Chicago, I get the impression you can be a creative person in the USA without having to have been a geek at school, (correct me if I’m wrong)- he’s very fast and competitive. Pat our drummer is a rough approximation of a normal person too, and therefore good at sport. Chris broke his wrist the other day trying to compete with him, so he won’t be able to take your challenge.

Me, I was always the last to be picked at games, I’m big, ungainly, hopelessly uncoordinated and fiercely proud of it! I’m a bona fide sports hating nerd. I used to run away from the ball to the fringes of the field and talk to nettles, something of a tradition amongst us English creative types. I wilt like a sensitive lettuce before baying crowds of hormonal males. I’m only writing this on a Friday night because I’m too neurotic to leave the house for fear of brushing shoulders with so-called fellow human beings who might alter my mood. Even the sissy’s sport of ping-pong is to me a descent into barbarism. I have the reflexes of a dying tortoise. But behind this blundering facade beats the cold heart of a killer. So yes, I take your challenge! You’re gonna die! (wobbles belly)

Ryan: Again, thanks a lot for doing this interview with us!

No problem, thank you for the interview. Love you! x