Today we are joined by Todd Stone. He comes from a very musical family and wears his influences on his sleeve. Fans of The Cure and Joy Division will definitely want to check him out, but I recommend everyone give him a listen regardless of your musical preferences!
You come from a very musical family. What can you tell me about what that was like and what impact it had on you?
Todd Stone: Yes, my family from my Mother’s side were very musical. My Grandparents used to play to the US Army troops, based here in the 2nd World War. My Grandad on piano and my Nan singing. My Uncle who I haven’t seen since I was a young teen, used to play keyboards in Georgie Fame’s band, The Blue Jets. But he chose to go into business after a short spell of that. Growing up it was kind of normal listening to my Nan playing the piano & my Mum was always singing about the house and the radio was on every waking hour.
You played in “The Wicked Messengers” & “The Love Rats”. What were those experiences like? What did you learn from being in those bands?
TS: “The Wicked Messengers” and “The Love Rats” were my first experiences of playing live. I kind of always wrote everything and then put it to the band and they would fill their parts in. The band members never really came to me with anything they had written. Live I think we were really good, we took our fooling around with us to the stage; at times it got to be more of a comedy show, but it was a great time of drink and other stuff going on. but the downside of being in those bands was nothing really got organized. We really needed a manager to reign us in and keep us under control.
Why did you decide to pursue a solo career?
TS: I went solo, because I felt I could be more serious about the music and not have to rely on other band members turning up or not turning up. Also, I had a lot of songs inside me I didn’t feel were suitable for the bands I’d played with before. I locked myself away and recorded morning, noon, and night. I feel I’ve been at my most creative on my own. But maybe in the future I will get another band together, but there will be restrictions on the drunken behaviour that seems to go on with being in a band.
Why did you choose to do all of the instrumentation yourself as a solo artist?
TS: I played all the instruments myself for 2 reasons. I wanted to grow in my musical knowledge and really push myself to see what would come out. It was a great excuse to explore instruments I had very little experience of. The other reason is I knew what kind of direction I wanted to take the music in and when you have other people involved it tends to get pulled into other directions. I’m very selfish when it comes to my songs.
“Emotion for me in a song is everything.”
Tell me about the importance and impact of emotion on your songwriting.
TS: Emotion for me in a song is everything. I write what comes from the heart and I’m gravitated to music that has an overwhelming sense of emotion, and emotion covers a lot of ground, from happiness, sadness, anger etc.
What do you hope people get from your music?
TS: I hope when people listen to my songs, that they can relate to the lyrics or get where I’m coming from. I have a lot of depressing songs in my catalogue, but amongst them there are rockier ones and happy pop type songs.
Your song writing seems very much rooted in a certain time and place. For me, as a US citizen, I get a late 70s early 80s London vibe. What is it about that music and that time and place that speaks to you?
TS: I guess the early eighties for me was a very inspiring time, especially as I was in my early teens. I was discovering myself. Bands like “The Cure,” “Bauhaus,” “Joy Division” spoke to me the most. I could relate a lot of what was going on in my life to the lyrics of their songs and the general mood of their tracks. But I feel music had tons more emotion in it back then than it does now. Even the silly pop songs had more originality to it. I think Cyndi Lauper was massively creative in her image as well as her music.
What is your view/opinion of the current music scene in London?
TS: The current music scene, I don’t think has changed a great deal. There’s some great bands out there, but due to how easy it is to record these days and get exposed, I feel the market has flooded itself. But as always the record companies seem to only be interested in kids with very little talent other than to sing. I believe it’s because they’re easier to control and package exactly the way they want it. Which is a great shame for the real bands out there with masses of talent, that have their own very strong image and style of music. London still has a lot of great venues to play, but sadly over the past decade they do seem to be in decline. If live music became more popular again, maybe the record company’s would look more at the live bands that are out there doing it.
What inspires you?
TS: What inspires me, the main things that inspire me, is seeing someone make something of themselves from nothing and seeing people who have some form of disability, just not letting it effect their lives and then go on to achieve amazing things. It has often brought a tear to my eye. I’m silly like that.
What are your plans for the future?
TS: My future plans have already been planned out, well at least the next 2 albums. I plan on doing a very acoustic set of songs & do them live.
If you could be one kind of donut what would it be and why?
TS: Haha I think at times I am a donut, just a plain ol’ donut lol
Follow Todd at Reverb Nation: http://reverbnation.com/toddstone
Some Kind Of Muffin 