(funk music)
- [Toro y Moi] My ear always gravitates towards
like the flange or the phaser,
or any of the modulation,
or the mix, or the type of compression.
I think it's just the producer ear or something,
but like, I'm going deeper into like the sonics.
(funk music)
Tory y Moi is a project I started,
probably when I was like 15.
It was around that age where I knew
that I kind of wanted to just play in bands.
I told my parents that I wanted to quit football
and started playing guitar.
At first they were shocked,
but then they were like,
just glad I was doing something with my time after school.
My first guitar was a classical guitar.
My mom got it from the pawn shop.
And then my first electric was a Fender Jazzmaster,
from 2008.
I saw Thurston Moore more play with a Jazzmaster
and I just thought it was the coolest style of guitar.
("Postman" by Toro y Moi)
♪ Mr. Postman ♪
♪ Did I get mail ♪
♪ Did I get a letter ♪
♪ Did I get a postcard ♪
♪ Ooh, Mr. Postman ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Ow ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Just another bill ♪
♪ Today ♪
♪ Just another bill ♪
♪ To pay ♪
♪ Mr. Postman ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Ow ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Mr. Postman ♪
♪ Did I get mail ♪
♪ Did I get a postcard ♪
♪ Did I get a package ♪
♪ Mama wrote a letter a long time ago ♪
♪ Then she hit her head, God bless her soul ♪
♪ She forgot to put it in the mailbox ♪
(guitar riff)
♪ What the fox ♪
(funky instrumental breakdown)
(music ends)
Postman, there's a couple ways to look at it.
Postman, as in like postmodern man, post pandemic man.
Potentially, you know, like post,
like after all of this, man.
Also, just supporting the US Postal Service.
Quarantine made me realize,
"Oh yeah, this person stops by here every day. Hello."
(funk music)
(chill funk music)
I think being from South Carolina,
you're always around, like, roots music.
And so, my ear just sort of gravitated to
the freak folk stuff, like Devendra Banheart,
and even some, like, Elliot Smith.
Kind of turned into this love for acoustic-based music.
My first band was a three-piece, actually.
We were a cool little, like indie, rock trio
that sort of had some emo tendencies.
And then my next band became like a passion project.
That was a four-piece.
That's the one that really sort of helped me shape my skills
and the four-piece is the thing
that taught me how to just like sit back,
be a little bit more of a dynamic player.
And then Toro spawned off of that, so.
Yeah, I've been doing Toro since 15.
("Magazine" by Toro y Moi ft. Salami Rose Joe Louis)
♪ Nothing here to see, factories overseas ♪
♪ Cut down all these trees, we building Model T's ♪
♪ No more drama, please ♪
♪ No more Dramamine ♪
♪ I'm throw it up all over all the seats ♪
♪ This man in the magazine ♪
♪ It's just us we wanna see ♪
♪ This man in the magazine ♪
♪ It's just us we wanna see ♪
♪ I don't know how to get up out of bed ♪
♪ The thoughts of what you said are in my head ♪
♪ I wanna be away from everyone ♪
♪ And shatter all the daylight in the sun ♪
(gentle instrumental breakdown)
♪ Rosemary bushes still grow everywhere ♪
♪ Cut and burn it all so we can say a prayer ♪
♪ How did I get so wrapped in current affairs ♪
♪ Inescapable extinction tries to scare ♪
♪ I don't know how to get up out of bed ♪
♪ The thoughts of what you said are in my head ♪
♪ I wanna be away from everyone ♪
♪ And shattered all the daylight in the sun ♪
(bass riff)
(guitar solo)
(Toro y Moi vocalizing)
(music fades out)
- Magazine, like again,
another song that has, like, a couple of meanings.
Throughout the whole record,
there's these themes of like physical content.
Mail, magazines.
It's sort of a response to media
and how things have gone digital and less physical.
It really stemmed from things just happening in the world
that are like, "Why is this on the news?"
Like, "What is this feeding me?"
And so, Magazine is about
just knowing like, where to find truth.
(chill funk music)
I'd say a lot of this record,
is probably almost, like fallen to the background.
The riff is that simple.
I don't want your attention for that long.
I think I want you to just sort of like,
listen to the groove
more than the, the actual notes sometimes.
Just the textures. ("The Loop" by Toro y Moi)
♪ Oh my, where did the weekend go ♪
♪ Oh man, Monday snuck up so fast ♪
♪ No one keeps me in the loop when I get back ♪
♪ Guess it's up to me to stay in the loop ♪
♪ Oh, stayin' in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop, yeah ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop, yeah, uh ♪
♪ You gotta stay up in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop, yeah ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop ♪
♪ Stayin' in the loop, yeah ♪
♪ East coast friends, fill me in ♪
♪ I know you get the early scoop ♪
♪ Online trends that border cringe ♪
♪ Start to feel overused ♪
♪ I saw this band I think you'd dig ♪
♪ But the record got bad reviews ♪
♪ But then the singer looked into my eyes ♪
♪ All away across the room ♪
♪ And he said, "Damn" ♪
(funky instrumental breakdown)
(Toro y Moi vocalizing)
♪ St. Louis to New Orleans ♪
♪ Someone take me off my feet ♪
♪ Rode horseback down the Mississippi ♪
♪ Someone gotta keep me in the loop, please ♪
(instrumental breakdown)
(distorted guitar riff)
(music builds)
(guitar solo)
(music intensifies)
(music ends)
I would say "The Loop" is probably my favorite to play,
out of these three.
It's just such a fun groove.
(background funk music)
It's really about,
you wanna stay in the loop, it's up to you.
You know, you have to do it.
It's not gonna be presented to you.
The algorithm's not gonna show it to you.
Like you have to go find it.
It's about keeping in touch with friends.
(guitar riff)
I think the hardest part of the process is really,
nailing down the lyrics and figuring out like,
what you wanna say and how you wanna say it.
That's something I always just like, tell myself,
is just like, "Who are you writing for?
And where are they listening?"
Like, "Are you writing for like a younger crowd
in like a big room,
a older crowd in a small room,
one person in headphones,
three people on the train."
That's how I like to think about it.
What do I want to hear, like on a train?
(Toro y Moi chuckles)
(music intensifies)
(music ends)