FFWD Weekly
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| MUSIC FistfulofToes If local band FistfulofToes sound the way they've been described, like a bluesy touch of psychedelia wrapped up in a karma all their own, it's probably a reflection of their beginnings. Imagine you'd auditioned more than 30 singers to replace a guy who was leading your music down a dark hole. Now imagine that you and your guitarist are cruising down the street and you spot a dude with an intense aura, wearing a long black coat and carrying a guitar. So struck are you by the fact that he must be the musician of your dreams that your colleague convinces you to drive back the two blocks, roll down your window and hail your new comrade in arms. "He just looked like he might be the guy. We were going to another audition," explains Brydan Gierl, the group's drummer. "We kind of forgot about it for about two blocks and then Rocky (Hache) said, 'Screw it, we're going back.' I think Glenn (Peacey) thought we were going to roll him for his guitar or something, I don't know, he kind of stepped back and I just hollered out the window, 'Hey buddy, you don't happen to be a singer, do ya?' So we just shot him a tape right there and told him if he was interested to give us a call. He called about two days later and that's kinda how it started. "You know, I'm not much for karma, but that must be it." But that kind of cosmic happening was not enough to seal the fate of the band. "There's a lot of things that are in the karma field. Glenn had a picture that his mother had given him of myself and Walter (Beier) in the picture from a band we had about four years ago that was going nowhere as well - Nevermore. His mom picked it out of a newspaper and he had it hangin' on his wall. It wasn't until about two months after we were together that he realized it was me and Walter. So that was really freaky, too. There's a lot of neat things that just seem to be as if it was meant to be. Sounds kind of corny, but there it is," Gierl says sheepishly. Maybe that kind of karma helped the band gel. According to Gierl, the songs nearly write themselves, and the band had no trouble drawing on his passion for The Doors and Led Zeppelin, as well as their own diverse influences, and incorporating it into their sound. "Well, we touch on a lot of different stuff, we swing around through a lot of different stuff, we swing around through a lot of different styles, mostly blues, rock, but we do tip into jazz and we do quite heavy stuff at the same time. We've done acoustic shows where we tear down and use African drums, and Rocky does a lot of classical nylon string stuff when we do that. We kind of swing all over the place. I think people mostly consider us as psychedelic pop rock." So when this karmic, fateful blast from the psychedelic past performs on All Hallow's Eve, maybe your best bet is to buy a lottery ticket before you go to the gig dressed as a tarot card-reading Gypsy. After all, maybe their good karma is contagious. |