True Grit

A manic merger of country and surf sounds played out by an inner-city band, The Toot Toot Toots' music is full of dramatised juxtapositions. Influenced as much by performing on stage as they are recording in a studio, the Melbourne band released their debut album Outlaws earlier this year to much acclaim.

Their musical inspirations range decades, and atop sits a literary influence to match.

“David Milch who wrote Deadwood [the American, western-themed drama series] was a big inspiration for the aesthetic and where we approached Outlaws from,” percussion man Giuilano Ferla reveals. “I really like [Charles Portis' 1968 novel] True Grit,” adds vocals/guitar man Dan Hawkins. “And Nick Cave,” Ferla nods in agreement. “I think Nick Cave tells great stories. The way he channels the Gothic country sound and also a really suburban lyrical inspiration. He was a big influence, especially on our first EP.”

However, The Toot Toot Toots' biggest influence comes from theatre. Ferla and Hawkins met through a university performing arts course and both remain active in the scene; Hawkins, a high school theatre studies teacher and Ferla, a playwrite and theatre company operator. Motivated by their backgrounds, each of the band's releases to date has been thematic and centred around rich fictionalised concepts. Their 2010 EP Curse The Crow was set in a suburban dystopia and focused on the misfortunes of a hapless family. Outlaws, their first shot at a full-length, tells the tale of a Jewish migrant drawn to the goldfields of rural Australia. Amid themes of vengeance and bloodshed, lust and loyalty, lies a gift of vivid story telling. An art Hawkins and Ferla wish to further explore in the future.

“We keep on saying that we're not going to write a concept album for the next release, but we always find a concept and do,” jokes Ferla. “The one that we're currently working on, I have this big plan of making it a trilogy of albums that all link up to each other.” Ambitious, like everything the band does, Hawkins agrees, explaining the merits of developing a plot though musical imagery.

“I like doing concept albums. I think that if you can write a cohesive story that goes over 12 tracks, but each track can also stand alone as a pop song, then there's no reason why you shouldn't do it. Ideally, when you listen to one of our songs you can take it out of context and enjoy it for what it is. Then there's the added extra where you listen to it in the context of the whole album and it works on two levels.” He pauses, before qualifying. “It's always a thin line. The danger is if you take it out of context, some of the themes might seem harsh or violent. It's kind of like Dead Kennedys when Jello used to write ironic or sarcastic songs and some people would take it literally. They started getting all these right-wing weirdos coming to their shows. I hope that doesn't happen to us,” he laughs.

The band's theatrics aren't limited to lyricism, though, and using everything from spaghetti-western screen projections to on-stage go-go dancers, their sounds truly come to life on stage. “You can't bank on albums that are entirely all fun,” says Hawkins. “It's a bit of a flash in the pan. There might be something that's hilarious or of the moment, but that only lasts for a few listens. You want to do something that is a bit timeless, so you have to take it seriously when you go into the studio,” he says of creating solemn recordings. “But live shows are a fleeting thing, because they're of the moment.”

The Toot Toot Toots will be playing the following shows:

Friday 26 October - Devilles' Pad, Perth WA
Saturday 27 October - Railway Hotel, Fremantle WA
Sunday 28 October - Rock It Festival, Perth WA
Saturday 3 November - Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne VIC
Friday 9 November - Karvova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Saturday 10 November - Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine VIC
Friday 16 November - Baha's Tacos, Rye VIC
Saturday 17 November - Beers by the Bay, Mornington Race Course VIC
Friday 30 November - Barwon Heads Hotel, Baron Head VIC
Saturday 1 December - Apollo Bay Hotel, Apollo Bay VIC
Saturday 8 December - Meredith Music Festival, VIC
Thursday 13 December - Rocklily, Sydney NSW
Friday 14 December - The Junkyard, Maitland NSW
Saturday 15 December  - The Great Northern, Newcastle NSW
Sunday 16 December - Yours & Owls, Wollongong NSW
Monday 17 December - The Phoenix, Canberra ACT
Saturday 22 December - The Loft, Warrnambool QLD