Interview by: Nando Machado
The group is promoting the album Phantom Amour, released last year
The American band Toothgrinder has been on the road since 2010, but it wasn't until Spinefarm, home to big names like Bullet For My Valentine , Ghost , and Godsmack , signed them that their career took off.
Hailing from New Jersey, Justin Matthews (vocals), Jason Goss (guitar), Matt Arensdorf (bass and backing vocals), Wills Weller (drums), and Johnuel Hasney (guitar and backing vocals) came together while still in high school, sharing the same goal: to have a band and make a living from music. But what none of them expected was that their third EP, Schizophrenic Jubilee (2014), would be the starting point that would allow them to have great experiences, such as touring with Trivium and their labelmates, Bullet For My Valentine.
And, for sure, they didn't imagine they would bring a thousand people to the packed Irving Plaza, a famous concert venue in New York, while sharing the stage with the Welsh band BFMV. “It’s incredible! Seeing our name in a place like that next to a 'sold out' sign is the best feeling,” Matthews said in an exclusive interview with Wikimetal .
“We are always learning new things and on this tour I learned so many different things that we will use in the future,” said Weller, talking a little about being on the road with the veterans of Trivium and BFMV, “The important thing is to always keep your mind open to learning new things, because there is always room for improvement and being on tour with them has been a great learning experience.”
As part of a new generation of musicians, they deal with situations that in the 1970s and 1980s were only part of science fiction films. “Today anyone can make a song and release it on the internet, because you can do everything without leaving your room and that’s great, but it wasn’t possible to do that in 1974. And then the question arises: What is the right way to do things and what is the wrong way, you know? There are so many ways to make music today, which is good and scary at the same time,” says Weller.
Matthews sees life in music during the digital age as somewhat invasive: “Our lives are exposed not only when we’re on stage, but also when we’re off stage, because of social media and everything else. Today, being in a band means everyone knows everything about you, every detail of your life.” However, he holds an optimistic view of the future: “I think the trend now will be for teenagers to go in the opposite direction. From what I’m seeing, the current generation has seen what the internet and technology did to the previous generation and is trying to escape it. And I hope that happens, you know, because then the world of music and art in general will regain that mystery it once had. And it will regain the same value.”
Being an artist these days can have its difficulties regarding privacy, but they don't deny that technology has helped them build the fanbase they have today, "We did some festivals like Welcome to Rockville, Carolina Rebellion and Rock On The Range with Tool! It's crazy." The tour is part of the promotion for the album Phantom Amour , released in October 2017.
The album is Toothgrinder's second, and they say the creative process remains the same: "Justin writes the lyrics and I write the melody," says Weller. "I feel inspired for all sorts of reasons. This might sound crazy, but the other day there was a storm and the sound of thunder inspired me. I know it's strange, but inspiration works like that; you can get it anywhere, in any way," he adds.
“For me, as a drummer, I’m always thinking about new things. I like to play a bit of guitar, so I’m always trying to create my own interpretation on the guitar. I write down all my ideas and send them to him [Matthews]. Sometimes I hear someone say something, and then I write it down and send it to him like, ‘Hey, I heard someone say this and it sounded really cool,’ and then he combines it with some crazy idea he had. It’s an endless process. You’re always creating something. The best ideas come when you least expect them. I can’t decide that today I’m going to compose a song and that’s it. I don’t work like that. When inspiration strikes, I need to follow it.”.
Amidst so many bands, they believe the secret is to stay true to their own sound, “Today we have access to a lot of information and we all have space on the internet, so it’s difficult to find something new. When you first heard Kiss in the 1970s, you had never seen anything like it, so it surprised you. But now, with the power of the internet, you can discover 100,000 new bands in a single day, and they are all very different from each other. It’s difficult to be that band that stands out in the midst of all that. And at the same time, it’s much easier to promote your work.”.
The band continues touring, promoting their new work, which includes the music video for "Vagabond," directed by Justin Reich and inspired by the film Reservoir Dogs . "The song is about addictions and crutches being lost and then found. The video follows the journey of a decision or an idea that takes shape and ends up fulfilling its inevitable end. Checkmate," the band said when releasing the video.
