Toxic thrash metallers Toxic Waltz have released their full-length album "Decades Of Pain" and have given us an in-depth look and feel into what and whom this Toxic Waltz is all about. Guitarist Jimi discusses that album and future plans.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Toxic Waltz, and how long the band has been together.
Jimi: Hello my name is Jimi and I’m the lead guitarist and songwriter of Toxic Waltz. The whole band exists now for about 4 years.
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Jimi: Well, I started the band around the beginning of 2009 with our ex-drummer Tim. After a bit of time our Bassman Rahman and our Shouter Angelo joined us. With that lineup we performed our first gig and Lenny from DUST BOLT helped us out on the second guitar. On that concert we met Alex who shortly afterwards joined the band. At the beginning of last year Tim decided to quit the band and we got lucky that we found our new drummer Flo within a few weeks.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Jimi: We are based out of Landsberg a small city near Munich in Bavaria, Germany. Luckily we have a very nice music scene in and around Munich with many very good bands. To name some of them I want to mention Dust Bolt, Mynded, Battlecreek, Running Death and Arising Fear. Of course there are even more very good and talented bands but those are some of the bands which are also very good friends of us and we highly recommend listening to them!
4. What type of band are you?
Jimi: I would say the best description for us is simply Thrash Metal. I don’t want to say we are just oldschool based because we also have also modern influences but our style is heavily inspired from oldschool thrash bands.
5. Why did you want to name the band Toxic Waltz? What does it symbolize and represent for the band?
Jimi: We had this idea because when you know the song Toxic Waltz from Exodus you automatically think about thrash metal and maybe literally about the Toxic Waltz. As we also wanted to be equalized with those tags we thought it would be a good name.
6. Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
Jimi: My personal musical influences regarding to our songs are bands like Forbidden & Heathen, Sepultura and Dark Angel to name some of them. Non-musical influences is difficult to answer because there are also so many persons that need to be mentioned. Maybe I should give a general answer and say persons who care about the world, animals and humans with no commercial goals.
7. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Jimi: Our topics cover different stories about war, hate, society and also more unconventional topics like agrarian economy which can lead to suicide. I think it’s good to write about established thrash metal topics but also about current things to criticize and show what’s wrong with the world today.
8. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Jimi: Yes of course! Each song starts mainly with a single riff that could be a verse or chorus or some kind of bridge simply something where I have the vision for a song. Then around this riff I just add other riffs which fit to the first riff and on and on. Sometimes I also add some variations like a different rhythm or another pitch which makes them song more interesting. At the end normally I write the solos and sometimes program the drum beats. Then I show this whole song the rest of a band and we do some little changes and the song is finished.
9. What's new in the recording of your music?
Jimi: For us when we recorded the album there were a few thing which were new to me for example we took some experiments with revamping to find the best guitar sound and get a dirty sound but still with very much details.
10. What are your dreams and goals?
Jimi: My dream is one day to earn enough money so I can afford living by the music. Also for me it would be enough to work just part-times and spend the rest of the time to the music. My goal is simply to produce music that we like and also our fans and to have a good time with the band, music and the people around it.
11. What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Jimi: We are producing the music we want to play and live for it. We don’t care about any trends or haters. We just keep our thing running no matter what comes next. I think we’re an interesting band because we combine a lot of different thrash elements together like very melodic songwriting but also a rough voice. In the music and lyrics you will notice we write about things that bother us and the music expresses our emotions so it’s really authentic I think. Also we are hungry for more and also working the whole time to improve us. I hope that’s enough promotion - hahaha
12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Jimi: The easiest thing listening to us is via YouTube I think where we put some songs and more to come. Our stuff can be ordered directly via Bigcartel Webshop which is linked on our Facebook page. Or you just write us what you want.
13. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Jimi: We want to increase the range where we play and improve us as musicians and songwriters. Also we try to play more bigger shows so we reach more people at the same time. Also we have already some ideas for the next record.14. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Jimi: The best thing would be if the listener remembers our style wants more and not forgets us immediately.
15. Any final words of wisdom?
Jimi: I really want to thank you for the opportunity for the interview. I hope our music is liked and appreciated by some fans.To every fan I want to say if you like us or any other band please support us / them by purchasing the music, merch and go to their shows. Music is a really though business!
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