Norwegian native, Toggo was turning the Hollywood scene upside down with his band Scared of Girls, when he mysteriously went missing at the brink of a national breakthrough. Almost a year later, he reappeared in Minnesota, having lost just about everything he cared about in his life, due to a series of strange events. He spent the next 8 years raising his son as a single dad in Minnesota.
Almost as if out of a dark, haunting fairytale he is now reemerging more energetic and more effervescent than ever, with a newfound determination, a brand-new sound, a happy ending, and a bright new beginning.
His first single off the EP, inspired by the girl he loves, entitled “Cannonball”, has been stirring up a buzz nationwide as well as internationally.
Watch the music video for “Cannonball” at http://CannonballSong.com
Get Out! Magazine: I love the song “It’s You I Want” from your new EP, especially the line, “If you could see my soul, then you could see yourself”. How did you come up with that?
Well thanks! It’s amazing what you can come up with when your heart is full of love for someone. It was one of those moments.
So this is the same girl you wrote “Cannonball” about, not the one in the song “Fuck You Just Fuck You”?
Therein lies the irony (laughs). “Fuck You Just Fuck You” was written about her too. It was right after our relationship ended the first time around. Instead of dealing with her feelings for me and letting herself heal, she almost immediately jumped into a rebound relationship…while continuing to send smoke signals to me that she was still interested. So I wrote “Fuck You Just Fuck You”. Because at the time I thought she was trying to hurt me on purpose, so I was furious.
Let’s talk a little more about “It’s You I Want”.
My whole life I’ve dealt with this thing called relationship anxiety. It’s where you sabotage your romantic relationships because you can’t handle letting someone into your heart. Aka scared of getting hurt. But my last breakup was different. Because I had fallen deeply, madly in love with this girl, like irrecoverably so.
I spent the next two years in a really dark place, really digging into myself. Facing all my demons till I finally got to the point where I was actually ready for a relationship for the first time in my life. I started looking at this person that I’d been with, and started seeing her for what she really is. I started seeing all of the things that I never had seen before, and I was completely blown away at how amazing I found her to be. My heart was just swelling up, and that’s when I wrote It’s You I Want.
But I think it’s a song that anyone who loves, or has loved someone deeply, can relate to.
It’s a really great song, the words are very touching and enchanting.
Thanks again. I love seeing people’s reaction to that song. It was both written and recorded with a huge amount of emotion, and that always carries through; people always feel that. When we performed the song live for the first time last month, I got goosebumps from seeing some people’s faces in the audience – there were tears in their eyes. Blew my mind. Can’t wait for people to hear it in its full splendor when we release it on the 24th!
If you could take this album and bring it back in time, or take it to the future, which would you do, and why?
Do I get to bring a magic wand with me? If so I would go into the very near future and make “Cannonball” the number one hit song across the world.
But seriously, if you could take your style of music and carry it to the past or future, what would you do?
Well to start, I love that the press has already created a new niche for my music, labeling it “EDM Rock”, it’s quite an honor. If I could go into the future, EDM Rock would heavily impact the music world, it would allow the rock vibe back to the mainstream but at the same time with that dancy EDM thing. I would love nothing more than that. Of course, making that happen is my plan anyway, and I have no plans of stopping till I reach that goal.
Your style is very different from anyone else out there Thank you, I take that as a huge compliment. I don’t fit in with the rock crowd, and I don’t fit in with the pop crowd either, but I love that – I love the concept of breaking new ground, shaking things up.
When you set out to write the album, what was your inspiration for taking on the task?
The thing is I didn’t really set out to write an album. It was a very organic process. There’s “Cannonball”, “It’s You I Want”, and “Fuck You”, and you know that story already. Then there’s “California Royals”, which is a mashup of “Royals” by Lorde and “California King Bed” by Rihanna, mixed in with a brand new groove and tons of added parts.
I thought, holy shit, those two songs would make for an amazing mashup, so I just put it all together and added my own elements. Including 98 tracks of just vocals, so you get a little Queen in there too for good measure. Then there’s “I Want Nothing” which I wrote ages ago.
“I Want Nothing” is another great one – what was the motivation behind it?
I Want Nothing is really just a feel-good song. Fun, upbeat lyrics, a hard rocking verse and a catchy, danceable chorus.
If there was one thing that you could change about yourself, what would it be?
I think that’s pretty easy. I base way too much of my happiness on what happens in the outside world. It could be music, it could be romance, whatever. I would love to generate most of my happiness from the inside. I want to be happy just because I decide I want to be happy. I’m way too driven by outside forces. It’s something I’m working on.
I think it’s the typical artist curse too, I know so many other artists who are dealing with the same issue. We are impossibly vain, we live for praise and acknowledgement and then we get crushed when our expectations aren’t met. At least I do (laughs). But it’s definitely something I’m working on. Meditation helps me out greatly; when I stay consistent with it, it’s amazing how easy it is to get happy in a hurry.
Do you feel that you have to prove yourself?
No, I don’t feel like I have to prove myself, but like most artists I love praise. If you look at some of the biggest artists that ever made it in pop, like Madonna, Lady Gaga, their vanity drove them to success. They were driven by the need to prove to the world that they were worthy, and I definitely have quite a bit of that in me. It’s not something that I’m proud of, and if I could flip a switch to turn it off I’d do it in a heartbeat. Life is so much easier when you are content in the moment. OK, so I change my answer, I guess I really do feel like I have to prove myself (laughs).
What’s the most annoying song in the world to you?
I have two. I think it’s a tie between “Wicked Game”, by Chris Isaac and ‘She Drives Me Crazy’ by Fine Young Cannibals. Artists aren’t as good at writing songs that annoy people as they used to be (laughs).
How would your best friend describe your album?
Well he’s my best friend, he’s always supportive, plus he loves my music, so it’d be thumbs up all the way there.
How would your worst enemy describe it?
Probably something like, “Fucking Toggo, you’re full of yourself” (laughs). Or “come on dude, pick a genre! What is it, EDM or rock? You can’t mix them!”
What would you say to promote the album?
If you want to hear a style you’ve probably never heard before, that still will rock your ass off, and at the same time satisfy your need for catchy pop, you might want to check out “Ultrarock”.
