Toehider announce new album 'I LIKE IT' & new single out now
TOEHIDER ANNOUNCENEW ALBUM ‘I LIKE IT’
The collaborative projectbetween singer/multi-instrumentalist MIKEMILLS & graphic designer ANDREW SALTMARSHis the 4th full length studio album and 20th overall release(after a series of 12 EPs in 12 months kickstarted the project a decade ago,along with a few more along the way).
The first single ‘He’s There…And Then He Does THAT’ is a classic Toehider showcase, blending 80s pop/rock, with Mike Mills’ trademark vocal gymnastic, modern prog guitar wizardry, plus a bit of epic saxophone thrown in for good measure.
Since 2018, TOEHIDER have beenrunning a successful Patreon subscription, generating 40+ compositions and illustrationsavailable to fans, from which the album’s songs were drawn.
Mike Mills explained the albumprocess on social media recently:
Toehider presents - "I LIKE IT!"
- - THE ALBUM THE FANS BUILT! - -
Over the last couple of years myself andSalty put together 40+ songs+pieces and asked the 250+ amazing individuals on our Patreon to vote on which12 songs were the absolute magic, the primary examples, cat's pyjamas, thebunyip's baps, the certified BEST of the lot to release to the public in theform of an album.
Yes, the songs on this album werehand-picked by the most hardcore Toehider fans. Brilliant! Also thisrelease will be a first for Toehider as it will also be available as a double180gram gatefold-sleeve vinyl.
Preorder now at -
https://toehider.bandcamp.com/album/i-like-it
TRACK LISTING -
01. Go Full Bore!
02. wellgivit
03. Rancorous Heart
04. Moon and Moron
05. Concerning Lix & Fairs
06. The Ultimate Exalter
07. Died of Dancing
08. Bats Aren't Birds
09. The Guy That No-One Really Knows
10. He's There... and Then He Does THAT
11. How Much For That Dragon Tooth?
12. I Like It!
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Following the removal ofrestrictions due to COVID-19, eventually, Toehider will take theirQueen-influenced, larger-than-life progressive rock show back on the road,sporting a healthy dose of the quirkiness and tongue-in-cheek humour that makesthem one of the most entertaining live bands in the country.
More about TOEHIDER:
After releasing their debut EPback in 2008, Toehider caught the world’s attention by releasing an impressive12 EPs in 12 months, covering everything from up-beat pop & heavyprogressive metal, to children’s audiobooks & chilled out folk, eachcomplete with unique artwork and a 2-page comic by Brisbane illustrator AndrewSaltmarsh. After a brief respite from the studio, Mike Mills formed a live band(featuring ex-Soilwork drummer Ricky Evensand, bassist Amy Campbell &guitarist Lachlan Barclay) to take the Toehider show on the road for the firsttime in 2009-10, playing shows along the east coast of Australia with the likesof sleepmakeswaves & Arcane.
2011 saw the band debut theirfirst full album To Hide Herfeaturing some of their catchiest material to date, as well as touring withfellow Australian prog heavyweights Unitopia on their first national tour. Theband’s 2008 track ‘I Must Say Yes’ was also debuted on the triple j Breakfastwith Tom & Alex during their Unearthed segment, with triple j Morningspresenter Zan Rowe posting it later as ‘thebest Monday song ever.’
After a relatively dormant2012, during which live band drummer Ricky Evensand relocated to Sweden,Toehider re-emerged in 2013 with Mike Solo on drums, touring alongside The Protomen (USA) and Devin Townsend (CAN), as well asjoining TWELVE FOOT NINJA & CALIGULA’S HORSE on tour.
This momentum carried over intothe successful release of their second album in 2014 What Kind Of Creature Am I?TOEHIDER toured alongside TROLDHAUGEN on the east coast to launch the firstsingle from the album ‘Whoa’ early in the year, before continuing to tourextensively in Australia, headlining their own shows, supporting VOYAGER & Caligula’s Horse ontour, touring Tasmania with THE BEARDSand joining CLOSURE IN MOSCOW on thePROGFEST lineup.
Also during 2013 & 2014,Mike Mills was ‘discovered’ online, leading to two very different scenarios:after stumbling across a clip of Mike Mills playing Bohemian Rhapsodyacoustically, AYREON composer ArjenLucassen invited him to fly to Europe to sing on his forthcoming rock opera“The Theory of Everything” alongside members of YES, DREAM THEATER &NIGHTWISH.
As an early experiment inonline performances, Mike Mills also inadvertently went viral with his cover ofKATE BUSH’s Wuthering Heights passing 600,000views as being featured on sites such as The Huffington Post, beforeultimately removing it from YouTube due to his unwillingness to entertainonline trolls posting vulgar remarks on the video’s page (the track is nowavailable on Spotify for fans to listen).
However, it was the success ofthe AYREON release that catapulted Toehider from an underground cult act inAustralia…to a worldwide cult act. The acclaim for Mike Mills vocal performanceas ‘The Father’ on the record (which sold 50,000+ copies) lead to a spike insales for the new Toehider album and invitations for Toehider to performoverseas for the first time.
In 2015, Mike Mills performedDevin Townsend’s role as ‘Rage’ in the stage adaptation of Ayreon’s rock opera‘The Theatre Equation’ across five sold out nights in Amsterdam, Netherlands.The shows were preceded by Toehider’s first ever European tour with friends TheBeards, playing sold out dates across Sweden, Denmark and Germany (with drummerRicky Evensand back on board). The bandwrapped up the year with their only Australian show for 2015 at the Bird’s RobeRecords 5th birthday alongside sleepmakeswaves & Troldhaugen at Manning Barin Sydney.
They also announced the releaseof a new EP – ‘Mainly Songs About Robots’. Featuring guest drums recorded byDio/Black Sabbath legend Vinny Appice, the 4-track record displayed all ofsinger/songwriter Mike Mills’ trademark bombast and melodicism, whilst lyricizinga story of man and machine.
In 2016, the group released acompanion EP ‘Mainly Songs About Rowboats’ in celebration of their performanceat the sold out metal cruise ‘Hell on the Bay’ in September. In November, MikeMills announced that the ‘mark 2’ era lineup of Amy Campbell, Lachlan Barclayand Mike Solo would disband amicably, following their tour with Sydney groupMENISCUS.
2017 saw Mike Mills feature onAYREON’s record “The Source” in a standout performance acclaimed by fans,alongside members of DREAM THEATER, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME & EPICA. Hereturned to Europe to perform in collaboration with AYREON again at a series ofsold out theatre dates, as wel as performing at Graspop Festival. Toehiderreturned to support the release of their third studio album ‘GOOD’ to play atProgPower Europe festival and a number of additional dates.
In 2018, Toehider launched aPatreon campaign called ’49 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die’ as a home forMike Mills and Salty’s prolific work and content. This project continued in2019 with further livestreaming and content, as well as a series of digitalre-releases marking the 10th anniversary of the 12in12 project, withadditional commentary from Mike Mills on each track.
2020 will see the release ofnew album ‘I LIKE IT’ with plenty more news to come – once this virus thingsettles down.
Listen/support Toehider at www.toehider.bandcamp.com
Watch the lyric video for 'He's There...And Then He Does THAT' below:
Heapsof Toehider stuff isout now through Bird’s Robe Records/MGM
Contact Mike Solo birdsrobe@gmail.com/ 0404 937 095 for press enquiries
TOEHIDER