He’s widely known for his electrified dance tracks and beat-laden remixes, but there’s much more to Toby’s musical world than setting dance floors on fire, as his recent release Travelling Without Moving clearly proves.
Because each track deals with a different emotion and meaning, I thought it would work better as an album of individual tracks
Going back in time, it’s interesting to find that the Maltese DJ and producer had, in fact, started out playing in rock and metal bands, but, as he explains, electronic music was one of his earliest influences.
“As a child I used to listen to my father’s Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield albums,” he reminisces. “That music has been ingrained in me from as far back as I can remember.”
It was around that time too, that he took up piano lessons. Over the next six years, he would also pick up the guitar and bass before settling in behind the drum kit, basically going through the whole gamut of instruments that a traditional band line-up involves.
“It took me a while to decide which instrument I wanted to focus on, but whatever knowledge I picked up has proved very useful to me since I set up my own recording and production studio.”
In recent years, Toby says he has largely been busy working on other people’s music and projects, which explains the six-year gap between his latest album and 2006’s acclaimed Digi Kinda Life album.
“It’s been a very hectic time throughout,” he confirms. “I’ve worked on so many local and foreign projects these past years – from classical to rock, hip hop and RnB to techno trance and house music. I had no time to focus on my own music.”
In fact, his only output during those years was a string of singles and, he adds, “any work related to Travelling Without Moving had to be done in my ‘free time’, when I should have been sleeping, or at least resting”.
Working on his chill-out album when he himself should have been chilling out, Toby says it has been on his to-do list for a very long time. “I’ve always wanted to record a chill-out record,” he confirms. “I think some of the ideas on the album date back to 2004.
“I would record them and put them aside because of other commitments, so I’ve built up quite a body of work over the years really. It just came to a point where I decided I had to put them together and finish this album before it may be too late.”
Of course, there was a lot of filtering to do. “Some of the sounds I had recorded then needed to be discarded, or at least revamped.”
Despite Toby’s penchant for technology and electronica, he says this album actually features a lot of live instrumentation, using among other things, bongos, drums, rain sticks and… dustbins?
“Yes, anything that gave me a particular sound that I felt suited the music, really... recording live sounds is so much more effective than just clicking a button on the screen.”
Will the listener really notice the difference, however?
“Not necessarily, but I do. And without meaning to sound selfish, this album is very personal – I did it strictly for myself and no one else. Of course, if other people relate to the emotions it encapsulates, then that’s a bonus.”
Another interesting aspect that catches the eye on Travelling Without Moving is the fact that the track titles are in various languages. “They’re all linked to the concept that inspired the album,” Toby explains. “The music contains sounds, voices and features from different countries and cultures – it’s essentially a journey that takes place in your head, while physically you remain in one place.”
This, of course is more than evident in the album title, and reflected further in the expressive visuals and worded thoughts featured in the CD booklet.
“Again, both the visual and the text accompanying each photo are linked to the songs, giving them this extra dimension. I worked closely with photographer David Attard to capture the moment and the image that best represented each track’s inspiration and emotion, some of which I must admit are quite close to my heart.”
Those who, perhaps, prefer Toby in a more upbeat stride will be pleased to know that the album tracks are getting the remix treatment. “I’ve already released the remix for the title track and the other tracks are being remixed by other DJs.”
Toby says he was juggling the idea of putting out a double album – one disc being the chill-out record, the other featuring the remixes, but in the end, he decided the chill-out album was more important. “After all the work involved, and because this album means a lot to me, I didn’t want it to be overshadowed by the remixes. Those can be released at a later date.”
The importance he places on differentiating between the remixes and the original tracks is also evident in the fact that he eliminated anything that was above 100bpm.
“The idea was to maintain a flow in the music – I actually considered recording it as a continuous mix, but because each track deals with a different emotion and meaning, I thought it would work better as an album of individual tracks.”
Indeed it does. While the few instances that feature actual lyrics do convey a clearer idea of the song’s subject, the music – intricately deep yet soaring upwards and outwards – successfully conjures more than enough emotions and thoughts without the use of too many words. In its larger part then, it is a true example of letting the music do the talking.
Travelling Without Moving also features guest vocals from Kristina Casolani, Victorio Gauci (The Crowns) and Marilyn Mifsud (Cruz) and special guest Andrew Pullicino on saxophone.
The album is available from all local music outlets as well as directly from the artist himself. For each CD sold, Toby will be donating €1 to Inspire.
www.tobymusic.net