Artist Of The Week #233 - Toby Corton
This week’s Artist of the Week is charismatic queerative Toby Corton - who has just released his soul-drenched debut EP ‘Don’t Blame Me’ via Think Twice Records.
Co-produced with Maverick Quest (Sons of the Sun), Don’t Blame Me was mixed and mastered by John Hendicott (Jamie Woon) and Grammy-nominated Clinton McCreery (Enny, Jorja Smith) respectively. The EP also includes performances from Grammy-winning David Mrakpor (Blue Lab Beats) and one of London's hottest soul singers Sophie Faith (Stormzy) on the hook. The project was recorded at Chris Webb's (Kate Nash, Elton John) Friary Studios, with engineer Ivor Sotirov (Sam Fender, Pete Tong) on the analogue desk previously used in Olympic Studio One by countless legendary artists including Prince and The Rolling Stones, and the result allowing Toby's idiosyncratic style and songwriting shine through with the help of this stellar supporting cast.
He took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Toby - how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hiyaa luvs! I'm doing great, excited for the EP Launch Party TONIGHT at Ninety-One Living Room, Brick Lane. I'l be playing it out live and my good pal Bestley is DJing, so its going to be a real celebration.
It's great to have it finally out there, it's no longer mine anymore, it's like my baby chick flying the nest and I'm half intrigued to see where it flies (Hopefully it's not one of those trajic David Attenborough scenes where the chick plummets to its death), half relieved to have birthed it and be able to move on.
It is called ‘Don’t Blame Me’ - what is the meaning behind that?
It's from a line in the final track 'Put It Down', and it encapsulates how I was feeling at the time of making the record.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
It was recorded at The Friary. About an hour outside of London on a residential stay. It's one of my favourite places in the world, I forget about everything when I'm there and I'm my most present.
Whilst we were recording I had this epiphany. I'd placed a deadline for me leaving my part time job that was helping support my music at the time and I just thought to myself "why am I placing this arbitrary time frame on this?". I just felt a shift where I knew it was time to go all in on my music.
That decision was made easier by the fact I'm surrounded by some amazingly talented people who support and encourage me.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
It's very introspective, 'gorgeously introspective' to borrow a phrase from Tina Edwards haha. Which at the time of writing you don't clock. Heavily influenced by the isolation of the pandemic and my lockdown routine which went something like: wake and bake, coffee, lock myself in my music room for hours, midday(ish) margarita and smoke on the balcony and then lock myself away and again and write till dinner - with the day rounded off by RuPaul and then repeat.
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
Groundhog Day, or Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind - see above.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
Not a favourite per se but there's a couple ones I like for different reasons:
"Been reading tarot, in-tarot-gating my own mind" - Kill Your Darlings, just for the fun/dumb wordplay.
"Don't Blame Me have you seen the news lately" - because have you seen the news lately?
Now the EP is out there - what next?
I've some exciting plans to do some live recordings and put those out too. And then more music after that. I got some 'help for musicians' funding at the end of last year, so I've already recorded my next project and we're in the throws of finishing it off.
Otherwise, I'm looking forward to playing live more. I'm hopefully doing an acoustic UK tour with my collective family members Bessi and Maverick Quest this summer (more info pending) and then I'm hosting the new music stage at Mighty Hoopla in June.
