TOYAH ON
RADIO VERULAM
HERTFORDSHIRE
WITH CHRIS SAUNDERS
31.10.2012 

CHRIS: I’m joined by the very talented, the legend that is Toyah Willcox! Thank you very much for joining us this evening!

TOYAH: Pleasure!

CHRIS: You’re playing The Horn on Thursday, we’ll have a bit of a chat about that in a second as that is part of your tour. You’re playing in Birmingham tonight?

TOYAH: Yeah, I’ve got the Halloween Ball in Birmingham tonight

CHRIS: Anything spectacularly spooky planned for this evening?

TOYAH: There are things, it’s mainly based around fancy dress, four bands on and we’ve got a fancy dress competition, giving prices out so it’s basically just a good giggle

CHRIS: Oh, fantastic! It sounds really good. Some of the outfits you perform in as well, I’ve been having a look at some of the pictures that are on your website. Fantastic costumes! How do you get them made?

TOYAH: Last year I toured all my original costumes from 1981 to 1982. I’ve kept those, I have a costume room in my house. But otherwise it’s very easy to get stuff made. I have a team of people. We come up with ideas, they just get on and make it

It’s not the hardest thing in the world to do. I think because of the internet and everything it’s very easy to find good dress makers. The world is a much smaller place because of the internet

 

CHRIS: It certainly helps! You’ve had a fantastic career over three decades. This tour is the 30th anniversary of "The Changeling". Does it seem like it was that long ago?

TOYAH: No, I don’t feel any different to what I did 25 years ago. If anything I’d say the last 25 years have gone so quickly I don’t know where they’ve gone! It doesn’t feel different other than that I’m happier in my skin. I feel more comfortable on stage than I did before. I don’t get so wound up anymore. I’m enjoying performing "The Changeling"

I think I’ve enough experience now to conform all those songs I wrote 30 years ago. They were quite complex for me back then and now, with all the experience I’ve had on stage, I can approach them with a technically better grounding. They’re quite complex to sing, they have octave jumps and stuff like that. But I’ve enjoyed this tour immensely

CHRIS: Excellent. And obviously performing those songs - people think when you do a song you just get used to it and you go out and sing it but I suppose it does take getting used to and the more you sing it the easier it becomes? 

TOYAH: Oh, definitely! The more you sing something the less you have to think about the mechanics of remembering it to better the performance. It’s hopeless trying to perform something if you’re spending the whole time trying to remember what you’re suppose to be doing

CHRIS: Toyah! Thank you so much for joining me on the show tonight!

TOYAH: It’s a pleasure!