Interview by J Appleby



Toyah Willcox is a true renaissance woman and die-hard Midlands lass.  Her career spans over 3 decades and ranges from stage and song as well as ticks in the bestselling author and charitable activist columns.  In 2010, she emerges yet again as a rock star, touring and recording with her new band, The Humans. 

In advance of an upcoming appearance at the Asylum, Juanita Appleby speaks to this punk, new wave icon about her passions, her thoughts on the music industry and what people can expect from her concert on April 23rd.

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JA: I’m going to throw some stats at you, Toyah, because it just blows my mind. 30 albums plus, 13 UK Top 40s, best-selling author, musicals, stage, TV, movie, radio, presenting, voiceovers, charitable activist...so tell me what’s your real passion?

TW: Wow, that’s a good question. I prefer work in front of the camera but work like that is few and far between so I need to be constantly engaged with a kind of creative experience. I’m the kind of person if there isn’t an opportunity happening in one genre I’ll find it happening in another. So that’s probably why I have so much on my CV.

JA: So you get cabin fever if something isn’t happening?

TW: I have cabin fever daily, hourly even.

JA: I read on your blog that getting back into music has given you absolute joy.

TW: It’s fabulous. I have absolutely no problem singing nostalgic songs.  For instance, when we play the Asylum next week I’ll be doing songs that are the very first songs I ever wrote off an album called Sheep Farming in Barnet but I’ll also be doing songs off an album I wrote 18 months ago.  But for me, it’s a project that makes me kind of explore who I am today and also makes me cover new ground and that’s just exciting. That project at the moment is The Humans which in three weeks time, we start our second album.

So I’m really enjoying that immensely because it’s such an obscure project. It means that I can write virtually anything and it works under the banner of The Humans.

JA: Your first single with The Humans was These Boots Are Made For Walking.  Why did you choose to release a cover?

TW: That was the idea of my writing partner, Bill Rieflin. He comes from a very commercial background. For the last seven years, he’s been the drummer in REM and that’s where he is in New York at the moment starting their latest album and I get him in May.  But he was also in a band called Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. So he has a really varied background.

He just phoned me up one day, in his Seattle accent, and said that he wanted to hear my voice sing These Boots Are Made For Walking.  I grew up as an 11 year old child listening to that.  For Bill, it’s a completely different meaning because he’s two years younger than me and he remembers it as a great pop song. I remember it as something that narrated my home life so I was really happy to give it a go.

It’s a very clever and subversive song because it is about dominance. It’s about betrayal and I think it works very well when you decide to do it as a pop song or do it as an alternative new wave song.  

JA: I had a listen to it and I got to tell you, it was raunchy.  I liked it.

TW: It is raunchy and that’s thanks to Bill and my husband.

JA: You looked amazing in the video.  When I told my husband that I was going to speak to you today, he was elated.  He said he had you on his wall next to Blondie.  So what’s it like being a sex symbol, especially now that you are a matriarch of all things punk and new wave?

TW: (laughs) The sex symbol side I don’t know about. That’s a difficult one and very hit and miss at my age. I just happened to have a good day, the day we were shooting Boots. I do enjoy being a matriarch. I love it.  When we do the Asylum, there’s going to be younger bands playing as well. The whole idea is to place established artists alongside new artists which is a really lovely idea. But backstage it’s nice because I am a matriarch and there’s a lot of respect. But also there’s a lot of chat about ‘what would you do if you were in our place, how did you do this, and how did you do that?’ It’s really nice to be trusted. I enjoy that side very much.

JA: You mention younger bands.  Last 3 Victims is one of those supporting acts and it is an up-and-coming Midlands’ punk band.  Are they worthy support for you?

TW: We played the Robin a couple of weeks ago and they had a fabulous reaction. They really deserve to be doing the Asylum.

JA: How’s it feel to be performing in your native Midlands?

TW: It’s nice.  I like it. I always like it. As an actress, I get to come to Birmingham often because I was working in a radio soap opera at the Mailbox for the last two years and when I tour as an actress I’m always at the Alex or the Hippodrome.  So I still know my hometown really well.

But to be coming back and being there as a rock singer, it’s a pinnacle. I really look forward to it. It’s great fun, and it’s my home turf.  I spent the first 18 years of my life in this city. And I grew up loving music in this city as well so it’s nice to be back. 

JA: To be honest, I don’t know how you’d find the time.  But would you consider yourself a supporter of Midlands’ music or at least independent music in general?

TW: I’m a supporter of anything new and you know music is for the young. I don’t mean exclusively for the young, I mean they deserve their place. I think there’s a lot of talent out there.  Peter Newton, who’s put Sanctuary music together, is on to a good thing because he really is pushing it and holding it together with dedication towards new music. I think it’s a very clever way of getting young artists seen by putting them with an established person so the press is interested.  So, I am a supporter in that way, very much so. But I also feel incredibly optimistic that the internet is a great place for new music.  When I started, punk rock was a great outlet for everyone who didn’t even get a look in on the mainstream labels.

And now today, it’s almost full circle because the mainstream labels don’t really know what they’ll be doing with the product. But also they have brought the boundaries in so tight that if you don’t sell a million on your first album, there’s no longevity. So I love the internet. I’m a huge fan of it putting people out there and allowing the audience to discover them.
I actually find this particular time of music very, very exciting.

JA: I read on your website that you called the music industry cynical, finance led and described it as making your blood boil.  What’s that about?

TW: I do find the industry deeply cynical. There have been massive success stories in this country with Girls Aloud and JLS but also there’s a lot of talent out there that only get to the audition stage and you just wish they could be nurtured a bit.
And it’s not just about performing, it’s about song writing too because that’s our culture. The Beatles established it so well that the culture of rock is the songs in which we write.  So that’s why I feel it’s so important to find a way to support writers as well as performers.

JA: OK, let’s get down to business.  I know you have recently performed in Leamington Spa and your gig at the Robin got some good reviews.  What can people expect from your performance on the 23rd?

TW: There’s a variety of bands. It’s just absolute value for money. It’s chocker block full of bands which is fabulous. I’m very much a rocker and it’s a rocking show. And I want people to rock out. I not only do my own stuff but I’ll also do covers of songs that have absolutely thrilled me throughout the whole of my adulthood from Guns and Roses, Alice Cooper, and Billy Idol. It’s going to be a really high energy show.

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Xposed presents Toyah Willcox in Birmingham on April 23rd at the Asylum with support from Last 3 Victims, Gundogs and Deadfilmstar.  Tickets are available by visiting www.theticketsellers.co.uk or by visiting Sanctuary Music in Tipton. www.sanctuarydudley.com