‘I’m having a great time’

Toad the Wet Sprocket plays the Colonial Theatre

When high school friends Glen Phillips (vocals/guitar), Todd Nichols (guitar), Dean Dinning (bass) and Randy Guss (drums) formed the band Toad the Wet Sprocket in 1986, they had no idea of the impending musical success that awaited them.

“We were a high school band and made a couple of local indie records,” recalls Phillips from his home in Southern California. “We didn’t even send out anything to the labels as a demo. Nick Terzo was at ASCAP and started making cassette dubs of our first album and sending them to labels, but we’d never even met him. We were really surprised when A&R people started showing up at our gigs. Even when we got signed we figured it would last a couple years and then we’d go back to school. This is definitely not what I thought I’d be doing when I grew up.”

Following the release of two independent albums, “Bread and Circus” (1989) and “Pale” (1990), Toad the Wet Sprocket signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. On the heels of the label re-releasing the bands “Bread and Circus” album, Toad the Wet Sprocket released their highly successful debut studio album for Columbia, “Fear” (1991). Spawning the hit singles “All I Want” and “Walk on the Ocean,” both making Billboard’s Top 20. The album became the band’s first platinum album and set the stage for their success through the better part of the ‘90s.

“Our timing was impeccable,” recalls Phillips. “The labels had a ton of money at that point — there was no downloading and barely even CD burning then. People would buy a cassette, CD and sometimes an LP if they liked a record. That meant for us that the company could afford to pretty much leave us alone and let us make the music we wanted to make. We didn’t have a hit until 9 months into our third album. Nobody gets that kind of patience in the new major label world.”

Their follow-up album, “Dulcinea” (1994) yielded two more hits: “Fall Down” reached number 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock Charts and “Something’s Always Wrong” earned Toad their second platinum album.

“None of us had ever expected commercial success,” recalls Phillips. “I think I was always hoping for some kind of indie credibility, but that went away when we had a top 40 single. You always want what you don’t have, right? I think we were always a little surprised that we did well in the radio world. The weirdest part is recalibrating now, going back to the things I knew were important when I was young. It’s easy to take on external definitions of success and accomplishment, especially when you achieve them for a couple minutes. It’s an active process now to remember that external valuation isn’t the point; that how I challenge myself or define my own metrics of accomplishment are all that really matters.”

“There wasn’t a whole lot about the rock star life that appealed to me,” adds Phillips. “I met my wife when I was 18, got married at 23 and started having kids at 25. I liked being responsible, or at least as responsible as someone living the Peter Pan existence of a touring musician can be. We all had pretty solid home lives, so getting validation from the spotlight wasn’t that appetizing.”

“I started touring at 18. It’s all I’ve ever done as an adult,” says Phillips. “I love that people want to hear these songs. I was pleasantly baffled at how many of them there were for a little while. I love where we are at now. It’s mostly die-hard fans who know all the deep cuts. I much prefer that to playing a hit single and having everyone leave the building right after they hear the hit. Our audience is there for the whole package and that feels great.”

The release of their album “Coil” (1997), featuring the single “Come Down” failed to reach the level of commercial success of their previous releases. The band blamed poor label support and promotion. Columbia Records released Toad the Wet Sprocket from their contract.

“Once you get into the major label world there’s a whole lot of push to always aim to be bigger,” says Phillips. “I think that’s a problem with a materialistic culture in general — we are judged by wealth and status instead of by the quality of our character or the content of our minds and hearts. It can be really hard to step off of that treadmill and recalibrate to what’s really important.”

“Sometimes you get kicked off the treadmill — you lose your job, get a divorce, get sick — and have to do some serious work to appreciate the opportunity and freedom that’s just been handed to you,” adds Phillips. “All you can see is the loss. You can either

“There was a shift when I realized that it wasn’t about me or business or success. I started to see that every person in the audience, no matter how many or few there were, came to be transported in some way, and it was up to me to guide that experience to a good place.” — Glen Phillips

spend a lot of energy trying to get back into the old life or start something new and more fulfilling. I’ve definitely done both.”

Citing creative differences and a desire to pursue individual projects, Toad the Wet Sprocket disbanded in 1998.

“I think we were vulnerable at a time when there was a lot of posturing about being hard-edged and intense,” says Phillips. “We were never crazy innovators stylistically, but I think there’s usually something slightly unexpected in our songs. Pop tunes with just enough of a chromatic shift to keep it interesting.”

“It’s hard for me to listen to ‘Pale’ or ‘Bread and Circus,’ just because it was live lead vocals from a teenager who had no idea who he was, I was so young,” reflects Phillips. “But I also think those records are so unvarnished that there is a real sense of honesty and openness. I just can’t quite handle myself at that age. I’m happy in general with what we did. We were trying to discuss topics I still think are worth thinking about. I wouldn’t write any of it the same way now, but that’s the point, right? I’m more interested in the next song rather than the old songs.”

Remaining friends and ultimately reconnecting creatively, Toad the Wet Sprocket released a new greatest hits album in 2011 entitled “All You Want.” They released the album “New Constellation” on their own label Abe Records in 2013, their first since the “Coil” LP.

In recent years, Toad the Wet Sprocket resumed touring, headlining their own shows as well as sharing the stage with the Counting Crows, Smash Mouth and Tonic.

“We can do whatever we like these days, including taking long breaks,” says Phillips. “The band provides us all with a lot of freedom. I think we are actually better adapted to the current model — being a smaller operation, not trying to make it big any more. We get to make the music we want on our own schedule and have a platform for other projects.”

“I’m having a great time,” adds Phillips. “There was a shift when I realized that it wasn’t about me or business or success. I started to see that every person in the audience, no matter how many or few there were, came to be transported in some way, and it was up to me to guide that experience to a good place.”