Sounding off with TobyMac
02-25-2007
by Brenten Gilbert

After a very successful career as a member of dcTalk, TobyMac has carved out a rather successful solo career with two well-received albums. Now with the third album, Portable Sounds recorded and on the shelves, he's out to show the world that he's been maturing as an artist while still bringing a party to the Christian music world.

CMCentral's Sr. Editor, brenten gilbert, caught up with Toby about a month before the release of the album, in between recording sessions for another album, and talked about Portable Sounds, his latest tour, diversity and much more.

That conversation follows.

Hey. It's Toby. How you doing man?

Not bad. What's up?

Sorry I'm a little bit late. . .

That's okay, it's still pretty early for an artist. . .

(laughs) I know man. Actually, I'm in the studio working on a record with my band. I'm doing a band record - just like me and my whole band together. [It's] not a TobyMac record, but each vocalist is gonna sing and the band is playing it. This recording kicked in right when I finished my record.

Anything to stay over busy.

Exactly. Like, I just finished my record and now I'm doing a band record. That doesn't make sense. How about taking a break for a minute?

Yeah. How about you promote your new album first?

(laughs)

That's the thing. That's why the label is kind of barking at me. The timing on you doing this band record couldn't be worse, but I've been promising my band and I've been wanting to do it for two years. A lot of times I'm making my records and the band is out of town or one guy is out of town, so I just picked players - Nashville players, whoever is right for the job - so I just wanted to get the whole band together. The label, Forefront/EMI, are kind of freaking out. "We need you to promote it." I will promote it, I promise. Give me anything you got and throw it at me.

So is this band album something you are just going to sell on tour?

I think Sparrow wants to pick it up, so we will see what happens. We are just kind of playing it by ear.

That's cool.

Yeah, we are making the songs and trying to be creative in it and see what comes of it and take if from there. But yeah, they are interested in it. They've called me about it and they are interested. They say they want to do it. We'd like to sell it. We'd like to do two or three songs, sell them live and then go beyond that and make it for release a little later. But maybe make it over a year. Sell a few copies this summer live, a couple two or three songs that we finish and then complete it later.

Sounds like a plan. It worked pretty well for MuteMath selling their album at their concerts only for most of the year and then releasing it later.

Yeah, evidentially it worked really well for them.

Got them a lot of buzz, anyway.

Well deserved. They are some sickly talented people.

So, I'm guessing by the title of the new album, you are pretty amped up about the new iPhone.

(laughs) I can't wait to get one, I was reading about it quite a bit. I just switched services to Cingular but, you know, I'm a Sprint man so we'll see. It'd be two years so before Sprint gets it though. I already know I can't hold out.

(laughs)

Yeah, it looks pretty sweet. Alright, so you've got your album coming out around Valentines Day. Is your wife okay with you skipping out of town to promote it?

(laughs) Oh man, you hit me with one right from the beginning. I know that she's very happy. I think a bigger struggle for us, for our marriage, the bigger hump to get over is making the record. We came up together. Before I even found a deal, we were dating. It's one of these things where she understands me going out and doing the live show because when I come back, I'm a 100% here. Where we struggle more is when I'm making a record. I get so engrossed in it and sometimes - I'm sharing my weakness - I come home and the record is still in my head and I'm still thinking about how to transition sections or which songs I should put on the record. So she's fine with me going out and promoting it. It's when I'm making the record that we are always at our roughest point, because it's the quality time that we miss.

Yeah. It's when you're there, but you're not really there.

Exactly. Coming off the road is, I'm just right back in the saddle when I walk in the door so that is better. But Valentine's Day. . .

You've got a little bit of time off, but I imagine you'll be doing in stores and stuff like that.

You know, I've been talking to the label about it. I'm really big into release week and hanging out, signing autographs and going to stores, maybe taking an acoustic player or doing just something tricky like bringing a beat box or acoustic, something kind of fun and making a big deal out of it, I've done it many times, but the label was telling me that in stores are a dying breed.

For real?

That's what they are telling me. They are saying that we don't really do that anymore. It doesn't work out. They told me that for the last record, but I just kind of did them. We even set some up, but the label is saying that it is a dying breed. I thought that was interesting. They're trying to come up with something else, some kind of a broadcast thing. I don't know what it is yet, but they want to do something where you can pick it up where ever you are. Some kind of a live performance. Newsboys have done that a few times, I don't know how it works but. . .

That's pretty cool, it's weird though. David Crowder just did an in store tour at Barnes and Noble and Borders and stuff like that. . .

I don't know, it's always worked for us. Was it cool for Crowder?

It seemed to go over well. They packed out a lot of the bookstores, so it's good for both you and the store. People are there, they are going to buy something. Anyway. . .

Either way, release week will be intense, but I will get my romance on for Valentine's Day. Don't you worry.

I wasn't really worried.

I'm committed. Determined.

You were made to love. . .

(laughs) That's right! You are quicker than me, man.

I got an extra hour on you because I'm on Eastern Time

That's right, I'm only about 1/3 of the way through my coffee. . .

So for those who've only heard the single ("Made To Love"), how does that represent the rest of the album?

I don't think it's definitely. . . The rest of my cds (and that's including dcTalk) have always been an eclectic mix of songs. I came up that way. My musical taste has always been sort of a taste driven by singles. Of course, there are some entire records, that I think are lovely to listen to the whole thing, but generally speaking, There might be some cohesiveness to some records I've worked on. I would say Jesus Freak is cohesive to me. Jesus Freak was ten or twelve singles. We just kept trying to do each song the best that we could do it, but it ended up having some cohesiveness. Generally speaking, I'm a singles-driven guy. I love to get in on a song where that song is it's own experience. If I look up and there is a common theme going through the record, it's because I was involved in every song. I'm the vocalist and I'm the primary lyricist. So, I think it's a diverse record, but all of the songs. . . There are always things I sort of lean towards and of course it'd be pop, hip-hop - I could say pop before each one of these, so just keep that in mind (laughs). Anything from reggae to hip-hop to sort of a funk rock, I don't know how to put it. It's just funk. And I always tend to do one of those sort of Euro-grooves and I always think of Michael [Tait] and Kevin [Max] the whole time I'm doing it. We did "Between You and Me", "What Have We Become?", even "Consume Me" and then I had Michael and Kevin on "Atmosphere." I have another one of those and of course the entire time I just wanted to hear Mike and Kevin so badly, but I didn't this time. I wanted to, but I was like. . . I don't want to keep drawing from that. I don't want Michael and Kevin to think I'm going soft. I need to stand on my own two feet on that one this time.

Maybe the remix album?

Yeah. I think it's cool too because you can get other people's names out there that maybe people wouldn't ever hear of, but they'll pick up a TobyMac album and discover someone like Mute Math who did a track for the Momentum remix.

They came in and did that with me on the disc. That was a really interesting time. When I started working with Paul [Meany], he wasn't even going to. . . He had no desire really. . . Well, I'm sure he had a desire, but he wasn't planning on doing a band. It kind of all sort of came to him in the midst of being here, meeting with Tedd T, and working on my project. He didn't even know what to call his production team and then it was like, "Do you want to call it Math?" Then, a few months later he's telling me about Mute Math. It was an interesting time. I got to witness the birth of that vision in Paul and Darren [King] and it was great to see. I'm just massive fan of what they do. They are some creative souls.

Indeed. Alright, I played the single for my boys (four and two) last night - they are both big fans of "Catch a Fire" and "Hey Now" - and my oldest son, described it as "celery."

Celery?

(laughs)

I hope he likes celery.

I don't know what it meant, but they were both dancing so that's a good sign. You're off to a good start.

Well tell them if they like "Hey Now," I got another one coming down the pipe. The opening track on the record ["One World"] actually pays homage to "Hey Now," snags one of the lines and repeats it, which I think is dope, but you know how it goes. The critics out there will be like, "Wait a second, that was from his last record." But for me it's like, that's hip-hop, baby.

(laughs)

You've got to build off of things, man. Gain some momentum, baby.

(laughs) Exactly. But it's called "One World" and I think he'll like it. Celery, though, that's a good one. I'll have to figure out what nutrients are in celery to figure out where he's coming from on that.

You never know where kids are coming from.

(laughs)

So I noticed that Mandisa is on one of the songs. Did you vote for her last year?

(laughs) My wife did. I didn't vote because I was in the studio a lot, but yeah, I was a fan. Nirva [Dorsaint], who sings on the road with me live, is very good friends with Mandisa and she introduced us to her maybe a year and a half or two years ago, before she was on the show. So, we were kind of cheering for her the whole time on the bus when we could pick it up. I'm definitely a fan of not only her voice, but just who she is. She's definitely got a dynamic personality. I was just at a True Artist post-Christmas party - we didn't have a Christmas party - two nights ago and she was there and she's a special lady for sure.

Oh, are you planning on maybe signing her?

She's actually signed.

She's spoken for?

(laughs) Yeah, she's spoken for. Sparrow [Records] has a short form done at least, so it'll happen. She is signed to True Artist Management.

That's cool.

But to get her and Kirk on that track was cool. That was like the last song we got done. Definitely one of my favorite songs on the record. It's called "Lose My Soul" and it's sort of an anthem I've acquired. At the end it gets all big, but it starts out all small. It's just this prayer of mine as my career and my life goes forward and Kirk drops some urban thoughts on it and then it unfolds into Mandisa doing the bridge. It's definitely a heartfelt and special song. As I look back, it came together in a really cool way and it's one of the most special things I've worked on in my life. I really believe that, I'm not just saying that. It feels special so we'll see what happens.

Very cool. Now I do have bone to pick with you.

(laughs) Alrighty.

You're not doing the Patriot Center on this new tour?

(laughs) You know, the bigger tour for Portable Sounds is going to happen in the fall and following spring. This is kind of like because the record is coming out, we need to do something, but generally speaking I don't do a tour around an album title until it's been out for three or four months. This is the first record of my entire career - except for the DC Talk original CD, or not CD, cassette. . .

(laughs)

This is the first record in my career that hasn't been released between September and November. It's weird to come out in February. I've never had this happen, so it's a little bit different. This tour is a shorter run and we're not really. . . We are focused on the Portable Sounds Tour continuing and this is just like the first sort of leg of it, I think. I'm looking to do something a little grander in the fall and the following spring.

it looks like it's a great line up, which was why I was so bummed. I do have to admit though, Building 429 seems kind of like an odd choice. Did Michael talk you into that?

(laughs)

No, I think that. . . Well, I like those guys a lot and their comittment on this record was to rock a lot harder. So I know they want to be in the circles of rock bands - not that I'm a rock band, but there are a couple rock bands on there - so it was a tour that they wanted to be on. I definitely invited them because I like those guys.

Okay. Now, I don't mean this antagonistically but . . .

Sure, sure you don't.

(laughs)

Does it seem odd that all of your bands on the tour are "white" since you promote diversity?

Yeah it is. And it's the first time I let that kind of slip by, honestly. I think it was just a matter of. . . I was in the middle of finishing my record and doing the Winter Wonder Slam Tour. I would typically always push the button that I believe in. I mean, last year I toured with Winter Wonder Slam, which is a line up that I completely control. I had Grits and . . .

Ayiesha was on there too, wasn't she?

Well this past one was Ayiesha and the one before that was Grits and someone else African American, but I think. . . I don't know what happened. This one kind of slipped by me, honestly, on that front. I was just so busy. I don't feel like it's something that I want to. . . It's something that I believe in and stand for without a doubt and our industry needs to be more diverse. Why I didn't back it up on this tour? It slipped by me. I even planned on taking Ayiesha out again to do like two or three songs in front of the set but with this many acts I can't do that.

Yeah, I don't think it's something that needs to be a big deal or anything like that. More often it comes down to who's available and who's not but, I just thought I'd ask you and see what you had to say.

No that's good. That's a good point man and all I can say is the night will still be diverse, because when I get on stage it'll be six or seven black faces and a couple of white ones.

Alright, let's wrap things up with some quick, fun questions.

Okay

I'm getting ready for GMA week this year and I need a fashion tip. What's the next pink?

You're up in DC and I'm in Nashville come on, you should know.

Yeah, but you kind of broke that color in the Christian music circles. . .

That's true for a little while. Well, I'm done with that one now.

(laughs)

You know what? Teal has definitely been moving my head, but you got to put it with something, man. Otherwise, it might be a little too colorful. If you wear all black or maybe some jeans. Blue jeans with a black t-shirt, a black velvet jacket over that and then you drop a teal scarf on. You'll be on and poppin.

Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna head over to . . .

American Apparel. You can get a hot teal scarf that still looks masculine.

That's important.

Very important.

(laughs)

Nike or Puma?

I'm a Nike man. I know my boy Paul Wright is a Puma man and I've gone there, but through and through it's my Air Force Ones and Dunks and even moving into the Air Stabs, the running shoes. I'm looking at four of five pairs right now as I'm sitting in my closet. I'm a Nike guy.

And now the money shot. . .

the three-pointer at the buzzer. . .

Jesus Freak or Portable Sounds?

Are you crazy?

(laughs)

Do you think I would ever mess with Jesus Freak? Jesus Freak was a special time, a special moment in time, when three men put all their creativity together and it all melted together in a weird way as well as it could. Typically one is pulling too hard and one is being too soft, but this time it melted together and became the best of all three of us.

Yeah, I gotta try though, man. Were you happy with the re-release?

Yeah, I think some of the remixes are very cool. The one thing I said to Nate at EMI is that whatever you do with these remixes, I would encourage you guys to do something that takes it artier, not shells it out on a pop level. I think if you are going to mess with something like that make it better. It's classic so don't sell it out with some cheesiness. If anything go artier or more moody with the songs. That way I think the people, it becomes this listening journey with the same lyrics versus trying to compete with the record and I really feel like he did that.

Any last thoughts?

No. I mean. . .

Check out. . .

Yeah. Check the record out. I definitely poured myself into it. I think there are some songs on there where I'm stretching into some areas. There is some more depth there. Coming off of Supernatural, I definitely set out on the solo career that I wanted to. And like it or not - I know some critics don't - I wanted to ignite the party that I think is missing in CCM. We have a lot of depth and we have a lot of would-be depth, but we don't have too much music where you are throwing your hands up and igniting a party, so I wanted to do some of that and I set out to do that. Jesus Freak was such an intense record, too, but Supernatural is such an intense record. I wanted to get back to hip-hop, some chants and a good time and I think Momentum is just that. With Diverse City, I hit on a few things that went a little deeper and with this record, I feel like I'm on a cool journey. I'm not by any means saying it's the exact same thing or will be as popular, but I liken it to my lyrical journey from Free At Last to Jesus Freak to Supernatural. I feel like I started out my career with a lighter record as a solo artist and then Diverse City was a good in between. I feel like this one, there are still some party joints on there, but there is definitely some more depth. So I'm really happy with the outcome of Portable Sounds.

Very cool. Well, thanks a lot for your time.

Alright man. Hopefully, I'll get up there some time.

Find out more about TobyMac and Portable Sounds at TobyMac.com or PortableSounds.tv