Danny Toeman – the King of North London Soul – can put on a blazing set. His last concert – a sold-out show at Pizza Express Live, High Holborn last January – was full of raw soul. He will be returning to the same venue on 26th April. We meet in the café of the Young Vic Theatre in Waterloo to chat about his career and upcoming album.
In addition to being a soul music enthusiast, Toeman is irrepressibly funny: ‘I come from a long-line of chiropodists,’ he jokes about his surname. He laments that he has nothing interesting to say in response to my first question about his musical lineage. With the exception of his late grandfather, ‘a promising young violinist in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia’, he explains how he is the ‘musical anomaly’ of his family.
It was the film Blues Brothers, which his parents bizarrely showed him at the age of three, that sparked Toeman’s fascination with soul music. He fondly remembers the ‘Blues Brother, Soul Sister’ compilation CD from his childhood featuring soulful gems such as Eddie Floyd’s ‘Knock on Wood’, Wilson Pickett’s ‘In the Midnight Hour’, and Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. In fact, he mentions being dragged on stage by Eddie Floyd once at a concert. Advising from a journalistic angle, he notes my opportunity to include a dramatic subheading about ‘the moment Danny Toeman realised performing was his dream’.
In terms of childhood setbacks, he describes Blues Brothers 2000, which he saw at age nine, as ‘the biggest disappointment of [his] life’ .
He went to music college in Leeds, assuming he would become a music producer. He transferred to the University of Leeds where he sang in a funk band and aligned his academic projects towards soul music. His dissertation explored the contribution of Jewish figures such as Jerry Wexler in shaping African-American music.
Given his fascination with soul music, I ask him to unpick why soul resonates with him. ‘Motown and soul music is aspirational. Blues says “my dog died, my wife left me”… Soul music says “things might suck now but I’m gonna get back on my feet and see my demons through with pride.”’ He hammers home the point about aspiration: ‘Soul music is about… trying to find the good, even if it’s a small amount of goodness.’ Musically and sonically, he admits it is harder to define what is so magical about the genre. ‘That’s something I’m still trying to figure out.’
In terms of his favourite artists, Toeman states emphatically that ‘the King of Soul has always been James Brown.’ He also argues that Little Richard is often denied his due credit as ‘one of the great, versatile soul voices.’ In addition to the above, he cites Wilson Pickett and Bobby Womack as key influences.
His influences are unsurprising given his own brand of gruff-voiced soul and funk. Toeman notes how he’s ‘always had the gruffness’ to his voice, but that he certainly modelled his singing on his icons. However, while Toeman has plenty of natural grit, he can also harness a sweet falsetto. He was inspired to develop his falsetto by his best friend David Albury, a musical theatre performer currently playing the role of Smokey Robinson in Motown: The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre. He describes Albury as ‘effortlessly talented’. He feels similarly about Cedric Neal, another musical theatre performer who starred as Berry Gordy in Motown and recently had a stint on ITV’s The Voice. Toeman recalls a private concert of Neal’s following his departure from Motown. There was ‘not a dry eye in the house’ he tells me.
We move the conversation onto Toeman’s songwriting and stagecraft. Given his academic study of soul music, I ask whether Toeman approaches his songwriting with a degree of science and method. ‘There is an art and there is a craft, and I always try and start with the art. Every musician wants to say “No! the song just came through me blah blah”… And if you’re someone who says ‘yeah I figured out the science of it’ you sound like a heartless bastard,’ he jokes. ‘For me, [music] always has to start with an idea of something I’m feeling, and then the science part comes in [with] filling in the gaps… and putting it to a structure.’
Toeman also gets a thrill from being on stage. At his last concert at Pizza Express Live, High Holborn, Toeman entered the stage to the Rocky theme tune ‘Gonna Fly Now’ while clad in a gold cape which he proceeded to discard. ‘Being on stage is very much my therapy,’ he explains. Rather than wallow in misery, he seeks to cultivate a bravado.
After finishing university, Toeman went ‘straight to the top’ with support sets for the likes of Betty Wright, Incognito, and the late Charles Bradley. But then went ‘straight to the bottom’ after resisting some industry attempts to take his career in an inauthentic direction. He has since become adamant that he will only work with those that share his passion for the distinct brand of soul he performs, rather than allow his music to be moulded by others. ‘I need to be my own biggest fan, after all, I’m the one who’s going to listen to these songs the most,’ he states firmly.
Ultimately it seems the hustle of navigating the live music scene has only strengthened Toeman’s resolve. Taking any open mic and pub gigs he could find, he honed his stage presence and performance style: ‘This is how I learnt how to grab the audience by the balls.’
Having released a five-track EP in 2014, Toeman has new material on the horizon. The new album, tracks from which will be performed at Toeman’s upcoming gig at Pizza Express High Holborn on 26th April, is called ‘The Point of No Return’. He gives me some insight into his favourite songs. ‘She’s Got Something About Her’, a highlight from his last Pizza Express concert, is a midtempo crooner about a woman with that special something ‘what it is I just can’t explain.’ ‘I hope anyone can relate to it,’ Toeman says. ‘What I love about a person… I can’t tell you why! It’s like soul music… I can study it all I want but I can never click what the magic is.’
His other favourite songs are ‘Give It All Up (Mr Showtime)’ and ‘Thursday’s Child’. He describes the former as his ‘love song to the audience’. He sings about how he ‘would give it all up for a little take / Give it all up for one embrace / Give it all up for a little piece of you.’ And Thursday’s Child? ‘Well I was born on a Thursday,’ Toeman says in his characteristic deadpan. Written with David Albury, ‘Thursday’s Child’ is the definitive song about Toeman’s story and his unwavering commitment to his music. ‘I can’t quit as I don’t have anything else; what else am I going to do, learn how to wrestle?’
While a release date for The Point of No Return is still to be confirmed, Toeman will be performing songs from the album at his gig at the end of this month.
