TOER
Origin: None
Out of Madison, WI, TOER electrifies listeners with buttery biscuit synths served with thick electronic gravy. TOER is one 23 year old cornfed hombre from the boonies electrifying the world in a mathematical fashion. Keep your feet firmly planted to the floor for your own safety because, like all good things, the music starts off gentle and slowly brings you to your climax, leaving you udderly satisfied like a freshly milked Wisconsin Holstein.
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I began playing music in 5th grade when my mother got me started on alto saxophone. I played in jazz band and wind ensemble for seven years until I graduated from high school in 2008. After a year off of music in college, I felt the need to get music back in my life. That is when I began experimenting with different software. After seeing a Steve Aoki show recap video in 2010 I knew EDM is what I wanted to do. I work on music up to 70-hours a week so you could say that it is a huge part of my life. From saxophone and jazz band to EDM, I feel music has always been the escape I need from this world we live in. The only bad thing about being a musician is that I can’t listen to other music while working on a song of mine.
Interview
Home Town: Appleton, WI
Currently Living: Madison, WI
Origin Of Name: The name TOER is an alternate spelling of the word tour, meaning the journey or expedition. I see music as a journey that leads me through different realms and allows me to express my twisted mind in a unique way.
Weapon of Choice: When I first started making EDM three years ago I was a FL Studio man 100% of the time. I then began experimenting with Ableton Live when I found out deadmau5 and Skrillex used it (cliché, I know). After a year or so of tinkering around with it on the side of working with FL, I made the switch. I absolutely love Ableton and I don’t think I will ever switch DAWs. The interface is so clean and recording/automating is so easy, I believe it is the best. That being said, the software doesn’t make the music, anyone can make a masterpiece with any DAW.
Source of Power: I have three main influences for my music: Die Antwoord, deadmau5 and Popeska. Die Antwoord never ceases to amaze me and have been my #1 artist since their “Enter The Ninja” video. They don’t care what anyone thinks about them and are incredibly passionate about their art. Most of their songs are percussion based and, combined with rap; they always get me jacked up. Die Antwoord is able to combine so many strange elements into a single song and they make it glue perfectly.
My second biggest influence for my music is deadmau5. When I listen to his live sets and productions in general, the atmosphere he creates with his music consumes me. Some people hate on him for speaking his mind, but I admire that about him and admire his artistic ability even more. My third biggest influence is Popeska. He is somewhat unknown still, but his sound design, song arrangements and chord progressions inspire me daily. I first heard some of his stuff randomly on Soundcloud and thought I was listening to Skrillex. I added him on Facebook soon after and he has always open to giving me feedback on my music. He is a master at creating a great atmosphere in his music and has helped me grow as a musician.
Are there any dots to connect with where/how you grew up to your musical output?
I would attribute a lot of getting involved in music to my mother getting me started with saxophone. Without her constantly encouraging me and listening to my God-awful playing early on, I wouldn’t be where I am now. As far as where I’m from, I think that has allowed me to create a unique sound. I am from a hick town where everyone listens to country and maybe some Top 40. Instead of hearing EDM my whole childhood, listening to country and pop helped me develop my own sound. I also like to rap and sing on my own tracks, which defines TOER a bit. That being said, I feel like I am still constantly searching for that “perfect” sound.
What is your ultimate career dream?
To be the best in the world—ever. If anyone tells you differently they are lying. I feel like everyone wants to be the greatest at what they do. The funny thing with art and music though is that you can’t really control what people will like. In order to be the best, an artist just needs to hold themselves to the highest standards possible and make art that they are happy with and hopefully it will click with as many people as possible.
Are you impulsive with your work or do you have a sketch in mind before you start?
I would have to say both. For work in the studio, I get inspired by something and then just start messing around and eventually I come up with something I like. For DJing I have only really played house parties up until now and those are completely impulsive, going off the audiences’ reactions. Once I start playing big shows I feel like I will create more of a structure to follow so I can provide the audience with the most emotional, energetic experience possible.
What’s the last song you heard that made you drop what you were doing and go into the studio?
The last thing that made me drop what I was doing wasn’t a song, but rather a telephone call. It was from deadmau5 (crazy right?). A few years ago he had a personal Facebook and he was bored so he suggested his Facebook friends post their phone number on his status. Even though I didn’t know if it was his real account, I posted my number on a whim. Ten minutes later I got a call and it was Joel. We talked for about a half an hour and he listened to two of my songs. I was so inspired from that call I didn’t sleep that night and produced for at least 80-hours the following week. I was on cloud 10.
How important is it for you to experiment and take on the risk of failure?
100%. Without failure, you will never get better.
Do you have a list of people you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
In addition to previously mentioned three: Machine Gun Kelly, Kanye, 50 Cent, Le Castle Vania, Sub Focus, Feed Me, Kill The Noise and Dillon Francis would all be super dope to collab with. There are many more that I would love to work with and learn from but these artists are amazing and have so much energy and passion in their music. I love rap and I feel the fusion of rap and EDM is coming soon so that is why I have some of my favorite rappers listed. The other artists are just great overall and I could learn so much from them. Lana Del Rey’s stuff is amazing.
What gets you excited when you think about the future of electronic music and club culture?
I think eventually bands and artists that produce, sing, record, mix and master their own stuff will dominate the entire music scene. Access to software gets easier each day and I feel like if you can’t do it all by yourself in the future you will be left behind. It’s exciting since there are so many artistic people in the world that never had access to recording software or hardware and weren’t able to express their ideas. In the future, anyone with any artistic idea will be able to produce it and release it to the public, which will diversify the music world even more.
What are your weaknesses?
I am a sucker for Mountain Dew and Peach-Os.
Do you have a secret passion?
My secret passion would be baseball. My whole life I’ve always wanted to be a pitcher for the New York Yankees, but it just never ended up working out. I still love baseball and watch the Milwaukee Brewers almost every day while staying up to date on the sports world.
Is success physical or internal?z
I believe it can be both but for me it is entirely internal. I can’t stand it if I take the easy way out on something or if I don’t give something my 110%. Stuff like that will eat me alive inside. I learned to stay humble from a friend of mine who is crazy talented but you would never know until you found out from someone else. He never boasts to anyone or doesn’t flaunt gaudy clothes, and I admire that type of person. Related to success, one blog that I can attribute a lot of my success to is moombroton.com. They were the first ones to start posting my music and spread it around. I can’t thank them enough.
What do you remember about your first DJ gig?
Not my first DJ gig, but the first “rave” I DJd…I was on the rowing team as a freshman at UW-Madison and on that team I met some of the craziest, wildest dudes on Earth. They are some of the most hard-working people I know and they party 10x harder than they work, 20x harder than anyone else I know. Anyways, they were big fans of EDM and wanted to throw a rave. So one of my friends who rowed and also DJd lent me his smoke machine and lasers. I set them up in this four-bedroom apartment along with a pair of speakers. This thing probably could hold 40 people. By 10 pm there were over 100 people in this apartment. There were people hanging from I-beams on the ceiling, dancing on the furniture, water was condensing on the ceiling and dripping everywhere, it was nuts. It got so hot in there that they opened the windows. Bad idea. Apparently the police could hear the music three blocks away at the police station and the party was stopped short. I was underage at the time so I just left my gear there and came back to pick it up the next day. Apparently the house owners got huge fines. That was by far one of the most fun/insane nights of my life.
What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?
I would advise everyone to enter in this competition because you never know what is going to happen and who is going to appreciate your music. The worst that can happen is you are still in the same position you were before you entered the competition. I had no idea that I would be picked to perform at one of the biggest EDM festivals in the world and I am incredibly humbled by it. Without entering in the Discovery Project competition, this would not have happened.
Winning Track:
Winning Mix:
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