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THE TOASTERS
25 YEARS OF 100% SKA
by Lisa Sharer
Photos by Sylvia Hagar
From the February 2007 issue of PRICK Magazine.
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 The Toasters (L-R) Greg Robinson, Jahson Nwagbaraocha, Robert "Bucket" Hingley,
Dan "Duckie" Garrido, and Jeff Richey |
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After 25 years of shaking and skanking, The Toasters are
ready for another go round. They have played over four
thousand shows and put out fourteen albums. This year
not only marks their 25th Anniversary, but it also marks the year of
their 15th album. This ska/two tone band is considered one of the
longest running bands of their genre in the U.S. Although they may
have never reached the arena stage, they have influenced a generation
of fans and artists alike. PRICK sat down with the only original
member Robert “Bucket” Hingley and current drummer Dan
“Duckie” Garrido to find out what has kept them going.
If you’re wondering what happened to all the
other original members,we weren’t surprised to
hear Bucket explain, “I had to kill them and eat
them.” After such a long period of time, of
course, many members were lost to other
endeavors. “Not everybody’s as insane as me.
People have to stop to do silly things, like get
married and have kids and attend university, that
kind of stuff. By doing real jobs and married life
most of the guys have fallen by the wayside. But
having said that,we have a lot of guys who come
out and pitch in. They still play in the band when
we come into town.”
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 The Toasters |
 Robert "Bucket" Hingley on vocals
and guitar |
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Over the years the Toasters have grown and so has
their music. “I think there have been lots of different variations
on it, simply because with different guys coming in
there’s a lot of different influences. I’d say that really with
all these variations we’ve gone through, I think we’re playing
more straight ahead two tone ska now like we started
doing. So, in a sense, we’ve just come full circle, and we’re
back to the beginning.” With a quarter of a century, and
many losses along the way, some might think that Bucket
would have fallen by the wayside as well. This man, however,
does not regret a thing.“Any regrets? Well, I regret I
didn’t make more money. (laughs) Not really. I always said
that when it stopped being fun, I’d stop doing it; here I am
still at it.”
The fun couldn’t be more obvious when Bucket tells
PRICK some of the particularly interesting road stories. “I
had to smuggle a three hundred pound guy out of
Czechlasovakia one time, because he lost his passport in a
club.That was back in communist times. So we had to hide
him under a seat in the bus, because there wasn’t time to
take him to Prague and renew his passport. He was the
trumpet player-Sledge. He’s a huge…huge, huge guy.We had
to stuff him under the seat and put a blanket down and
have somebody pretend to be asleep so when the guys
came in they didn’t look underneath all the seats. We had
to smuggle him back out into Germany, [and once we got
there] he looks in his back pocket and there’s his passport.”
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 Jahson Nwagbaraocha on bass and vocals |
 Jeff Richey on sax and Greg Robinson on trombone |
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Between Bucket and the quieter Duckie, they’re not your average ‘covered in tattoos’
inkaholics, but they both have a respect for the art. Bucket remembers,“well, my
dad had loads [of tattoos], because he was in the army. He had one of those that when
he would flex his muscles the girl on his forearm would dance. So I’ve always been
around them. My grandfather and my great grandfather were not in the navy, but they
used to build ships, so they were covered in tattoos. I think it’s just something that in
Western society; somehow people look at tattoos or traditionally looked at tattoos as
something weird. But if you look at ancient civilizations, like the Celts for example,
they’re completely covered in them. They tattooed their whole face blue and ran up and
down the chariot poles naked. I think, in a sense, it’s made kind of a renaissance in the
last 20 years or so, with the tattoo conventions and everything. So it’s gone, not so much
mainstream, it’s just becoming acceptable and people want to ink themselves. I think it’s
good that’s happening and actually being considered an art form; which it is.”
Duckie’s feelings on tattoos come from a more private point of view. “I don’t have
any special connection, as far as family history of tattoos or anything like that. My affiliation
with them is just through pop culture. I’m of Pacific Islander decent, so I know that
tattoos are a pretty big deal throughout the islands. My tattoos are derivative of that,
but they’re just more of a personal representation.” He doesn’t regret any of his tattoos
and he is a firm believer in thinking about your ink long before you actually get it.
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 Duckie on drums |
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Bucket regrets that he didn’t get more tattoos throughout the years, especially with
all the free offers that came his way. He once traded a plate of sushi for a tattoo of the
old Moon Records logo on his arm, and his other tattoo is his Chinese astrological birth
sign: the ram. He is thinking of adding a tattoo around his arm of different chilies, as he
is a connoisseur of the flavors. Duckie’s tattoos are freehand sketches of Catholic
imagery: two of which are from a stain glass entranceway and one from the cover of an
old missal. We were even lucky enough to sneak a peek of his nipple piercings.
The Toasters will be celebrating their 25th anniversary by going on tour in Europe
and then it’s back to us. Their new record One More Bullet will be releasing in early
Spring, and it looks to be more of that traditional ska that we all love. If you get the
chance, go see this legendary band, and tell them PRICK sent you. I’m sure Bucket will
be glad to buy you a beer!
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For more information, go to www.toasters.org.
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