I was lucky enough to catch up with Massachusetts based indie-folk band TOLEDO to ask them a few questions about themselves and their stunning single Crane Song which appeared on Jam #4: Soul Surfin’ (Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube) from last month.
Dan and Jordan very graciously responded to all my questions with such honesty and unreserved openness. While reading their responses it makes so much sense that such a wholesome song was written and composed by such evolved souls.
Please do follow and support them on their website, Facebook, YouTube, Bandcamp and SoundCloud. I cannot thank them enough for their time.
theMAZE: I’ve read that you both met while busking ages 12? What were you both playing back then?
Dan: We were both playing guitar I think but we were very very bad! There was a long period of time where I played piano and Jordan played guitar and that was the thing, but we have since changed a LOT.
theMAZE: Crane Song is a brilliant piece of music. I have so many questions! In India the crane is revered as the eternal symbol of unconditional love and devotion. In Japan, the crane or tsuru is a symbol of longevity and good luck. What is the crane to you?
Jordan: Thank you! It certainly is packed with symbolism and likely means something different for each listener. Weirdly enough when we were writing Crane I was inspired by this poem about a wooden bird – it had this inanimate object with glass eyes “watching” the events take place… For our song I loved the idea of these two young people falling in and out of love and there being a third party observing quietly.
theMAZE: In the second verse, I believe you are referencing the lovely story of The Little Prince? Who is your rose?
Jordan: NICE CATCH! This is exactly right. Referencing The Little Prince helps reinforce the idea that these characters are young and still inexperienced in love. With each section of the song, its cool to imagine the characters getting older and wiser – the imagery in the first verse is very fantastic and whimsical and the lyrics get a bit more realistic and hardened as the song progresses.
theMAZE: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Do you believe that we would all be better off following our hearts instead of our minds?
Dan: Yes! The heart can make you blindly do things you never would, like write a song about a weird bird! Our big philosophy is around impulsivity and raw emotion. The music we have released that is “mind-based” is much less personal than Crane Song and On My Own are. I think as a general rule of thumb, art and creativity should always be approached with your heart, because that is where your most authentic self lies.
theMAZE: There are so many subtle sounds throughout the song. Is that a tambourine in the background? At first, I thought it sounded like chains!
Dan: SO excited that you caught all that!! No chains of course, haha. But we placed a microphone outside and hung up a tambourine near it and let it do its own thing. The tambo has the most captivating performance in the entire song! Probably because we didn’t touch it!
theMAZE: What about the chirping birds? Can you describe the place where you recorded this song?
Dan: We tried to embody the space we recorded the song in as best as we could. And the birds wouldn’t stop chirping so we said “why not” and just had them sing their tune in the song. I like to think that they actually are just massive cranes singing along to their little opus. Glad you asked about the place! We record as a family friends cabin in Antrim, New Hampshire and it’s AMAZING. We are actually going there in a couple weeks to do a lot more stuff. 😉
theMAZE: What guitars do you guys play? I definitely hear a fender strat.
Dan: Close! We have a few, but I think on Crane its mostly a 62′ Duo Sonic that one of our mothers painted! It’s a super awesome guitar. At that time we also had a Guild m65 that has since been sold! But we recently acquired a really nice strat that you will be hearing in the new stuff!
theMAZE: I love how the song picks up in the middle section. Was that always the plan or did it just evolve into that? To me this is like the fun part of a relationship.
Jordan: I love that you are completely picking up on what each section represents! To answer the first question – NO it was not originally the plan to pick up the pace in the middle. Daniel brought that idea in and it was pretty nerve wracking at first because we had never done something like that before.
But it really “made” the song in the end and was really important to us as writers in terms of pushing us creatively. Its the section that we had the most fun recording and is absolutely supposed to represent the best parts of a relationship. Lyrically I feel like it’s moved past the falling in love and on to a need/obsession.
theMAZE: But at the end love is not enough. The rose blooms and leaves. Is that what the end is supposed to mean?
Jordan: Unfortunately it is not enough. If we assume time is moving forward with each section, by now this relationship has ended. Daniel has said it feels a bit like wounds reopening. A few years removed from the situation, and youre able to look back and reflect and see how youve changed and what it was that changed you.
It’s an emotional section but its just as much about nostalgia as it is about regret. With the new voice singing this new section in a new time signature, its fun to imagine the crane is now the only one left …a vessel to carry the weight of all of our memories and love and loss. It will remember the story even when the lovers have forgotten.
theMAZE: Is Daniel or Jordan singing on this song? Who plays the drums? The beats are sick!
Dan: Both! Dan sings the first couple verses, we both sing the chorus thing together, and then Jordan starts the upbeat section with the first line, Dan sings the second line, Jordan sings the verse thing after the loud sections, we sing the final chorus thing together. Sorry for the run on sentence, it’s pretty tough to describe the structure of something that has no structure! But, all in all, we usually split up the songs!
theMAZE: I’m sure everybody asks you this, but when are you going to release your first full length album?
Dan: I cannot tell you when, but I can tell you that an album (or EP) exists, a track order exists, and there are tons of new songs that we are hoping to present as our debut in the new few months! We will make sure that you get to hear it long before anyone else!
Just as a side note, we can’t explain to you how moved we were by these questions. It emotionally worked both of us up to have someone totally get it, and you get it like no one else ever has. It makes us feels excited and hopeful that one day we can build a fan base with people like you.
Crane Song
There was a crane beside my bed
It lay about while we slept
And you could make it fly for you
And I tried to show my knees to you
I did..
I was the fox and you were my rose
You showed me how a boy could grow
And things would change you gave me time
When i was yours and you were mine
Oh, red and white poppies
All in a line
But you won’t follow
The arrow – steady now
There is a crane beside me waiting
I get carried away on the wind thats blowing
‘Cause you can make me fly to you
All the brash and brazen things you do
Don’t wanna talk, just wanna feel your love
My pretty lily bud
Things would change, you’d bloom in time
If i was yours and you were mine
I did…
I lose my mind, you pull my chord
You ask to meet me on your front porch
How sad to see you
Nothing has changed in me
You left a mark beneath my sheets
A little bird – fluttering
She speaks in words
I know them from long before
…But I wanna be
the alchemy in you.
Credits
Released February 26, 2018
Written by Daniel Alvarez and Jordan Dunn-Pillz
Mixed and Mastered by Harry Burr
the MAZE - A Music Review 