Toby Driver

Toby Driver
Toby Driver in Reykjavík, Iceland in April 2025
Toby Driver in Reykjavík, Iceland in April 2025
Background information
Born (1978-09-29) September 29, 1978 (age 46)
Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.
GenresAvant-garde, experimental
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, clarinet, tuned & untuned percussion
Member ofKayo Dot, Alora Crucible, Bloodmist
Formerly ofmaudlin of the Well
Websitetobydriver.com

Toby Driver is a multi-instrumentalist,[1] composer,[2] songwriter,[3] producer,[4] label owner,[5] and solo[6] and visual artist,[7] best known for his work as leader of the experimental bands Kayo Dot[8] and Maudlin of the Well.[9] As bandleader, Driver performs lead vocals and many instruments, writes and arranges the music,[7] produces the albums,[4] and creates the majority of the album artwork.[10]

Early life and education

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Toby Driver was born in 1978, in Meriden, Connecticut.[11] He learned clarinet and piano from a young age, and during his high school years, he recorded several albums under the moniker "Spoonion" using tape recorders and a karaoke machine.[12] He later released his favorite cuts of these albums online as collections.[13] After playing with a handful of bands in high school, including a Nirvana and Jane's Addiction cover band, and a gothic-progressive-metal band called Celestial Providence,[14] Driver formed Maudlin of the Well with his friends Jason Byron and Greg Massi and recorded a demo entitled Through Languid Veins (1996).[15]

He attended Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, where he expanded Maudlin of the Well, and where they recorded their second (Begat of the Haunted Oak... An Acorn), third (Odes to Darksome Spring), and fourth (For My Wife) demos which turned into their debut album My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible. During this time, Driver also studied under composer and jazz legend Yusef Lateef,[16] and composed, directed, and performed an oratorio for 20 musicians based on and titled after the epic poem Six Trillion Miles Before the First by Jason Byron. Sections of this piece later reappeared on motW's reunion album, Part the Second (2009).

Career

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Maudlin of the Well

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Driver was a founding member of Maudlin of the Well in 1996 along with Jason Byron and Greg Massi. They morphed into Kayo Dot in 2003 during the process of recording what would have been motW's fourth album, and titled Kayo Dot's henceforth first album Choirs of the Eye, due to label problems and the desire to avoid being pigeonholed in the metal scene. In 2009, due to fan requests and contributions, Driver and Terran Olson reformed Maudlin of the Well to record Part the Second, reuniting with guitarists Massi, Josh Seipp-Williams, and drummer Sam Gutterman. The album contained five newly released songs, some of which were at least partially composed in the early days of the band (as far back as 1997), with lyrics co-written by Byron and Driver.[17] The band describes their style as "astral metal," referencing Driver and Byron's interest in astral projection. Driver has stated that he used astral projection and lucid dreaming as methods to retrieve music from the subconscious. Maudlin of the Well's lyrics deal with this topic as well as ghosts and the paranormal, the occult, kabbalah, nostalgia, and betrayal. The liner notes for companion albums Bath and Leaving Your Body Map (2001) contain a puzzle that leads to an as-yet-unknown solution.

Kayo Dot

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Kayo Dot began in 2003. They have released eleven full-length albums, an EP, a few live recordings, and a handful of remixes and singles. Kayo Dot's musical style shifts constantly, but maintains a ubiquitous aesthetic of darkness, surrealism, impressionism, hallucination, melodrama, and musical technicality. Driver is the only consistent member, although some members who have left the band in the past have returned for recordings or special live performances. Kayo Dot has joined bands such as Pallbearer, Earth, Pelican, and Secret Chiefs 3 on tour, and worked with labels including John Zorn's Tzadik, Robotic Empire, Holy Roar, Aaron Turner's Hydra Head Records, Antithetic Records, The Flenser, and Driver's own imprint, Ice Level Music.

Tartar Lamb I and II

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Driver formed the side project Tartar Lamb with Mia Matsumiya in 2006. Tartar Lamb did a brief US and Canada tour in January of that year, and recorded their album Sixty Metonymies with Randall Dunn in Seattle, Washington in December; the album was released in 2007.[18]

Tartar Lamb II was created in 2009 with other members of Kayo Dot and composer and clarinetist Jeremiah Cymerman. It was named a Tartar Lamb project because the compositional method that Driver invented for Sixty Metonymies was used again for the new work, titled Polyimage of Known Exits (2011). Tartar Lamb II did a month-long European winter tour in 2010 opening for Kayo Dot, and a recording from this tour appears on the Kayo Dot/Tartar Lamb II live album, Kraków (2011).

Vaura

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Driver plays bass in the band Vaura, who released their debut Selenelion (2012) through Wierd Records and their second album, The Missing (2013), via Profound Lore Records. The band is fronted by writer, philosopher, Blacklist singer and Azar Swan producer Joshua Strawn, and also includes guitarist Kevin Hufnagel (of Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) and drummer Charlie Schmid. Vaura's style is an amalgam of gothic rock, progressive black-metal, and pop.

Stern

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Driver played guitar in Stern, the experimental alien pop band auteured by the prolific composer, filmmaker, and writer Chuck Stern (formerly of Time of Orchids). The band included former Time of Orchids and Kayo Dot drummer Kim Abrams and frequent Driver collaborator Tim Byrnes. Stern released five albums as a solo act and three with a full band including Driver: Entitlement (2012), Bone Turquoise (2015), and Missive: Sister Ships (2018).

Discography

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As Spoonion 1

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  • Community of Sinners
  • Chiffon Gob
  • Acoustic Sex
  • Clone
  • According to the Law
  • Dreaming Winter Awake

As Spoonion 2

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  • On the Thoughts and Principles of Dragons
  • A Tree and Its Fruit
  • Space Music
  • How to Find God
  • Opposition Day
  • The Secret Violence of Poison

Maudlin of the Well

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Kayo Dot

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Solo work

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  • In the L..L..Library Loft (2005)[22]
  • The Pod OST (2013)
  • Ichneumonidae (2014)[27]
  • Madonnawhore (2017)[4]
  • Live at Roulette, March 2017 (2017, digital only)
  • They Are the Shield (2018)[1]
  • Raven, I Know That You Can Give Me Anything (2024)[28]

Tartar Lamb I

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  • 60 Metonymies (2007)[18]

Tartar Lamb II

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  • Polyimage of Known Exits (2011)
  • Krakow (2011)

Piggy Black Cross

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  • Always Just Out Of R.E.A.C.H. (Robotic Eclosion After Coming Hylozoic) (2018)[29]

Bloodmist

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Jeremiah Cymerman, Mario Diaz de Leon, Driver
  • Sheen (5049 Records, 2016)[30][31]
  • Chaos of Memory (2017 live recording)
  • Phos (5049 Records, 2020)[32]
  • Arc (5049 Records, 2022)[33]

Alora Crucible

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  • Thymiamatascension (2021)[34]
  • Oak Lace Apparition (2024)[35]

Other appearances

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  • Tusk – The Resisting Dreamer (2007) (vocals)
  • Gregor Samsa – Rest (2007) (clarinet, guitar)
  • Pyramids – Pyramids (2008) (remix of "The Echo of Something Lovely")
  • Gregor Samsa – Over Air (2009) (clarinet, vibraphone)
  • Asva – Presence of Absences (2011) (vocals)
  • Bloody Panda – Summon: Invocation (2011) (remix of "Hashira")
  • Vaura - Selenelion (2012)
  • Stern - Entitlement EP (2012)
  • Vaura - The Missing (2013)[36]
  • Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Souls: Folio A (2013)
  • Ichneumonidae with Timba Harris & Russell Greenberg (2014, digital only)
  • David T. Little & Third Coast Percussion – Haunt Of Last Nightfall (2014) (bass)
  • Stern - Bone Turquoise (2015)[37]
  • Stern - Missive: Sister Ships (2018)
  • Extra Life - Secular Works, Vol. 2 (2022)
  • Ultraphauna - No No No No (2023)
  • Extra Life - The Sacred Vowel (2024)

References

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  1. ^ a b Ludwig, Jamie (October 4, 2018). "Genre explorer Toby Driver plunges deep into cinematic ballads on They Are the Shield". Chicago Reader. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  2. ^ Fischer, Tobias. "Interview with Toby Driver". Tokafi. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  3. ^ "The Listening Party: Interview with Kayo Dot's Toby Driver". Invisible Oranges. February 21, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Pessaro, Fred (May 9, 2017). "The Complexity of Simplicity: Toby Driver Goes Pop". CLRVYNT. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Moores, JR (October 3, 2019). "Kayo Dot's Epic, Experimental Metal: A Retrospective". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  6. ^ Hickman, Langdon (October 9, 2018). "Toby Driver: They Are the Shield". Treble. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Phipps, Grant (February 26, 2020). "Kayo Dot's Toby Driver and "the technicality of grace"". Tone Madison. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  8. ^ Gotrich, Lars (August 2, 2013). "Viking's Choice: Kayo Dot, 'Thief'". NPR All Songs Considered. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Böhmer, Dominik (May 4, 2024). "A SCENE IN RETROSPECT: maudlin of the Well - "Part the Second"". Everything Is Noise. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  10. ^ "maudlin of the Well - Part The Second". maudlin of the Well. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  11. ^ "Toby Driver". WorldCat Entities. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  12. ^ "Toby Driver of Kayo Dot Interview". Metalchondria. April 25, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  13. ^ Spoonion.
  14. ^ Harrison, Blake (February 3, 2021). "Rock 'n' Roll High School: Metal Musicians Reveal Their High School Bands". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  15. ^ "A deliciously fresh slice from dark avant-garde prog band Kayo Dot ahead of a new album…". The Organ. August 3, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  16. ^ Mustein, Dave (September 17, 2015). "Foul Alchemy #4 - Kayo Dot, Choirs of The Eye". MetalSucks. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  17. ^ motW – Part the Second notes.
  18. ^ a b Split, Foster. "Tartar Lamb: 60 Metonymies". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  19. ^ "Maudlin Of The Well: Bath (Re-Issue)". Scene Point Blank. June 18, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  20. ^ "Maudlin Of The Well: Leaving Your Body Map (Re-Issue)". Scene Point Blank. June 18, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  21. ^ Dahlen, Chris (January 23, 2005). "Found Sound 2004". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  22. ^ a b Dahlen, Chris (March 9, 2006). "Kayo Dot: Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue / In the L..L..Library Loft". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  23. ^ Ubaghs, Charles (June 24, 2008). "Kayo Dot: Blue Lambency Downward". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  24. ^ Stosuy, Brandon (December 29, 2014). "The Best Metal Albums of 2014". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  25. ^ Harrington, Christopher (October 25, 2021). "Interview: Kayo Dot's Toby Driver on Nostalgic, New Record, 'Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike'". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  26. ^ "Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason is the title of the new Kayo Dot album, hear a first taste here". The Organ. May 10, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  27. ^ "Toby Driver of Kayo Dot scored 'Ichneumonidae' (hear a song)". Brooklyn Vegan. February 28, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  28. ^ "Review: Toby Driver - Raven, I Know That You Can Give Me Anything". The Progressive Subway. September 30, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  29. ^ "Piggy Black Cross - Always Just Out of R.E.A.C.H. User Opinions - sputnikmusic".
  30. ^ Gotrich, Lars (January 26, 2016). "Viking's Choice: Bloodmist, 'Bare Arms, Black Dresses'". NPR. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  31. ^ Grella, George (April 18, 2023). "Jeremiah Cymerman, Clarinetist of Doom Metal". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  32. ^ Meyer, Bill (July 31, 2020). "Sui generis trio Bloodmist get bleak on their second album". Chicago Reader. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  33. ^ Corroto, Mark (May 21, 2022). "Bloodmist: Arc". All About Jazz. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  34. ^ Miklos, Robert (September 16, 2021). "Alora Crucible - "Thymiamatascension"". Everything Is Noise. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  35. ^ "The Best Experimental Albums of 2024". Treble. December 15, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  36. ^ Currin, Grayson Haver (December 4, 2013). "Vaura: The Missing". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  37. ^ Currin, Grayson Haver (August 14, 2015). "Stern: Bone Turquoise". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
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