DANGEROUS TOYS INTERVIEW
 

On March 18, 1998 , Jason McMaster singer and bassist for such Texas acts such as Dangerous Toys, Watchtower and his most recent project Godzilla Motor Company, was officially inducted into Austin Chronicle's Texas Music Hall of Fame. The following is an interview done on July 1,1998

Toys By: Scott Redeker

What is Dangerous Toys up to now?

dangerous toys has been on hiatus since the 1996 tour was cut short, lack of tour support, and a failing record label, caused us to cut the tour short, we were in support of the late 95 release of "the r-tist 4-merly known as dangerous toys"..which has some heavier songs on it, and i played bass on it, it was definitely different, we knew what we were doing, trying to just be who we were at the time, and also trying not to contrive any sound ,or try to write a certain song, we did not want to write the same album over and over, too many members had left the band, leaving three original members left, mark geary, scott dalhover, and myself, with paul lidel who played on the PISSED cd, in 1994, as well.It definitely was a different world for us, a new band and sound, that we couldnt help, and it was nice to have a new sound, it felt great, to let the water flow under the bridge and be what and who we were that day, tear, and on the cd.......we have about 15 unreleased demoed songs, that we wrote when we got off the road in 1996, no interestin them or us has surfaced, we are definitely one of the bands who were in this to be who we were , and try not to be what others wanted us to be...and all that still stands.We are still hoping to do shows when the time comes, and who knows, we may even record some stuff, on our own, i guess.
 

Will the first two cds ever be re-released?

i keep hearing that our second cd, Hellacious Acres. is out of print.. too bad since it wouldve been gold by now, we sold about 400,000 copies of that ,and the first cd is hanging on my wall, gold, of course....i know that one is still available...you can find it on the net......i have seen hellacious on the net ,for sale...so rereleased, would be unneccesary.
 

What caused the major change in sound from PISSED to ARTIST FORMALLY ?

the songs for Pissed were written mostly in 1992, with the same writing team as was on hellacious acres, pissed came out in 1994 and was recorded the same year, there were technically only about 4 new songs on pissed, promise the moon, and pissed, and strange were of the new ones...i think the songs PISSED&STRANGE, were a nice launching pad for a sound we hadnt had before, i would also say that since we had lost some of the original writing team, mike watson and danny aaron, we had to keep writng ,and i picked up the bass, we felt we wanted to keep the family from any new input, so i took it on, i played bass before i was a singer, so it wasnt like an overnite thing, but it sure changed the sound we had, i almost think we lost fans because i took over the bass duties, like some fans missed my dancing around while grabbing my crotch and singing about my cock....i mean , what were they into toys for, for my cock, or how the music moved them, i would like to think more of one than the other, but i guess i was wrong, thats too bad, and very shallow, but people like what they like, and thats cool.
 

How come Michael Hannon didnít tour with the band?

thats all mike hannon did, was tour with the band, he did 200 dates with us!.. hes an ols friend and we loved having him on tour with us, he saved our asses out there every nite, he didnt write with us, like i said before we had songs written and had ideas, and felt like we had whole new life ahead and it felt great, he was there and knew all about it.
 

Was it a major change to add Bass to your duties? It didnít seem like you could move around as much.

yea, i mentioned that in the answer to #3, i had to sing in a stationary microphone, because my hands were busy, i didnt bother me, but seems to have bothered some fans, i guess they just wanted me to jack off while i was singing.
 

Will there ever be a live cd? How about a cd with demos and rare material?

i would love to put out a live cd, who knows , a live cd w/ demos and stuff on it, could happen...
 

What was your favorite group to tour with?

we got to do some cool tours, i had a great time with the cult, and motorhead and alice cooper and judas priest(w/ rob halford)i have toured with my idols!!!
 

Who do you wish you could have toured with?

back in the days of the first tour, we always wanted to tour with acdc, and aerosmith....that wouldve been heaven!!!
 

Are you still playing in SSIK?

yes, we just played last week, and we all still love it...its me and some friends , as a five piece band, no makeup or costumes, playing old , obscure kiss songs, and its heavier and so much fun, we have been voted into the top five best cover bands in the austin chronicle awards for the past 5 years.
 

How did that first come together?

SSIK formed in 1991. we were a 3 piece band with a singer, which made us four on stage..soon after, we started having friends get up and play rythym guitar w/ us, and then we decided to get anothe guy to fill in, made it heavier .. so i split the vocal duties and all the harminies with aour lead singer, we will split all the gene and paul songs, or sometimes sing at the same time, its powerful and huge, and fun as hell...
 

Do you play in any other tribute bands?

theres a band called Fastball, on hollywood records, that has a #1 song on the radio and billboard, that is from here(austin), i do gigs with them sometimes as an acdc cover band called "the bon bons"...all we do is acdc bon scott era... we have only done it a few times... i play guitar , and sing.
 

Are there any other side projects going on with you or any other members of Toys?

i have a new band called GODZILLA MOTOR COMPANY.. its heavy and fun.. i play bass and sing.. its old school metal , heavy music, which ever title of those that you prefer, in the vein of old metallica, tool, and helmet come to mind as well, but with lots of melody, and justice for all meets, bleach, is what some have called it... we are getting lots of interest, and are playing alot locally.Paul from dtoys has a few projects he is doing as well, flight 64 is a band he is in, they are in the studio, and are recording original material...also he is in a cover band, that does old stuff, its all pretty cool and is mostly because of the love of music, paul also is a guitar teacher.. mark and scott, write and arnt really doing any live shows with anyone, but thats cool too.
 

Are the videos selling well on the web site?

no, sometimes i wonder if people are into videos or not, i know i am, if you could tell people about MARATHONENTERPRISES.COM...that would rule, they can order dtoys cds and merchandise available no where else, from dt, and other bands as well, also there are links to other sites and they can order videos , or email me directly..i wish more people could check it out!
 

Do you have shows from every tour?

i have one show only, from the first few months we were out, then we did the cult tour, all i have of that is a couple of interviews, most of the stuff i have is from the tour with judas priest and alice cooper, as well as some proshot stuff from shows we did in austin with local video productions which are real cool!
 

In the July issue of Metal Edge there is a story on COAL CHAMBER written by Paul Gargano. Can you comment on a few lines from the article. We always say that we donít have fans, we have friends. We hang out, you can always catch us at the bar after the show. Weíre not like these reclusive rock star idiots. I think thats the attraction, weíre all just down to earth and donít want to be big rock stars, we just want to make a little bit of money and a little bit of good music for people. The frontman explains of his bands success. You know what it is? Remember in the late ë80s, all those f*ckin hair bands that used to do the big stage, a lot of pyro, limos? You know what? It wasnít reality.It wasnít their real music and their real f*ckin feelings. You take a band like Korn, or a band like us, and your getting real emotion and real, heartfelt, down to earth things.

i dig coal chamber though! theyre heavy as fook, and i have seen them live as well.. i was introduced to them on the ozfest tour by, dave mcclain , the drummer from machinehead, whom is from san antonio, and is a old friend. as far as what the coal chamber guy says in that article, thats fine, he could be right about some of that, he could be wrong about some of that, from my experiences, i have met alot of the kind of people he is talking about, i have met people who all they wanted was to be a rock star, they barely knew how to write song from their guts and be able to cry it out for real live on stage, so, he is right in some of that sense, as far as my own experiences, with stardom or whatever, i never asked for it, i want the same things he wants for cola chamber, i am standing for the same things, but , some dont stand for that, they stand somewhere else, thats fine, as a matter of fact, i remember saying the same sort of thing in an interview for metal edge back in our heyday.. it sounding so familiar, i think he said some of the same shit i did, like 6 years ago, thats funny.... i used to bitch about the wasted money on limos and hair and makeup artist on the video shoots, and the video budgets that you could have bought a nice house with instead, as well as how cheesy it all seemed sometimes. histry repeats itself.. and dstoys itself over again.
 

Do you think the web will help alot of bands promote themselves. It is a fast way to get new info on a band, but it is also a fast way to spread opinions of a cd.

yes, i think its expensive for some to be able to afford, but , it is turning into get it ,or get out, its the best way to network, i have almost stopped having to answer fan mail, because i am right here for people to find.and what a great way to tell people where to find cds and stuff.
 

What is your favorite size venue to play?

any size!

Will Toys ever go on a major tour again?

what is a major tour?...sounds like major means money, i dont know anyone with too much of that, who knows!
 

If Toys does records again what will the sound be like? Will it be like The Artists... or like the first three cds?

man , where are you getting this?...who knows , nothing is written in stone, i know that the existing material is dormant at the moment like i said before, but, we may throw it all away and write new wave songs, who knows as long as we feel good about it, thats the most important thing, to be who you are.
 

If there isnít a chance for a major label would you ever put a cd out on your own?

yes.
 

If you could build the ULTIMATE band, who would be in it.

bon scott, james hetfield, micheal schenker,paul rogers,cliff burton,jimi hendrix,andy parker , rob halford,john bonham.
 

What kind of music are you listening to now?

everything, i listen to the radio, try to keep up with it as much as possible, it doesnt influence my wring at all, which seems wierd, i am into lots of heavy stuff and have always been an elton john and queen fan...so, theres no telin where my influences will come from on a day that i write something..
 

Do you think the music scene is changing back to good time, fun rock n roll again?

i dont think it ever left, i think the party rock has been there the whole time, i know i love it, and hear it in alot of new music, theres alot of angry music too, but people are jumping up for that stuff too, partying to it all, its an interesting time for music, i think change is good, i also think its great that the old 80s bands are touring again and doing well...i think the ones bitching about the old stuff needing to come back, they need to realize , it never left, the media may have ignored it a bit, but so what, the fans of that whole attitude rock, should keep on listening and rocking to what they rock to, but soem people dont know how to tie their own shoes i guess..
 

What do you think of all the groups that are getting back together again. Is it the love for music or just a chance to make some money?

both, too bad that all the fans want to hear are the songs from 1985, but like i said , thats cool, those memories can be lived again , and that s cool..
 

Which is your favorite Toys cd? I thought PISSED did not get near the attention it deserved.

the last 2 toys cds , got a bad deal, bad distribution etc... thats the world of the indie label hell that some bands go thru, but thats ok, you get alot of attention from the label when you are only a few bands on the roster.but they are still available and are both awesome rock records..
 

There were some songs there were played live before the PISSED cd came out but they didnít appear on the cd. What happened to those?

i remember all those songs, we wrote alot of stuff in 92 and 93, they just didnt make the record, we could only afford to record so many..
 

What was your favorite tour so far? To me it looked like the band was having the most fun on the PISSED tour. You seemed relaxed and just out for a good time.

the pissed tour was great, we rocked hard as fook everynite, i love that , and want to live the rest of my life like that, i love the road, when i go home from a tour, i wonder if i will ever get to do it again, it cost so much money, when you rely on supprt and cash flow, it turns into business, that kinda sux, but you deal with it, and you try to find a way to get back out there.. which is all i think about, everyday, i cant wait til my next tour!.