From: Livewire Issue: June/July 1996 Vol 6 #7 pg. 52 Toadies bassist Lisa Umbarger explains how her band of Texas indie-rockers wound up with major label hits and a bunch of vampires at their shows. by: Vinnie Penn "Do you wanna die?" Todd Lewis of the Toadies provokingly asks in the band's unrelenting hit, "Possum Kingdom." "Do you wanna die?" he blasts again, with even more contempt. Jeez, what a happy guy. Rubberneck, the Interscope LP that brandishes "Possum Kingdom," is a vehicle for much of Lewis' inquisitiveness, whether it be born from frustration or pure imagination. Rubberneck is turbulent Texas grunge, laced with enigmatic lyrics and subject matter and six-string explosions that could drown out the 4th of July. With the help of Darrel Herbert on guitar, drummer Mark Reznicek, and Lisa Umbarger on bass, all of whom got together in Fort Worth, Texas in 1990, Lewis has cooked up a Lone Star stew that treats the listener well, from the Hendrix-style strains that propel "Backslider" to the arena-aimed "Tyler," the murky "Possum Kingdom" and the race car-rocking "Happyface." Umbarger and Lewis go all the way back to their high school days and after forming the Toadies and putting out an EP on indie label Grass Roots records, the band have found themselves a hot item on alternative rock stations nationwide and have landed an opening slot with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Lisa recently spoke with Livewire about everything from Lewis' beginnings aa banjo player to how the Toadies are on a first name basis with God and the Baby Jesus. Livewire: Your press info includes a comic strip called "God and Baby Jesus Expain The Toadies". That's an innovative way to profile a band. Lisa Umbarger: Well, I did that. I drew it and everything, I dabble in cartoons. Were you dabbling in the bass too, or was music something that you always wanted to do? I always had an interest in music. I just never had the opportunity to pursue it. What I really needed was someone to teach me. Todd was starting a band and he said that he would. We were both working in a record store at the time. Todd had taught himself to play, but all he had at the time was a banjo that his parents had gotten him, so he learned on that. Then he got a guitar and started jamming with his friends, but he started on a banjo. Yet a banjo provides such a happy sound, and Rubberneck - or, at least, "Possum Kingdom" is pretty dark sounding... Well, Todd usually writes when he's pissed off. He writes lyrics better when he's pissed off. So, if something makes him mad, he'll write a song about it. Damn, what could have happened the day he wrote "Possum"? I mean, "Do you wanna die? You wanna die?" What, did they shut off his cable or something? The kids have been coming up and telling us that the song fits with all this Vampire stuff, but we didn't even get that. We actually have gotten these vampire-looking people at the shows. I think that we were oblivious to vampire references. Actually, it's just a ghost story. "Possum Kingdom" is a lake by our houses in Texas. You know, in Texas you hang out with your family and tell these ghost stories that are kinda, almost true. People believe those folk tales, and that was one of them. Or, it was based on one and we just took it somewhere else. The video's kinda dark, too. Yeah, it had a gloom feel. We used the same director for our new video, for the song "Away". It has the same look. But in this one Todd plays a character that wakes up and starts sinking into the ground. So, it's done with a lot of special effects and it came out real cool. How's the touring going? We've been doing big enormo-domes with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Inbetween Chili Pepper dates we do club dates, and we're going to do a complete club tour with CIV and Brutal Juice as soon as this is done. It's been really weird, you know, one night you're in a club and the next night you're playing a sold-out coliseum. They let us play about 45 minutes. They're pretty good about that, but we double that when we play a club on our own. Gotta love those enormo-domes. What songs are essential to play no matter what? "Possum" we have to, because people would gripe if we didn't. "Away" is the new single, and we just love "Backslider". That song is one where we were starting to expirment a little when we wrote it. We were also starting to play our instruments a little better, too. It's one of the hardest to play live, so it's interesting. What's the next instant hit? I think it's going to be "Tyler". That's what's being kicked around now, and there's a lot more of a story there. Do you like having a hit like "Possum" that you have to play every night? It's just like the other songs on the album. We like to keep them out every once in a while. We constantly change our set, other than those three songs...at this point. Any covers? Yeah. Every once in a while we do something by the Talking Heads. We do "Not In Love". We're big Talking Heads fans. Are you trying out any new material live? Oh, definitely, we're playing a lot of new songs, five altogether. The new stuff has been getting a great reception, too. We have been on the road for almost two years, so we keep coming up with new songs and playing them, it helps vary the set. Any plans for the next album? We've been wanting to start working on it, but we're going to stay out on the road until fall. We're going on tour this summer with the Butthole Surfers, in addition to the CIV and Brutal Juice tour were doing now. And then we're going to Europe, so we won't have a break to write and record until the fall. What's it like being the only girl on the road with a bunch of guys, or the only girl in a band with a bunch of guys, for that matter? I think that now, it's become an everyday occurence. So many bands are doing it know, like the Smashing Pumpkins. I consider it not a big deal, it's definitely not a problem on the road.