Thanks to Kickstarter and some very loyal fans, ’90s alt-rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket is reuniting for their first album in 16 years.
The ’90s are having a very good year. Nine Inch Nails is back. L.L. Cool J is back. *NSYNC is back (if only for one night).
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You couldn’t go anywhere in the ’90s without hearing “All I Want,” “Walk on the Ocean” or “Fall Down” — all songs by alternative band Toad the Wet Sprocket. And now, they are back and ready to alt-rock your socks off.
But they don’t have a label or a record deal. So what are they to do?
Instead of just putting out an album without a label and hoping for the best, Toad turned to the same place that Zach Braff and Spike Lee have looked to recently — the online crowd-funding site Kickstarter.
But as always, you have to be careful what you wish for. Hoping to raise a total of $50,000 in two months or so, they ended up raising the $50,000 in just 20 hours.
All told, the Kickstarter project ended up raising over $260,000.
In a note from the band to their fans, they explain, “That’s enough to manufacture and fulfill the orders, pay our wonderful team, cover recording costs, and we have a little left over for promotion and marketing. A few years ago it would have been so much more difficult to get a project like this off the ground, and there would have been a mountain of debt, but here we are. Thank you all so much.”
Who needs a record label when you have fans, right guys?
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But if putting out new music without a label or a record deal is so hard, why do it? Because it’s fun, that’s why.
In an interview with Anthology San Diego, lead singer Glen Phillips explains, “Having Toad be something we can all visit and really enjoy, and then get to do some new songs so we can feel like a real band again instead of like a nostalgia project, is great.”
While you can still hear some of that distinct ’90s sound that made Toad so great, their new music is hardly that of a nostalgia band. It sounds refreshing at a time in music when everything is sounding the same again.
Check out our list of ’90s make-out songs >>
Check out Toad the Wet Sprocket’s new track “New Constellation” off their album of the same name, which is due out Oct. 15.
Plus, Toad the Wet Sprocket is out on tour. Be sure to catch them when they’re in your town.
Aug. 24: Humphreys Concerts by the Bay — San Diego, CA
Aug. 25: The Observatory — Santa Ana, CA
Sep. 18: Port City Music Hall — Portland, ME
Sep. 19: Higher Ground — Burlington, VT
Sep. 21: Saratoga Performing Arts Center — Saratoga Springs, NY
Sep. 22: Infinity Hall — Unionville, CT
Nov. 01: Wilbur Theatre — Boston, MA
Nov. 02: Ridgefield Playhouse — Ridgefield, CT
Nov. 03: The College of Saint Rose — Albany, NY
Nov. 06: The Bowery Ballroom — New York, NY
Nov. 07: 9:30 Club — Washington, DC
Nov. 08: Bergen Performing Arts Center — Englewood, NJ
Nov. 09: Keswick Theatre — Glenside, PA
Nov. 11: Altar Bar — Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 13: The Kent Stage — Kent, OH
Nov. 14: Royal Oak Music Theatre — Royal Oak, MI
Nov. 15: Headliners Music Hall — Louisville, KY
Nov. 16: The Vic — Chicago, IL
Nov. 18: The Bluebird Nightclub — Bloomington, IN
Nov. 19: 20th Century Theater — Cincinnati, OH
Nov. 21: The Pabst Theater — Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 22: Majestic Theatre — Madison, WI
Nov. 23: Mill City Nights — Minneapolis, MN
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