Although having rock music hardwired to nearly every thread of his sonic DNA, Shihad frontman Jon Toogood is also compelled to expose himself through calmer means.
For a man best known for songs like My Mind's Sedate, The General Electric and Sleepeater, Toogood's decision to release his first solo album as an acoustic body of work came as a surprise to most, but not those who follow the man not the music.
Following a tumultuous period of his life wrought with loss, sorrow and isolation, Toogood turned to his long-standing love of music, more for personal reasons than any other, and sat down to commit his feelings and fears to paper. These songs were originally never intended to be heard in the public domain but after letting close friends and representatives listen to his solo work Toogood was convinced to assemble his songs into an album so that the world could share in his triumph and tragedy.
It was not a decision made lightly, but he relented on his initial misgivings and packaged the songs together to form Last Of The Lonely Gods, which was released last Friday. To celebrate the release Toogood is also headed to Australia next month for a run of solo shows starting at Mo's Desert Clubhouse on Thursday, November 14.
HEAVY caught up with Toogood for more details.
"I love this record," he shared, smiling. "It's heavy in what I'm singing about… I'm singing about heavy shit. I'm a 53-year-old who lost his Mum during COVID when I was locked down in Melbourne, and she died in Wellington, New Zealand, so I had to say goodbye on the phone which I found really sad. I wanted to be there with my Mum and couldn't so it was tough. After that, I got stuck in New Zealand away from my wife and kids for three and a half months because there was an Omicron outbreak that happened while I was on tour. There was no flights going between countries, so I got stuck there and that was pretty traumatic. It was traumatic for my kids and wife as well because they were locked down in Melbourne, and she couldn't get any help so she was losing her mind, I was losing my mind. Then we finally made the move back to New Zealand and I caught COVID. The thing that happened to me was I've got pre-existing tendinitis - so ringing in my ears - which is basically from a life of playing heavy music and getting too close to a china cymbal. I've always been able to deal with it. I will go and see a band, and it will be loud, but if I take it easy the next day it will fade into the background. But this… two weeks after I caught COVID I got woken up out of a dream with a car alarm going off in my head. It was like I'd been to see Motorhead and stuck my head in the PA. On that first night, I didn't sleep for 36 hours. I ended up in the hospital, with doctors having to knock me out. It's literally like a car alarm going off in your head really loud."
In the full interview, Jon talks more about the personal situations that led to him wanting to write a softer, mellower album, more about Last Of The Lonely Gods musically, why now is the right time for his first solo album, utilising his voice in different ways to suit acoustic music, if there will be more solo albums or if this is a one-off, the upcoming Australian tours and what to expect, what he gets out of smaller shows like these as opposed to full band sets and more.
Tickets for Australian shows jontoogood.com.