Monday, 21 September, 2009
It's official - Toploader have decided to reform and settle some unfinished business! After a five year sabbatical, the band are now ready to take their own mix of heady, feel-good rock back where it belongs, on the road. The guys have been thrilled at the idea of playing together again and have just been in rehearsals for the first time in nearly half a decade with some explosive results!
The first chapter in Toploader's history was extraordinary and reached dizzy heights but always seemed to have ended before the party was over.So it seems, the irrepressible forces of nature have brought the "Loader" back together again to finish what they started... Just like beer and football, the seaside on a sunny day and Derek & Clive they've come together to make people smile again.
The band are looking forward to seeing you at the festivals this summer, breaking out some of the old favourites and introducing some new classics, with an EP release of new material to coincide with these. There will be a UK tour at the end of this year followed by a brand new album at the start of 2010.
Formed in 1997 from the chemistry between a bunch of Eastbourne drinking mates, Toploader swiftly rose from the ranks of the unknown to become one of Britain's biggest selling bands. How it happened is something pundits are still puzzling over. The small, pensioner favoured seaside town of Eastbourne is hardly a hotbed of rock'n'roll. Musical peers are thin on the ground and the local pier is none too inspiring either. What may have been overlooked is that the absence of scene guidelines or local influence is almost certainly what allowed them to grow into such a lethally populist band. "The thing about Eastbourne is you've got the sea and the downs and countryside so the chilled factor is quite high," says singer-keyboardist Joseph Washbourn. "So a lot of the lyrics are kind of coming from that perspective, either escapism or looking out to somewhere else."