ALL SOULS PLAY

The death of a band can be pretty hard to take but with every ending, there’s a new beginning. Such is with The Lost Souls Club that traded the pop-ish tunes of their previous band, Plastic Toys, for a more rock-heavy sound and attitude. The remaining members, Jon Tufnell and Simon Jackson, roped in James Freemantle and Jon Lamont and played throughout Asia. To tackle this mire of the band's history, Jackson acted as our personal Virgil as we trace the band’s transition and rise from the music ashes…

From Plastic Toys then, to The Lost Souls Club now, what led to this decision?

We felt our tastes were maturing and the music we played was a bit throw away. As The Lost Souls Club we definitely feel we have hit our stride as far as song writing goes. It’s a lot more musical and interesting than anything we've done before.

But surely there was hesitance when you formed the new band, especially with regards to Plastic Toys fans…

It is quite scary to build up up a reputation and fan base only to start all over again at square one… but we were confident in what we were doing and just hoped that our previous fans would warm to it as much as we did. So far, everyone has been sending us positive feedback.

I imagine the ire of a Plastic Toys fan who got him or herself a tattoo of your band and then the band dissolved.

It’s quite an honour to have someone get a tattoo because of something you have been a part of. To think that you made an impact on someone's life like that is just amazing!

Was there a back-up plan if The Lost Souls Club did not succeed as expected?

We have never felt more comfortable playing this kind of music. If you have a backup plan, you can't put your all into what you are creating. So… no back-up plans were made. It definitely shows that if a band loves what they are doing, people are more likely to connect with it.

Are there any differences between Plastic Toys and TLSC with regards to touring and gigs?

As long as you always put on a good show it doesn't matter what band you’re in. We just love entertaining people

Did you get any flak from the other bands when you played as TLSC?

Most bands are constantly evolving and changing the way they do things to stay fresh and be a bit different so they all accept it. No one has given us any shit for it. It’s mostly encouragement.

You recently toured Asia; what was that like?

Playing in Asia was an absolute joy! The people we met were on the whole very friendly and just loved to see live performances. We were scared as hell the first time we came over. We fretted if our music would go down well but once that first chord of our first song was played, we saw the reaction and felt welcomed with open arms.

According to your MySpace page for Plastic Toys, it’s hinted that there’s a chance that Plastic Toys might return. Will Plastic Toys make a return?

I don't think we could do what we did with Plastic Toys again. It would be like leaving an old girlfriend, finding a new one, marrying her then cheating on her with your ex. It wouldn't be the same.

Will there be more reinvention for you guys in the future? Maybe you’ll form an R&B group?

It's not an option since we are getting such a good response for TLSC. But… if we do, we could reform as a boy band. We need to hit the gym though so we could do all the topless music videos without worrying about our beer bellies!

Interview courtesy of The C-Side.

Image courtesy of Maria Luisa Velez.