"Spotify: Mic Check" Podcast Episode Features Indie Band Toledo

 Breaking through the dark clouds caused by its clumsy handling of the Joe Rogan controversy, and suffering verbal missile attacks about upcoming podcasts that seem more vaporware than fully realized productions, Spotify can point to one bright spot -- Mic Check.

Spotify just released the newest episode of its original podcast series, “Spotify: Mic Check,” - a series aimed at connecting fans with the world’s biggest creators from around the globe through exclusively intimate conversations. This week’s episode features Jordan Dunn-Pilz and Daniel Alvarez of the Indie band Toledo, who describe their sound as a cross between The Cure and Sara Bareilles. 

 

You can listen to the full episode here.

Fresh off the release of their Spotify Single “Beach Coma” co-produced by Gabe Wax, and recent feature in Spotify’s Fresh Finds Program, Jordan and Daniel of Toledo sit down with Mic Check to share how the pandemic affected their creative process, the release of their newest music and how Spotify’s Fresh Finds program has supported their artist journey.

Spotify Fresh Finds focuses on giving developing artists the tools and educational resources needed for long-term career success.

Available to stream for free exclusively on Spotify, please see below for interview highlights in the episode:

Daniel on how Toledo got its name.
Daniel - “The name of the band essentially stems from where my family is from, which is not Toledo, Ohio, but Toledo, Spain. The dream is that we play one giant massive show in Toledo, Spain, and then it all culminates and then everyone figures it out.”

Jordan and Daniel describe Toledo’s musical style and the first time they hammed.
Jordan - “But a story that I love to tell is when Daniel and I first jammed in like a house, like not outside busking. We were like, do you know “Lovesong,” and we were both like, Yeah, let's play Lovesong. And Daniel started playing the Sara Barellis chords and I started playing The Cure. And honestly, Toledo is probably – to sum up how we sound is like The Cure mixed with Sara Bareilles.”
Daniel - “That's the dream. That's always what we wanted.”

Jordan and Daniel on how the pandemic impacted their songwriting process.
Jordan - “The pandemic, for what it's worth, gave us the opportunity because we couldn't do anything else to experience what it was like to just do music for months at a time. And it felt so good that we were like, Oh, we're not, we can't. We can't –...”
Daniel - “We can't not do this. And so we were kind of like, Oh, we have to make art now for arts sake, like we're just gonna, you know, jam. And we did.”
Jordan - “Something that's been nice for me, and I think Daniel would say the same, is that it's helped us find the joy in music. When everything else is going south, it feels that it's so relieving to have a creative outlet. And we record in our own home, obviously, like it would be such a great outlet to play shows to fans because that's a whole other level of connection. But we try to stay very busy with recording and writing.”

Daniel on Toledo’s experience in Spotify’s Fresh Finds program.
Daniel - “Spotify has been really amazing, and we've been really lucky to have those team members constantly supporting us and coming to our shows and making sure that we're comfortable and giving us the opportunity to work with Gabe Wax, who was like a dream producer for us to work with, because that song – Beach Coma – that song had existed for like two years, almost maybe more – because that was going to be like one of our next big singles and having the opportunity to have that as something that was a partnership with Spotify is just kind of like mind-blowing.”

Jordan and Daniel’s advise to aspiring musicians.
Jordan - “If you're lucky enough to live in a place where there are a lot of music venues, play as many as you can and take as much control as you can because there are a lot of things that are out of your control when you work in the arts and when you work in music.”
Daniel - “Advice that I wish that I got when I was younger is to be as impulsive as you can to be, as you, as you can and put as much of your own like blood, sweat and tears into the art as you can. Like your first take is your best take because it's your first take.”

You can listen to the full episode here.