Back in the late 80's and early 90's Toby Jepson was lead singer with the phenomenally successful British band 'Little Angels. However one the Angels split up Jepson all but disappeared from the scene with only one album and a few low key tours to his name in the intervening decade or so. However back in January Jepson resurfaced opening up for Thunder on their jaunt round UK theatres and from the reports we received Mr. Jepson seemed to go down a storm... With a solo tour booked for September culminating in an appearance at Z Rock Part II in Dudley this was an ideal time to catch up with Toby and find out more...

After a few years out of the music business you made a return earlier this year playing alongside Thunder. What made you decide that this was the right time to get back in the saddle so to speak? 

Couldn’t resist the venues is the short answer. It has been 10 years since I had played shows at that level. Danny and the band were gracious enough to consider me a good bet and so how could I refuse… 

The two shows that we reviewed on that tour (Newcastle & Manchetser) were both full of praise for your performances. How happy were you overall with the reception that you received? 

I was astounded! The audience for Thunder was always similar to the Angels and so I was hopeful that the audiences would at least recognise some of the tunes, but I couldn’t believe it, every gig went down a storm and it was like stepping back in time in many ways! I have always felt at home on a stage and it really doesn’t feel any different to me from when I first did gigs when I was 16 years old, the feeling of playing never changes, but the audiences do so the task is to make an impression no matter who you are, no matter how ‘Big’ you are so there is never any room for complacency, the job must be done well enough to get a reaction and I hope that is what they saw and felt on the tour.  

Toby Jepson

The set list for this tour was weighted heavily in favour of Little Angels songs rather than your solo material. Was this a case of playing it safe after having been away so long or did you feel that those songs needed to be re-visited in their own right? 

No, I made no bones about it, this was an audience that by and large had probably forgotten about me, at least thought I was dead, retired, whatever, so I wanted to jog a few memories and have some fun. It has been a long 10 years for me with a lot of painful memories and there was a definite need to lay some ghosts to rest and make the tour the Last time for some of the tunes which is what it was. I will never play some of those Angels tracks again, but I am glad I did in that environment. Now is the time to move on. 

On the back of this tour you have now started to announce a series of solo shows culminating in an appearance at Z Rock 2006 Part II at Dudley JB’s. Playing to what will be, in effect, your audience, does this influence how you go about putting a set together? 

Not really, I formulate my touring set based on what is currently happening with the development of my music, meaning; if I have new stuff to play I play it! Right now I am working on new material, and I have a desire to re work some of the songs that appeared on the ‘Twisted Rhapsody’ album so that work will be in the set along with songs I just love to play. I have never believed in the need to ‘follow’ the fans expectations, I would rather shock and delight and confound the expectation by bringing something un expected. 

It’s been a good few years since you released any new material, and I believe you have been in writing mode recently, does this mean there is likely to be a new album in the near future? 

Yes, that is what is planned, although I am not sure how long it will take to emerge, as currently I don’t have a ‘deal’ in the classic sense. I am working with an on-line Label ‘Townsend Records’ who are fantastic, and are heavily involved with my development, but they don’t directly fund the making of records, that is something that hopefully will come soon from others, but consequently, the process takes time as I have to work with the band whenever we can which is hard as we live at opposite ends of the country. I have a close relationship with Nick my guitar player, who will contribute, but this album is probably going to be the most important of my career so far as I have to make something that can properly re introduce me as a serious artist with direction, and so I want to get it right and ensure that the songs deliver as they should. 

  

You say on you website that your music has “integrity.” Is this a dig at anyone in particular or just the music industry of today in general? 

By that I mean it is composed, arranged and recorded with ‘serious’ intentions and a total belief in the material. Integrity is based on the belief in what you are doing. Sure we have great fun making the records, but I have always regarded my music as a serious thing. It is the only way I know how to approach it. I don’t want that to sound over earnest, because that is not what I mean, I simply feel that, to get it right, my music has to flow freely from me in an environment of productive creativity governed by a desire to make great records and that, for me is about, commitment to the craft.    

Looking right back to the beginning of your career what, and who, influenced your decision to become a vocalist and song writer? 

John Lennon and Freddie Mercury. The greatest vocalist/song writers ever in my opinion. Lennon summed up the need in me to use song to convey the feeling and message of freedom, and Freddie personified the desire to perform and have fun. 

Little Angels were obviously extremely popular in the UK, but perhaps failed to translate homegrown success into wider international recognition. In hindsight is there anything different you feel you could have done to change that situation? 

Well that’s a tough nut to crack. We sold a million records and a lot of them were outside the UK, but clearly we were most successful here. We tried hard to ‘do’ America/Canada etc and had some success but the fact is that unless you are signed in the US then you are not a domestic act and they simply are not that interested in you. This situation has been true of many artists. It is easier for American acts to come to Europe but the other way round? Very difficult. This is simplifying the problem but that is a big part of it. Hindsight is all well and good, but if I had the head on my shoulders I have now back then I certainly would have had the guts to sack a person or two in the organisation who definitely did nothing but hinder the progress for personal gain, I would have insisted we spend more time in the US on a long term basis just touring and working that massive place, and I would have got down off of my own ego platform and took a long hard look at the great things we had and made more of them and our relationships. We were very young and heavily manipulated at key points in the bands career. 

Little Angels also played with some of biggest names in rock music at the time, from Bon Jovi, Cinderella and of course Guns & Roses. Are there any particular good, or bad, anecdotes you would care to share with our readers about those shows? 

Guns were the greatest band I have ever witnessed. They were virtually unknown when we opened for them at the marquee in London. I remember Slash in sound check had his Marshalls on full and the guitar sound coming back through the monitors was as loud as a jet taking off, enough to actually make me feel ill, but he was still complaining about not being able to hear himself! Very humble at that point, Axel took the time to chat after the show in the dressing room, that must have been 110 degrees but he wouldn’t take his fur coat off…Bon Jovi were the best bunch we toured with for sheer fun and ‘cant-believe-we-are-here-ness’ Very gracious and respectful, Me and Jon got on like brothers , travelled in their plane, drank with them, Jon often watched us from the side of the stage and loved our version of ‘rockin’ all over the world’, in fact they did it the tour after…very cool people, who made us feel like equals. 

Perhaps the peak of Little Angel’s success was when ‘Jam’ went to number one in the album charts. How did having a number one album feel at that time? 

Get asked this a lot…well we were playing an in store at the Piccadilly Tower Records, the roads were shut off there was so many fans at the shop, the police had lines erected outside…we were in the middle of the set when our manager rushed onto the stage and announced it over the PA, the place erupted and we couldn’t finish the set. I and Bruce were whisked away in a stretch limo to the airport to start a big press junket around Europe, there was champagne in the car and for the next couple of weeks we were treated like royalty everywhere we went! But I was still on £200 a week and lived in a flat I couldn’t afford in Wimbledon…lets just say I am very proud of the achievement but it didn’t alter anything, in fact it helped to increase the pressures rather than release them… 

Conversely, what would qualify as ‘success’ for Toby Jepson in 2006 and what do you still feel you have left to achieve on a professional level? 

Success to me as an artist is in the knowing that you have created something that makes you and ultimately others happy enough to want to keep listening. I have never been clever enough to figure out the ‘commercial’ potential of my music, I am a purist I suppose, I have always just written and recorded what I had at the time and never looked back. My task is not to keep looking over my shoulders at others…we are all different and one mans meat etc…I would like to continue to make records on my own terms and to carry on developing my craft. Playing live for me is where I feel happiest it would be great to be able to play with other great bands and get back into the stream of things again and be taken seriously as an artist, but that will take making a truly great album which I know is in me waiting to emerge…it is just a matter of time and honesty to myself.  Making great records is tough, as it has nothing to do with the size of the budget or the record company you are working with, but more to do with being in touch with yourself enough to know when the good stuff is really good and not just average…there are a lot of great artists making very average records because they are under commercial pressure to get something out…I would also love to write songs for other artists to the level of international release, which is one thing I am working on now, I have an awful lot of material and a lot to say! I also wouldn’t rule out the idea of joining someone else’s band if the band were of a certain level and wanted an injection of something new…but it would have to be specific and serious…  

Not many people would know that you were approached to fill Sammy Hagar’s shoes in Van Halen. What’s the story there? 

Yeah that was cool, I got a call from a mutual friend of the band who happens to be English and working in the Van Halen office. He told me I was in the running but nothing had been decided. I waited for a call that never came. I guess they wanted and American singer! Great to be even considered. I would love to work with Eddie, he was a top man and still capable I believe of creating great music, I would jump at the chance pardon the awful pun… 

In your time out from the music business you also started an acting career. How did this compare with the music business and is it something you would like to continue on with into the future? 

I fell into the film biz from low beginnings as an extra in Gladiator to being Christopher Lamberts ‘Stand-in’ and working for DreamWorks SKG on the ‘Band of Brothers’ series also as a Stand in…there really wasn’t much ‘acting’ more like glorified standing about. However, It was a great environment to work in as it was very intensely creative, just like being in a Rock Band, you spend masses of time waiting for stuff to happen and when it does it is often intense and hard work…I am actually developing a music based series of TV programmes that, if I get right, will bring a different view point to the whole affair…That is something I hope to continue to develop, Film making as a director/producer 

You regularly visit the forum on your website. How do you feel that technology has changed the relationship between fans and artists? 

It’s awesome to be able to connect directly. I Love the direct nature of the internet and see it as a great way to truly understand the relationship between artist and fan. I am constantly amazed by the level of commitment by the folk that visit the forum, it shows how powerful music is…I love it 

Obviously, the subject of a Little Angels reunion regularly gets brought up – what’s your thoughts on that and indeed on the whole band reunions thing? 

It won’t happen; I wouldn’t want to ruin the memory. I am very comfortable with this new skin that I inhabit and it has taken a long time to shed the old one, although I still have a great deal of affection for the past, or I wouldn’t want to play the songs I wrote back then, but it wont happen, I would never put the Angels back together. As for other bands, that up to them, I don’t like it when there is only one original member etc… 

Once the September tour is complete, what’s next for Toby Jepson, and finally is there anything else you’d like to communicate to our readers? 

I am working hard to get a new record written and out. I see that as a priority. Then I intend to get working on material for others and have just worked out a good strategy for that with a producer friend of mine. I also want to get the raw footage together for my TV show, and finally get a DVD out that is concerned with my solo period so far…it is proving to be very difficult…but I will get there.

Just want to say thanks to everyone who continues to be interested in me and my music. I wont fail you

Many thanks to Toby for taking the time to speak with HardRockHouse. You can catch Toby at the following shows in September 2006:

Sept 16th - York Fibbers
Sept 17th - Glasgow King Tuts
Sept 19th - Newcastle Trillians
Sept 20th - Cardiff The Point
Sept 22nd - Milton Keynes The Pitz
Sept 23rd - Sheffield Corporation
Sept 24th - Z Rock Part II Dudley JBs

To check out more about then visit his website which can be found at www.tobyjepson.com or via his MySpace site at www.myspace.com/tobyjepsonrocks