Brooklyn rock trio BOYTOY makes their return to Richmond as a part of their second national tour this Tuesday, October 6th.
Brooklyn rock trio BOYTOY makes their return to Richmond as a part of their second national tour this Tuesday, October 6th.
BOYTOY was born from a combination of singer/guitarist Saara Untracht-Oakner and guitarist Glenn Van Dyke efforts, who decided to form the band when they both experienced band breakups and moved to New York in 2013.
Joined by drummer Matthew Gregory, the band released their first self-titled EP in 2014 and began touring.
The trio released their first full-length album, Grackle, this past Friday, which expands their mixture of 80’s surf jams and 90’s grunge. You can check it out the first single, “Grackle” below:
While this isn’t the first time BOYTOY has toured nationally, it is the first time they have toured for this long and in promotion of an album.
Guitarist/singer Saara Untracht-Oakner described the theme of the new album as being mostly unintentional, formed more by chance than purpose.
“It kind of ended up being about unrequited love, and bad things, but it still also ended up being a party, rock n’ roll, kind of record,” said Untracht-Oakner. “Even though it’s about those dark things it’s still a good time.”
Grackle itself is inspired by Untract-Oakner’s emotional state when she writes, a state that mirrors the dark/light mixture of BOYTOY’s sound.
“If I’m jealous, or discouraged, or pissed off I’ll definitely tend to pick up my guitar and write something as a distraction or a release, so it’s rare that I’ll write a happy love song, even though that does happen sometimes,” said Untracht-Oakner. “But we’ve been listening to a lot of 60’s/70’s rock and roll, compared to last time where I was listening to a lot more 90’s chic easy stuff.”
As BOYTOY begins their 7 week tour, Untracht-Oakner spoke of the changes a longer tour meant for their lives.
“I am actually right now cleaning out my room for a subletter, getting rid of a bunch of clothes, trying to minimize my life. If we’re going to be on the move a lot I want to slim down on things I just don’t need,” said Untracht-Oakner. “You’ve gotta get in the right mindset and prepare yourself to be away from the comforts of home for awhile.”
Last tour took BOYTOY to En Su Boca where they performed for the first time in Richmond, an experience the group was pleasantly surprised by.
“Richmond has a cool art scene. Last time we came we sat by the river, and went to a record store,” said Untracht-Oakner. “It’s definitely more of a creative town than I’d imagined. More liberal-artsy than I’d thought.”
This tour, attendees can expect the group to play mostly new material, with a few of their older hits thrown in.
“It’s more of a show now. We’ve gotten more comfortable performing live, and I think our stage presence has improved a bit,” said Untracht-Oakner. “We’d like to just vibe with the crowd and dance a little and party.”
BOYTOY will perform at Strange Matter on Tuesday, October 6th, alongside Go!Zilla, Sacred Teachers, and Ryder Bach. Pick up tickets here
