BOYTOY, a Brooklyn rock trio with a sound described as “somewhere between 60s surf jams and 90s grunge rock,” comes to Richmond tomorrow night (Thursday, March 12) for the first time.
BOYTOY, a Brooklyn rock trio with a sound described as “somewhere between 60s surf jams and 90s grunge rock,” comes to Richmond tomorrow night (Thursday, March 12) for the first time.
The latest project of guitarist/singer Saara Untracht-Oakner, BOYTOY was formed after Untracht-Oakner and her fellow bandmate/guitarist Glenn Van Dyke both had band break-ups at the same time and decided to form a new group together.
“She and I had become friends because our bands were sort of touring together,” said Untracht-Oakner. “So I decided to move back to New York where I’m from and start a new band with her, which was BOYTOY.”
Van Dyke and Untracht-Oakner discovered their musical styles meshed one night before they moved back to New York.
“We went to a practice space at like two in the morning and were like ‘Let’s just jam’,” said Untracht-Oakner. “We did and it worked.”
But before they could be a proper band they had to add a drummer, who after their original drummer moved away, came in the form of Matthew Gregory.
“Matt was a friend of mine since high school, and we’ve always been in separate bands, but we’d always played shows together with our separate bands,” said Untracht-Oakner. “So after our original drummer moved out and back to the west coast, Matt came in and started drumming for us.”
Like many musicians, Untracht-Oakner got her start in music when she was very young, trying her hand at singing when she was as early as three.
“I used to go to a preschool where they would put on plays, and I would sing in them,” said Untracht-Oakner. “Throughout my life I played cello, clarinet, guitar, bass, drums, just about anything and everything.”
As a life-long musician, Untracht-Oakner has had plenty of experience being in other groups, experience which she believes has helped benefit BOYTOY’s sound.
“I think with age and experience you develop your sound and what you want to play, how you write songs, and how you play together,” said Untracht-Oakner. “It’s a different dynamic with each group–it’s like a relationship. There’s multiple people involved, and just like with a relationship, you figure out what works or doesn’t work.”
BOYTOY has toured regionally before, but this will be their first time touring nationally. This will also be the groups first time performing in Richmond, with the closest they’ve been previously being Washington DC. This time BOYTOY is also touring with Dirty Fences, who Untracht-Oakner called “awesome.” “They’re one of my favorite New York bands,” she said. “We’ve played a bunch of shows locally with them, but it’ll be fun to be on the road with them down south.”
BOYTOY is currently touring in support of their 2014 self-titled album, but will also be previewing songs from their new record, due out this summer.
“We’re in the middle of recording our new album right now,” said Untracht-Oakner. “We tracked drums this past weekend, and on Monday we’re going back into the studio for a week to finish up before we start our tour.”
This time around the band changed recording locations, transplanting from Boston to Philadelphia. They also recorded with help from Al Creedon from the band Bleeding Rainbow.
“I think we’re more minimal this time, just trying to get really good sounds right off the bat,” said Untracht-Oakner. “ We’re trying to do it like a straight up rock n’ roll record, not so many thrills.”
BOYTOY will perform tomorrow night at En Su Boca along with Dirty Fences and local act Christi. The show starts 10pm with a suggested $5 dollar donation. For more info, click here.
