Toy Matinee
by Ernest Hardy
Pop music is being redefined. Rather, some of the ideas and beliefs that drove the music in years gone by have resurfaced. Personal statements are being made; intelligence and humor course through rich lyrics; and audiences are reacting like a starved man at a buffet. A new outfit that meets all the qualifications set out above is Reprise Records’ duo, Toy Matinee. Consisting of the much-respected producer/songwriter, Patrick Leonard (known for his work with Madonna and Bryan Ferry, among others) and vocalist Kevin Gilbert, Toy Matinee operate from the belief that a pop song, that three-minute medium, can be subversive as well as catchy, provocative as well as humerous.
“I’d been harboring the notion that through music you can make real statements about how you see the world,” says Gilbert. “I wanted to write songs you could sink your teeth into, music you could listen to over and over and treasure, albums that weren’t only collections of ‘hits.’”
“The best part of making music is in the doing of it, without the pressure of having to create a hit or meet anyone else’s specifications,” adds Leonard. “Our approach from the beginning was that we’d think about selling it after we’d finished...which makes the fact that what we developed was viable on those terms a nice side benefit.”
One of the great twists that went into the making of the duo’s eponymously titled debut is the fact that they used an outside producer for behind-the-board chores. Overlapping the twists even more, the producer used, Bill Botrell, had just finished working on Madonna’s I’m Breathless album as co-producer, with Patrick Leonard.
“Bill kept the whole thing in perspective,” says Gilbert. “He was a reality check, reminding us that we were there to do more than just have a good time. He’s got an amazing grasp of music history and really brought it to bear as the album was developing, helping us to key in on the spirit and mood we were after from song to song.”
The trio of talents - Gilbert, Botrell, and Leonard - have put together an album that works on several levels; sharp melodies and infectious hooks serve lyrics that are often dark and ambiguous. All involved view this as an artistic triumph.
“We thought of ourselves as being on a mission of the highest integrity,” says Leonard, “sometimes spending three days on a single track. We were trying to make all the intangibles - the feelings and subtle shades of meaning - come together. It’s great to realize that there’s a wide audience of people out there hungry for music that can move them in many different ways.”