Interview: Toby Goodshank (Moldy peaches, Unicornsounds, and tri-lambs)

What is your full name?
My full name is Tobias Goodshank

What Does your mother call you?
She calls me Toby.

Where do you live?
In Bushwick, Brooklyn NY

Are there good restaurants there?
There aren't really any good restaurants in my area, lotsa warehouses though. It's pretty undeveloped, so far. Kind of a Mad Max vibe.

What was the first record/tape you ever owned?
The first record i ever owned was Disney's Mousercise. Then years later i had Michael Jackson's Thriller and Run-DMC's Raising Hell on cassette.

When did you start making music? Why?
I started writing songs my sophomore year of high school. I was inspired to after hearing my schoolmate Eric "Big" Johnson sing. he used to make up songs after school, just sing his ass off. He was loud. And soulful. I was inspired by lotsa bands and stuff, but knowing someone who made up their own songs was mindblowing. Also, my friends the Meyer family were a giant influence. I started making music because above all, i wanted to sing. All the time. And because i had ideas and feelings that i couldn't (and am still unable to) express in any other way. I wanted to see if others could relate to me.

How did you get involved with the Moldy Peaches?
Just through being in NYC and having mutual friends. I attended Purchase College with Jack Dishel and Steven Mertens. I met Strictly Beats, Adam and Kimya through our friend Seth of the band Dufus, who I also went to school with. We were friends before i was in the band, and i'm still very much a fan of the music! At one point, they needed a guitar player and they asked me to join the band.

Who started the band?
Kimya Dawson and Adam Green started the band.

What is your role in the band?
I play acoustic guitar in the band.

Were you on tour with the strokes?
I was asked to join the band after they toured the U.S. with the Strokes, but I got to play six shows with them.

How was that?
It was excellent. I dig touring, i love playing in the Moldy Peaches and I love my friends in the band. The first three Strokes shows I saw made me a fan of their songs, and they're good people.


Do people recognize you in public and ask for your autograph?
I'm rarely recognised in public, cuz i'm not famous at all. At shows, though, if i'm asked, I'll sign anything. That shit is flattering!

Is that weird?
If that were to start being recognised all the time, I'm not sure that i could handle it. I like my privacy.

Who writes the lyrics for the band?
Adam and Kimya wrote all of the lyrics for the band.

Why are they so Funny?
I don't know.

What are your feelings on the Anti Folk movement?
I like the antifolk movement! There's a lot of great things happening! Anti Folk Online

How would you characterize the music scene in New York?
I don't feel that there's a scene here, fer real. just a lot of people trying to do they're best and to be heard. Some are friends w/ one another, but not so much a unified group... I could be very wrong.

How do you decide what to wear for a show?
I just wear whatever i want. It's usually last-minute and i don't really prepare for a show by spending lotsa time deciding what to wear. i used to dress up quite a bit, but i got tired of it.

How did you start your record label, Unicornsounds?
One night, summer '02, I was sitting with my friends Alex Fedorov, Adam Winner, and Tristan Schwartzman. Tristan had made a cassette tape of improvised music when he had studied in France two years before. I told him that i wished that someone would release it on a record label, because I thought it was amazing. Then i realised i should just make it happen. I decided that night to do it.

Is it hard/expensive to print records?
No, there are inexpensive ways of doing things. Buy CDs that are on sale. burn 'em at home. it's fun!

What about distribution?
Distribution is something i am still learning about. right now my distribution is limited to on-line sales. i have lots of good role models to learn from. Hiero Emperium Records, home to the rap crew Hieroglyphics and Souls of Mischief and my hero Del the Funky Homosapien are totally independent, and have great distribution. www.hieroglyphics.com You probly know that already, being out in Cali. There are many other artists that are doing it all themselves.

Do you and your sister argue?
My sister and I argue only just a little bit, and usually right before we play a shoe, cuz we're too tense. We fought all the time until we were in our late teens.

How do you write songs in Double Deuce?
When a Double Deuce song is written (which is infrequently, at this point) usually i pick up a guitar and my sister and I just start singing stuff. We remember the parts that we're fond of and discard the rest. Are most recent number involves dual-guitar action.

Why is your other band called tri-lambs?
We call ourselves the Tri-Lambs after the benevolent fraternity in the film Revenge of the Nerds. The Nerd fraternity was called Lamda Lamda Lamda. Cuz we're nerds, too! Plus there's a trinity of us for audiences n listeners to contend w/. There's somethin special about that number, be it holy or otherwise.

Who are the baby skins?
The Baby Skins are a band comprised of my sister, Angela, and our friend Crystal. They have a beautiful new album coming out soon at www.olivejuicemusic.com ifn anyone's interested. It's called, "For a Boy with a Fractious Skull."

Why is that name so creepy?
The Baby Skins took their name from this substance that the performer Paleface had on stage with him. He was feeling under the weather, and had a jar of what was probably chicken broth n huge noodles. But it was a weird lookin, and had a uriney colour, n Kimya joked w/ us that it looked like baby skins a-floatin.

If I recorded an album, how would I get on Unicornsounds label?
Right now i'm not signing anyone, due to being broke. but i'll take a demo, our address is on the website!

If I came to new york, say in one month, would you and your sister take
me and my sister to a show?
Absolutely!

What words of inspiration do you have for the unicorns out there?
please be y'allselves.