ToYes
| ToYes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 ToYes 2013 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Mühlheim am Main , Germany |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 1997 |
| Website | www.toja-rock.com |
| Founding members | |
| Thomas "Tommy" Rinn | |
| Jan "JJ" Thielking | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Thomas "Tommy" Rinn |
guitar |
Bernd "Berny" Pezalla |
guitar |
Jan "JJ" Thielking |
| Willy "Billy" Limpert | |
| Max "Sethlein" Rudolph | |
| former members | |
Keyboard |
Andreas Ecker (1997-2005) |
Drums |
Tim Dierks (2006-2013) |
bass |
Oliver "Ole" Dietz (2008-2014) |
Drums |
Sven Antoni (2013) |
Keyboard (live support) |
Martin Sulger (2013) |
ToJa is a German rock band from Mühlheim am Main .
history
ToJa was founded in 1997 by Thomas "Tommy" Rinn (vocals) and Jan "JJ" Thielking (guitar, keyboard, vocals). The name is made up of the two first letters of the band's founders. The producer and supporter in the early years was Andreas Ecker, who became known locally as a keyboardist and producer in the early 1990s. The first two ToJa albums were also produced in his studio. Before ToJa, Rinn and Thielking were members of the Frankfurt-based band Syder, which celebrated greater successes beyond local borders and performed with bands such as B. Sinner graduated. ToJa was originally a pure studio project that has developed into a band over the years. The first album First Step was created in 1999 as a complete in-house production and was not marketed commercially. Since ToJa's songs were well received by a wider circle of friends, the decision was made to produce another CD, again without external financial support. The album The Spirit of ToJa was offered in 2006 by the Munich distributor Target Records and received extremely positive reviews. Even before the release of The Spirit of ToJa , Andreas Ecker decided to leave the project to start his own band. ToJa then set up their own studio so that they could continue to write and record songs.
By chance they came into contact with the blues and rock drummer Tim Dierks, who offered to help with the production of the next album. His commitment was a big step in the development of ToJa. The experience and creative style of Dierks can be heard on the third album Train of Life from 2009. After Dierks, bassist Oliver Dietz joined the band, who had already played with Rinn and Thielking at Syder. In the meantime, a deal with the independent label Avenue of Allies had been landed so that the album Train of Life could be released internationally. As a result, it was decided to appear in public as a band. Due to the time constraints, larger concerts or tours were not yet possible. In order to still be able to implement the sound of ToJa live, the Frankfurt guitarist Bernd Pezalla was brought into the band as reinforcement. Pezalla was the founder of the band Syder, had played in different bands for years, also internationally, and knew the rest of the ToJa members from the early days. With the line-up of Rinn, Thielking, Pezalla, Dierks and Dietz, the production of the 2013 album Sad Songs of Hope , which was released worldwide by Pure Rock Records, a sub-label of Pure Steel Records , received good reviews.
The live premiere took place on December 7, 2013 at the release party for the album in Offenbach am Main with the support of keyboardist Martin Sulger from the Foreigner tribute band JukeBoxHero.
2017, the band released the album V . In all previous releases, ToJa was supported by the internationally known and recognized guitarist and producer Marc Bugnard, who celebrated international success with the band Roko in the 1990s .
style
ToJa's music is based on hard rock / melodic rock of the 1980s / 90s. ToJa covers a broad spectrum. Fast rock songs are mixed with folk elements and ballads. Since Train of Life , more and more elements of the AOR have been integrated. The instrumentation is “classic” with drums, bass, vocals and guitar. ToJa also uses keyboards again and again, sometimes with a classic touch (string arrangements), but also as a filling instrument (organ, synthesizer). The texts are consistently biographical and describe the hardships of everyday life, relationship problems as well as political issues such as environmental protection and wars.
Discography
- 1999: First Step (self-published)
- 2003: The Spirit of ToJa (self-published / Target Records )
- 2009: Train of Life ( Avenue of Allies )
- 2013: Sad Songs of Hope ( Pure Rock Records )
- 2017: V ( Pure Rock Records )
Web links
swell
- ↑ toja-rock.com
- ↑ metal.de: (Sad) Songs of Hope. November 8, 2013, accessed February 12, 2015 .
- ↑ jukeboxhero.info
- ↑ Album page on discogs.com. Retrieved June 14, 2020 .
- ↑ gdazegod: Toja - 2009 Train Of Life. (No longer available online.) Glorydazemusic.com, September 2, 2009, archived from the original on February 12, 2015 ; accessed on February 12, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
