Sometimes it pays off to front your own stuff. Or toot your own horn. Or what have you. I am speaking about industrious touring acts that take the time to find out about local publications on their stops and contact them with show info in advance.

This is one of the best ways for get-in-the-van level acts other than myspace or touring your ass off endlessly to possibly drum up a few people and maybe build a fan base or at least get some gas money for the next gig.

I welcome any contact from touring bands, and it does happen sometimes, but most often when I check out the bands I just don’t dig ‘em. There are more bands than stars in the sky and not too many of them make constellations that appeal to my twisted musical taste, but sometimes they do.

That’s the case this time with two bands that are touring together and coming to the CounterCulture Cafe Friday, May 19. They contacted my editor via e-mail well in advance of their tour (don’t write the day of, please, and try to contact us a couple of weeks in advance) and when I checked out their respective sites, I liked what I heard.

I’ll run them down in the order they came to me. First up is a one-man band from Austin called Toof. One-man bands by nature are always a little kooky. Though the old archetype of a dude playing some unholy combination of annoying things like kazoos and tambourines on a stick is outmoded due to affordable laptops and other electro-wizardry, the kook factor usually carries over. Toof (myspace.com/toof) is of the new techno-able form, and he is a kook. A very funny kook. He plays danceable, humorous songs that are frenetic and electronic, with a healthy nod to ‘80s electronic dance music.

I don’t know what he’s like live but the stuff on his Web site was interesting and odd enough to stimulate this review, and I think he will be fun to watch in concert as he coaxes little dance numbers out of willing gear and sings stuff about drugs, sex organs and lasers.

Also on the bill at the Cafe is a band from Brooklyn called Mossyrock. They are an experimental electronic trio that takes organic music they have created and cuts it up in a way that would make ol’ Burroughs proud. They have a bunch of melted and stop-start beats that might trick even the most adept fractured dancer, but there is also a lot of structure to their loops.

They play live instruments as well as recorded and live samples and loops at their shows, including a cello, which can’t hurt. From what I gathered, Mossyrock (myspace.com/mossyrockmusic) was born out of another project centered around improvisation.

I sent Toof (stage name) and Mossyrock’s Mark Hug (real name) questions and they both had cool things to type.

AZNightBuzz: Are you located in Austin? How did you hook up with your touring mate Mossyrock?

Toof: I live in Austin, but I hooked up with Mossyrock a couple of years ago when we played a show together in New Orleans. I don’t know if you know this, but there was a hurricane there last year. Anyhoo, we kept in touch and realized that we could do these little tours and get along really well. I haven’t seen my own self naked as much as I’ve seen Mossyrock’s naughty bits.

AZNB: How do you guys travel when you go on these long distance tours?

Toof: We usually rent a little car to save money on gas, then we all like to complain about how small the car is for the entire tour. But this time it’s only three of us instead of four, and you would be surprised at how luxurious a Ford Focus can be with only three people!

AZNB: What made you want to play the CounterCulture Cafe, and how did you go about getting a gig?

Toof: We played at The Trunk Space (www.thetrunkspace.com) last year, but there was some kind of music festival going on. We definitely wanted to come back and play with Twin Towaz (myspace.com/twintowaz) again, but The Trunk Space was booked. So JRC referred us to the CounterCulture Cafe. Wow, that’s not a very exciting story. To make this story a little more interesting, I would also like to add that I’ve been dating Joanna Angel and I am starring in some upcoming adult films with her.

AZNB: You are a one man band, What do you use onstage when you play live?

Toof: I use my laptop with Live and Reason, a fancy midi controller, a mixer, a bass, and a rabbit pearl.

AZNB: Why are you a one man band? Have you been in bands with more members?

Toof: Toof was originally supposed to be the band name. It was me on bass and a friend on drums. We wanted it to be kinda like a God Head Silo band. But he went on to play in another band and I just kept the band name. One day I was walking down Red River and someone said, “Hey Toof!” and that’s when I realized I had a new nickname. Not long after that, I also realized I knew where to buy some moist, brown crystal meth, but that’s an entirely unrelated story. One that I will save for AZMETHLAB.com.

AZNB: Where does your sound come from?

Toof: I try to take a little bit from everything I like, but it never really seems to sound exactly like what I’m taking it from. Also, I was a New Wave wuss in high school, so that is sort of the foundation for everything I do.

AZNB: You’ve recorded a few albums, how can someone get them online and will you have merch at the show?

Toof: I will definitely have some CDs to sell at the show, hopefully I will have some t-shirts too. You can also buy the CDs online at nounandverb.com.

AZNB: Do you want people to respond humorously to your music?

Toof: I’m happy if people respond at all to my music.

AZNB: Have you been to Arizona? If yes, what did you think of it?

Toof: I’ve driven through it a few times, but I’ve never stayed as long as I would have liked. Are there any Drive-Through Daiquiri Shacks in Arizona like there are in Lousiana? That would definitely influence the length of my visit.

AZNB: How many dates are you playing on this tour?

Toof: This tour is only a week or so, We’re playing 8 shows, but we will probably try to get back later on this year.

AZNB: Anything you would like to add?

Toof: Phoenix kicks ass! And yes, ladies, I’m single!

AZNB: How did Mossyrock get together?

Mark Hug: Mossyrock evolved out of another project that I am a part of, called I.F.F., which is very much an improvised electronic dance music project. There was a rotating collective of people and within those people there were a couple of us interested in making some different styles of music and creating more of a traditional band. Viola!

AZNB: Your work has a lot of loops and samples, where do you find your source material?

MH: About 99 percent of the loops and samples are created by us. All the guitars, mandolins, strings, et cetera, were played by us, then chopped up and arranged and looped. The sounds we didn’t create were taken from answering machines or field recordings.

AZNB: Does everyone write or is there a principle songwriter?

MH: I write most of the music; I’m responsible for the framework of the songs. Then Dominica will have a listen and add to it, and we’ll work on perfecting the arrangements. When we’ve got most of the work down, Jeffro comes in and cleans it up.

AZNB: You are based in NYC and it seems Toof is based in Austin, yet you have toured together before and are touring together this time. How did you guys hook up?

MH: We met toof when we played with him in New Orleans a few years back. We had a rather rowdy late night, sunrise-fleeing, alcohol-fueled adventure, where we all promised one another that we would do it all again. He’s become one of our closest friends and certainly our favourite tour buddy. He is also probably one of the funniest people I have ever known.

AZNB: Have you played Phoenix before?

MH: We played in Phoenix on our last go-round with Toof in March 2005.

AZNB: When you play live what is the musical set up, who plays what etc.

MH: Dominica sings, plays cello, viola, toy piano, and keyboards. Sometimes all at once. She’s rather nimble. I play guitar and mandolin and also run Ableton Live, which allows me to catch loops of what’s being played on the fly. I also use it to control all the drums and effects. Jeffro plays guitar, bass, and keyboards.

AZNB: What percentage of your music is instrumental?

MH: I would say that right now about half of our live set is instrumental, moving more towards one-third. We’ve been adding a lot more vocals to our songs lately.

AZNB: If you had to describe your band’s sound, what would you say?

MH: Lovely electronic indie rock from dirty, broken Brooklyn.

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SHOW INFO
Toof w/ Mossyrock and Twin Towaz
CounterCulture Cafe (2330 E McDowell, Phoenix)
Friday, May 19
9:00 p.m.
$5
All-ages