John: First off, congratulations on your tour with Helmet. That should give you considerable exposure. How did you get the gig?
Meg: Thank you. We`re really stoked to have been asked. Our booker Peter Davis (Creature Booking) passed a copy of Monoli to Paige Hamilton, who really dug it and subsequently we were asked to open for half of the Helmet tour.
After five U.S. tours on our own barely breaking even, this was a blessing and exactly what we were looking for.
John: What`s the current band lineup?
Meg: Antonio Aguilar - guitar, vocals
Meg Castellanos -bass, backing vocals
Tyler Cox - drums
John: For people unfamiliar with Totimoshi, how would you describe your sound?
Meg: It`s definitely heavy, crunchy, grindy rock with an emphasis on Spanish sounding melodies. Vocals and lyrics are pretty important so it`s not all screamo. There is usually a constant undernote so that tends to give it a ringing Middle Eastern quality. The addition of Tyler has made us a louder band.
John: How`s the follow up to Monoli coming?
Meg: Quite well. As a band, we have five new songs and about six new ideas we`re working on. Tony has an overall sketch on how the record will be; [it will be] longer - maybe 15 songs with bits of instrumentals thrown in between. Some of the material is more acoustic and quieter, with eruptions at certain points of apex. We may invite other musicians to add their talents and hope to have more time in the studio to record this time around.
John: Speaking of which, how does the writing break down in the band? Is it collaborative, or does Tony still do the majority (if not all) of the composing?
Meg: Tony definitely comes up with the core ideas, if not full songs already written. We`ll work them out in the studio, tweak them until everything sounds right. Me and Tyler get to put in our two cents and help edit but for the most part, Tony`s the songwriter.
John: You just filmed a video for "Make Your Day." How was that, what was the concept behind it, and where can we see it?
Meg: We had an idea to film our niece and nephew as the younger version of me and Tony and follow the lyrics of the song more literally; to film down in So Cal....that was beyond our budget so we decided it best to film locally in Oakland at a warehouse with our friend and director Cale Bunker. It was basically live shots of us playing interspersed with old found footage of kids riding bikes....and shots of a bunch of tour posters I had saved over the years. It actually starts out with the band playing inside one of the posters as a special affect.
I`m not sure if it`s been sent to the networks yet but we`re hoping for airplay on Fuse and MTV2.
John: Tony provided a cool story for the Gigs From Hell book. Any other notable stories from the road?
Meg: Oh, there are so many� The craziest was when the roof flew off our �79 Transvan last year in VA on Highway 85. It was a fiasco. The sound of the ripping fiberglass, having to run back down the free way to grab it, and then figuring out how in the hell to secure it. We were traveling with our two dogs at the time. Luckily, we had a drill and were able to get it fixed the next day by a band we played with in Richmond who just happened to specialize in fiberglass repair.
And then there was the time when the front end literally fell out of our van at 3 am in Flatbush, NY. this is when we had a trailer and no one would tow the vehicle... Waited all night and was finally rescued by a friend in NJ who runs a tow yard.
Good to have friends but makes you wonder if it`s all worth it!
John: Of all the bands you`ve toured and played with over the past year, which one stood out as the best pairing with Totimoshi?
Meg: The Melvins by far. Musically, we do sound somewhat similar, in that both bands are forging our own paths. Their audience is pretty varied and open to new ideas and are very excepting and supportive. Buzz, Dale, and Kevin are really great guys and big inspirations for us - it was truly an honor to be asked to do their 20th anniversary shows.
John: Would you like to comment on the upcoming election?
Meg: George Bush scares the beejesus out of us. His administration is exclusive, secretive, and downright fascist. I can`t begin to fathom another four years of that idiot running this country.
John: Lastly, any new bands that are knocking you guys down that people ought to be aware of?
Meg: The Mass (our drummer`s other band), OM, Theory of Ruin, Lower Forty Eight, Earthless, Greenlight the Bombers, Akimbo, Mastodon, 400 Blows, Blood Hag, Laudanum, Axehandle, the Glasspack, Stinking Lizaveta, Jucifer!
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