First gig for ten years, Stoke Fest 2007

Back in the 90s if you went to a proper festival the Tofus would be there, not only on an official stage but any unofficial stage, back stage party, back of a truck, around a camp fire or even stuck in the corner of the beer tent. They were unstoppable. Then, as we rung bassist Ade to ask if they would come and play a fourth gig for us, we were told that they had split, leaving a vacuum that would not be filled for many years.

We never really understood what was behind that split, so Paddy finally explained for us. “Well, it was boredom I suppose. We had been at the same level for quite a long time without anything changing in any way. Personally I think I needed to try some other direction with my life and I think the others did as well”. Paddy did indeed go in a different direction. “I delivered vegetables in a van for a bit, did an archaeology degree; I moved onto a boat about six years ago so I am doing a lot of stuff on boats now, welding and metal work and stuff… oh, and I teach kids how to play the violin. I still go to festivals now and again but not a lot, I spend most of my summers on the river cruising about and things”

Ade on the other hand still turns up at festivals wherever you look and has been pretty busy band wise since the split up, having worked with Tragic Roundabout, Chicken Shed Zeppelin and a host of other projects. Goff, the final drummer, has kept his hand in, including a stint with Gaz Mayal’s Trojans; while final guitarist Mark is pretty much missing in action.

Paddy and the long lost Mark @ Forest Fair in 1994(?)

Over the years quite a few people served time in the Tofus before moving on to other things for a rest. Percussionist Chris, the man that came up with the band name in the first place, now runs his own event production company Continental Drifts; fiddle player Nula played with the Headmix Collective till they split and we have now lost track of her. Duggie, one of the first to take on the role of kit drummer also went on to play with Headmix but now drums with The Don Bradmans. What does paddy think of his old drummer wearing sailor suits and signing? “I think it is fucking amazing, I am so pleased for him, what an amazing band and what an amazing show they put on! I am really glad he has found a band that brings out his talent”.

2007 seemed to be the year of the reformation, what prompted the Tofu’s to get back together? “It was Goffs 40th birthday; me, Ade and Goff were there. Mark we lost contact with a long time ago (if you ever read this Mark, give Paddy a bell!), Kell was there, who stood in for Mark when he hurt his hand, we just got talking about it. I was really against it at 2am but by 4am, after much artificial stimulation, I had come around to the idea”.

“There was another thing; a copy of Rentamob got sold on e-bay for £88 recently. I used to have a van load of them but now I aint even got one myself.. I actually bid, but only £6. I thought to myself, well ten years on and people are still interested in us!”

Endorse It (IG PIC)

The band now features a newcomer, Chesney. Paddy has known him for quite a while. “I’ve known him since he was about 15, he was not actually brought up on site but he was like always on or around site from a really young age. A couple of years ago this girl Nama was getting married to this guy Steve, who is an old mate of mine from site. Now Nama is Neneh Cherry’s daughter and they were having this big wedding in Sweden at Neneh Cherry’s family house. Nama, who I know but have not seen much of for ages, is a big friend of my girlfriend.... anyway, they said ‘will you come and play the fiddle at the wedding with this guy Chesney’. And I thought.. nahhh.. can’t be the same guy, he’s a munter, always ketamined up or special brewed out, but he turns up and it was him and he really was an amazing musician which sort of blew me away cos I did not know he could play anything. Just amazing… and here he is now in the band!” Some of you may have also seen Chesney climbing up on stage to do encores with Inner Terrestrials.

For many of the bands that have reformed recently it is now just a hobby, a way of having a laugh and meeting up with old friends. Is that how the Tofu’s are looking at things? “No, not really. We only got together this year so everything is in its early stages but I think we will be doing a lot of gigging. I don’t want to live in the back of the van getting twenty quid a night; we want a decent wage now. Back in the day that was our only source of income, apart from certain other illicit activities, if we did not play a gig we did not eat so sometimes it meant settling for next to nothing cos it was better than nothing. Most of us have other sources of income now so we can afford to be more choosy… and some of us have families now so we HAVE to be more choosy.”

Endorse It (IG PIC)

“We aim to do a lot of gigging next year and some recording, maybe even release something by the summer. I don’t even know how you release an album these days but it is certainly something we are looking into; apparently it’s a lot easier to self release now”.

One of the greatest festival bands ever, in the beer tent @ the greatest festival ever, the Forest Fair (the muddy year)

Even though they have been off the scene for years people have not stopped talking about them and to a certain extent the legend has grown, with the reformation gigs being as hotly anticipated as any contemprary bands. Has Paddy noticed more of a vibe surrounding gigs now? “To some degree. This summer we have been on a bit of a nostalgia trip and there have been loads of people about that were around in the old days. Festivals were something different then, it was part of something else, some kind of counter culture, something that had a bit of a political edge to it and I think it is very different now. We have a load of people coming to gigs who are now in their 40s remembering what it was like to be in their late 20s”. What about a new generation of Tofu fans? “Well, when we played Bristol the other week there were loads of young people around, but perhaps that’s because their parents were into us. I dunno, early days yet, hard to judge”.

Can we read anything into the fact that anarchy has been chosen as the subject for the first new song ‘Champagne Anarchist’? “It’s not the first song actually, just the first one I could be bothered to sit down and write out. I can’t really add anything, just read the lyrics. It’s not having a go at anyone; I am sort of saying if you are a trustafarian anarchist and daddy is supplying you with loads of money, I am jealous! Although me mum has just given her old car to my sister, but that is not quite the same”.

Endorse It (IG PIC)

The reformation might never have been. In 2005, the morning after his birthday, Paddy moved his boat into a lock at the beginning of what was to be his worst morning after. Kel’s boat got trapped against Paddy’s in the lock and it looked as if both could capsize. Paddy quickly opened the top paddles to put some water in the lock to stabilize the boats. The emergency should have ended there but some how when shutting the lock Paddy felt like he had stubbed his finger. Looking down he realised that the end of the finger, just below the nail had been cut off. He ran off with splintered bone poking out the end of his severed and crushed finger. Ali picked him up and took him to hospital. Whilst he was gone Dawn, Cai, Kitty, Simon, Rachel and Malcolm found his finger end in the lock gate. It was quickly put in a bag with frozen hash browns supplied by the local café and rushed to the hospital where it was sewn back on. This would be a nasty accident for most people but for a fiddle player it was devastating. “It has gone dramatically well actually, it does not really affect me playing the violin. I thought I wouldn’t be able to play at all, but although it has obviously made some difference that I can hear, I don’t think anyone listening would notice. That was another thing that inspired us to get back together. I thought, oh my god, I wont be able to get up on stage in front of hundreds of people and play and I need to be able to do that. Then I thought, hold on, as it happens, I don’t perform in front of people, so when I had my finger put on that was another inspiration to reform!” Mmmm, inspiration to reform; does this mean we should all be pleased he nearly lost his finger?

So, for all of you that knew and loved them, good times are back and take it from us they are as hardcore as ever, not just a bunch of geezers in a mid life crisis. For those of you that have still never heard of them, make sure you catch them this time round, your life will be fuller for it.

Live @ Porters Butt, Bath (camera man very drunk) (IG PIC)