What are your names? 
Roos, Marc, Wesley, Maurice 

What is the band’s name? 
TAPE TOY 

How did you come up with the band’s name? 
When we just started out Maurice got high one time and came up with a bunch of names and one of them was “Taper Toy”. We dropped the R and boom, TAPE TOY was born 

What is your genre of music? 
Grunge-pop

Give us a little bio about you. 
Gritty guitars, playful riffs and one big energetic throwback to the 90s: that’s TAPE TOY! Five years ago now, four musicians from Amsterdam decided to join forces and TAPE TOY was born. The band was off to a flying start; they won the Amsterdamse Popprijs, did a crazy amount of shows at Popronde and one couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing their poppy grunge about the struggles of adolescent life. 

What made you go into music? 
We were all exposed to alternative rock music at a very young age which inspired us to pick up an instrument ourselves.

Who are your influences? 
Nirvana 
The Breeders 
Momma 
Early work of Kelly Clarkson 
Mitski 

Are you a signed? 
No 

You released your new single ‘Sick Sick Sick’, tell us more about the single and the story behind the single. 
“Sick Sick Sick” is about trying to stop time, forgetting our daily problems, drinking and partying, although you know there will be some consequences.

What was the writing and recording process like? 
The writing process was very easy and felt very natural. For a while we struggled with the structure of the song but after many versions it suddenly clicked. Then we took the song to the studio and recorded it in one take. 

Who did you work with on the single? 
With our longtime friend and producer Iwen Legro

You are set to release your new EP, tell us more about it. 
During COVID we wrote and recorded our debut album (Honey, WTF). Because of the lockdown we wrote most of it by ourselves at home and the recording was done in layering. That’s also why it took quite a long time to finish the record.  When the lockdown was finally over, we immediately got back together in the rehearsal room to write more music. With the EP we wanted to capture our live sound again so we recorded everything at once in the live room together. Before we even noticed the EP was finished. We, the band and the producer Iwen, were so excited to record the tracks, that it all went with the speed of light. You can really feel that the energy through the speakers when listening to the EP.

Describe each track in two words. 
1. Glitchy Eyes  – Grainy & Surprising 
2. Talk Soon  – Playful & Harmonious 
3. November  – Nostalgic & Quirky 
4. Birthday  – Weezer & Pixies 
5. Sick Sick Sick  – Loud & Fast

Do you have any live shows coming up? 
Yes! Our EP release show on April 15th. It’s going to be a very exciting event. We will throw our release party at Skatepark Noord, a skatepark in Amsterdam. That gave us the perfect opportunity to not only let bands play, but also host a skate contest! We have some lovely prizes to give away, so that’s really cool. We are playing (of course) and fuzz pop band FFOOSSS is doing the support. After that DJ’s will close off the night and we’re going to party hardy. Besides the EP release we are playing some festivals this summer, check our website! 

Let us know where we can get tickets if so. 
www.tapetoy.com/shows

What else can we expect in early 2023? 
We are finishing our tour with Bongloard and we got a music video in the making. And ofcourse we will start with writing new music. 

Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years? 
In five years the four of us will still be together as a band and still be very good friends, obviously. The only thing we love to do so much is writing music and playing live gigs. So, playing a lot of shows in,- and outside of the Netherlands, making more and more records and just keep having fun making music.

What quote or saying do you always stick by? 
Our goal and business model is: We’re just not going to stop. 

That sounds very simple, but it really gives us the energy to keep going, even though times are rough. 

Besides that we have some more but we can not share because they’re quite explicit haha. 

When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget? 
1. Vodka + Redbull 
2. A Laptop for the business (and occasional netflixing) 
3. Multiple outfits 
4. Our beloved front of house technician Jasper Wouters 
5. Some good and fun energy

Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you? 
Yes! We are on Instagram, Facebook etc. We’re also on TikTok but we’re old so we don’t quite get it yet haha.

Find all social media links here