Who are you and what
is your role in the band?
My name is What? My Name is not Slim Shady but Clan McKenzie. No really its McKenzie Lee, CJ (CJ Pierce of Drowning Pool and TOLA) gave me the nickname Clan McKenzie. I play the bass and do back-up vocals but at practice I fill in on the drums and guitar if needed, especially if we are writing. Or at least I used to play around on the drums before we got Quinten “GotsDaBeats” Roberts, he has mad skills. Aria is our lead singer, lyrist and plays the piano. CJ Pierce started out just producing us and we are so loveable he joined the band. Brandon Thibeaux plays guitar and has been a friend of Aria’s and mine for years.
How did the band get started?
McKenzie: It was kinda haphazard, I remember seeing Aria sit in with a friend’s band and sing a couple of songs during Festival International Spring 2013. I was like this chick could sing. Then a mutual friend of Aria and I called me and asked if I would like to play in band with a female fronted singer. Told him sure and he gave me 8 songs, said practice was the next day and we would be playing that weekend.
From the very beginning I knew I had found a home. Aria and I became close very quickly and are the only two original members. We have had over 30 local Louisiana musicians rotate through TOLA to help Aria and I realize our dreams. While that is hard sometimes, many of those musicians had a lot more experience than Aria or I. They really pushed us in every aspect from writing, performing, touring and the business of having a band. But our current line-up has been together now for 6 months me on Bass, Aria on vocals and piano, CJ on lead guitar, Brandon Thibeaux on rhythm guitar and Quintin on drums.
Who are your influences and how do they play a role in your sound?
McKenzie: We try to keep things pretty simple and straight forward. We all have pretty diverse taste and having 30+ different members come through the band has helped to develop the sound. I mean when you are from Louisiana music is everywhere from Cajun, Blues, Zydeco, Jazz, now Swamp Pop, Country and probably least of all Rock and Metal. But we blend hard rock, pop punk and progressive rock all together. If Paramore and Evanescence came together, that’s The Other LA. I know it’s a weird combination but we wanted to take two of our inspirations and combine them together into one.
Aria: Some of my favorite singers are Amy Lee from Evanescence, Hayley Williams of Paramore, and Jenna Mcdougal from Tonight Alive. When I was about eight years old, I was listening to the radio and I heard this awesome song that came on. It was a rock song with a female vocalist. I asked my mom who this was and she said the band was Paramore and the song was Decode. I asked my dad to download it and I’d sing that song every day. I actually just got into Tonight Alive just last year. My old guitarist introduced me to them and I immediately fell in love. . I want my band to go far and be successful like these bands. I always dreamed of opening for them. That would be a dream come true.
CJ: My influences are pretty obviously from the harder side of rock Ozzy, Led Zeppelin, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Tool but I seriously like all kinds of music. For example we have been working on a Sade cover but TOLA style. I am careful when writing with Aria and Clan McKenzie, this past EP was pretty straight forward hard rock right now we are working on some new music that has some more progressive elements to it.
Aria: Evanescence, Paramore, Drowning Pool, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Seether, 12 Stones, Linken Park, Three Days Grace, Tool, Perfect Circle, Puscifer (Really anything Maynard), Flyleaf, We Came as Romans, Rachel Bennet, Deftones, Scorpions, Oh Brother, Tonight Alive, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Pierce The Veil, Rise Against, Ramones, Ozzy, Korn, Of Mice and Men, A Day to Remember, Type O Negative
McKenzie: Smile Empty Soul, From First to Last, Deftones, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, We Came As Romans, Of Mice and Men, Myka Relocate, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Devil Wears Prada, Tool, The Who, Joy Division, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, My Chemical Romance, A Skylit Drive, Blessthefall
What has been your most meaningful experience being in this band so far?
McKenzie: Probably the best memory was when we met CJ. I would say it was not our best performance but CJ said he liked what he heard or more exactly the potential of what he heard. After that night, we really started to change as a band. We moved from 4 originals to 7 originals, we practiced with a purpose and started playing more and more out of town. Aria and I would go to Dallas to work with CJ on our EP. We had been dying to put out music and CJ helped make that happen.
CJ: It was about a year ago when TOLA first opened up for Drowning Pool. I heard about them from the local promoter John Janatsch. A [then] 16-year-old girl with Asperger’s bringing the rock. And that’s exactly what she did. TOLA was brand new out of the gate performing songs from Paramore, Evanescence and Deftones. I was immediately drawn to Aria Fowler’s vocal ability and stage presence. At the time they only had four originals. I brought them into my studio to record their first EP. It turned into re-writing and recording together. They asked me to join the band after a show at Sam’s Place in Crowley, LA. It was cool; here was this 16 year old girl and 20 year asking me to step into Sam’s back office. I just could not resist. Now we are family and a band!
Favorite memory from a show you’ve played or a place you’ve travelled?
McKenzie: There have been so many, 4 months after Aria and I started the band we got to play on a Revolver Hottest Chicks in Rock Tour with Sick Puppies, Lacuna Coil, Eyes Set to Kill and Cliver. That was a great night. Having Paul McCoy from 12 Stones and John LeCompt of Evanescene join us on stage for a cover of Bring Me to Life at 2 separate shows was pretty awesome.
Aria: Maybe the best time was our 1st tour out of town. Tour might be a stretch of the word. We played 6 shows over a couple of weekends (Lafayette w/ Stitched Up Heart, New Orleans w/ Myka Relocate, Passagula MS w/ Fit for Rivals, Canton MS, Memphis and Nashville.) At the Myka show our drummer at the time (another old friend Sebastian Martin) decided to crowd surf and broke his wrist. He still played the next shows with a cast and a drum stick taped to his hand. We packed food and drinks to cut down on cost, all our gear no trailer and jammed into an SUV with my dad driving. As soon as we pulled out of the driveway I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. Having Asperger’s means making friends is not easy, so being cooped up with your best friends is more a dream for me. (Aria)
What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
McKenzie: It is hard to write music for a female rocker. And that is what we want to be – just straight up rockers. We wear our emotions on our sleeves in our music. Like the song Demon Inside is about when you just feel like no one understands and you just want to lash out at everything around you. With all of our songs we write and perform them with everything we have. The music and the vocals have to match so both of them have to be really big. We want the music to reach down in your soul and grab it by the throat and take control of you.
Aria: It’s really simple for me, I need to play music and sing. And I hope that other kids with issues like Asperger’s, depression, ADD or just a tough life can realize that anything is possible.
CJ: I have been around the music scene for over 20 years so my goal is simple. Help these kids realize their dreams.
Something about you that no one knows?
Aria: I love sushi and anything and everything from Japan. I want to play in Japan one day. We can’t pass an Asian restaurant on the rode without the guys kidding me about wanting to eat Asian food. I know we have to save money and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the road but I could eat Asian for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Aria
McKenzie: Yeah we all love teasing Aria about wanting to eat out all the time. Her Dad is relentless on the road with teasing. We like to keep it fun. Traveling with TOLA is kinda like a locker room. Thankfully Aria is one of the guys. So in that light of food and locker room, I like to eat tacos and hotbox everyone in the car.
CJ: I am not sure it is a secret but I am a kid at heart and still get juiced every show. I love being on stage and talking to everyone at the shows. Even after the shows, we sit up in the van writing music till very late.
What is next for the band?
McKenzie: Well we just put out the EP titled TOLA. And we already started writing new music. Aria and I know it may not be the answer to our dreams but we would really like to sign with Razor & Tie, Columbia, Capital or someone that could help put a megaphone on our sound. Help us get out there and maybe play on warped tour or something.
Anything else you want to add?
Buy the EP and tell us what you think. Tell your friends about us and visit our website!
