Toy Balloon


LABEL: Lofly

Toy Balloon are an integral part of an emerging Brisbane scene centred around the Lofly Hangar, the city’s iconic DIY venue. Their vast and diverse influences make for a unique sound that can bring to mind Daft Punk, New Order, Mogwai, Boards of Canada, and LCD Soundsystem in the space of a few seconds.

In 2007 Toy Balloon were one of the first bands to call the Hangar home. At that time Toy Balloon were a fledgling two piece consisting of Nimai Etheridge’s uniquely melodic wall-of-sound guitar and Greg Cooper’s beautiful sequenced electronic compositions.

Toy Balloon has since matured into a four piece featuring Chloe Cooper (Mr Maps) on keyboard and Ben Green on drum kit, with Greg Cooper also taking up vocal duties. The band’s shows are ecstatic and intense celebrations of music and dancing, and have resulted in a massive and loyal local following.

The band has performed with Canda’s Holy F**k, interstate acts Aleks & The Ramps & Bag Raiders as well as local acts, Yeo & The Freshgoods, DZ, re:Enactment, Mr Maps and Hunz; a diverse range of bands that highlights Toy Balloon’s versatility and universal respect within the local scene.

‘Toy Division’ is the end result of a year long studio collaboration between Toy Balloon and Phil Laidlaw (aheadphonehome). Toy Division features nine tracks of fractured electropop disco jams, with strong post rock and shoegazer influences. The album also features the sublime vocals of Helen Franzmann (McKisko) who appears on “Broken Little Nothing” (track 7) and “Disco Cassette Freakout” (track 9).

The album perfectly illustrates Toy Balloon’s journey from naïve instrumental electro jams, to a fearsome live band on the cusp of international acclaim. It was recently announced FasterLouder album of the week.

The band has recently been selected for the Big Sound showcase festival in Brisbane, and has been approached for material by Triple J and a variety of online blogs including whothehell.net, as well as receiving steady radio play on Brisbane station 4zzz.

http://www.myspace.com/toyballoon