The TossPints The Vomiting Skull and Illuminated Manuscripts

It’s an understatement to say that the Tosspints are an unusual trio of musicians. First off two of ‘em are brothers – Don and Zak Zuzula of the tribal Zuzulas – and the drummer John - you doesn’t have to call me Johnny – Johnson is dating their mom. What happens to the band if John and mom break up – do they lose their Johnson? Secondly, what is Celtic Music, anyway? The Celts as an identifiable race are long gone…ya know any? Hell No - so Celtic music is one of those loose terms that cover a whole swathe of musical traditions from the Scottish-inspired music of Donnegal to the folkish lyricism of Clare. In essence, Celtic music covers traditional music of Celtic countries – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany (in France), Galicia (in Spain) and areas that have been influenced by these folk/world traditions such as the United States and Canada. Ultimately it’s a moot tosspoint – doesn’t really matter - ‘cos they play a hybrid of the genre called Celtic Punk that eschews the prettier aspect of Celtic Music – the flutes and Lutes and violins - and rocks yer knickers like a “truck that kicks ass”. It’s a major commitment like Dickey Betts on a 3 month jag to their unique musical vision, carving out an identity that doesn’t automatically follow the steps of the old wave Celtic Punk traditionalists like the Pogues, DropKick Murphy or Flogging Molly. They have a staunch following of loyalists that know the lyrics to their original tunes and will sing-a-long during the shows. It takes awhile for the newly baptized fan – they may want and Irish wake only to encounter a Viking funeral with the pyre ablaze. This is music for the ages whether it is Hail-up-good-friend-and-we-shall-die-together drinking songs or political barn burners that deal with injustice and subjugation.

I must admit this was a difficult interview for me having to reign in this incendiary group of misfit intellectuals and musical radicals. I was forced to edit out the most salacious, dastardly and profane bits – and that was just my questions. Yeah, the Tosspints brought out the best in me. This close-knit threesome literally takes the bull by the horns and runs the game. I could hardly keep up. I was like a post-Exorcist Linda Blair grousin’ about the demon inside her back when she was doin’ the super-freak with Rick James. At times I felt like a red-faced parent draggin’ the kids to yet another excruciating soccer game. But I was both the parent and the child and the Tosspints were priests giving me communion and forgiving me my sins.

When did the band first get together?

Zak: Well, Don and I have been brothers for a few years and John is dating mom and so we’ve been together as brothers and friends for awhile Don: As a band we’ve been together four years. We started playing in a different band together - a punk band. We came up with a name PCOA after playing a game of Balderdash. That acronym was one of the questions; it stood for Prosecutor Club of America…though we came up with a different meaning. It was great fun. We wrote songs we could go to jail for. John: Don was in the military and he heard some bands in San Antonio and told us about this great form of Celtic music Don: I was in the military for four years and then served in the reserves so I was out and back to Texas several times and hung out at this place called Waxy O’ Connors and that’s where I found the inspiration for the Tosspints.

Can You recite any memorable Celtic limericks?

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Whose your leader and why does he drink so much Guinness?

Don (the Leader): We don’t really have a leader we’re a democracy

Zak & John: YES SIR

Does each member have a particular role - like the quiet Tosspint, the cute Tosspint, the Piss-offed Tosspint?

John: Don’s all three

Don: I’m the emotional entity in the band.

John: I’m the salesman. Don does production. Zak does marketing…

Don: and all his business is done on the golf course

Are you a drinking band?

Zak: We’re really not a drinking band but we like to have a good time. (Hmm, it’s 9am - can I have another Guinness…oops – you’re not writing that down, are you)

How did you come up with TossPints – what does it mean?

Don: It was the title of a song by the Pogues. It’s about a guy who is considered worthless by his village because of his political views and is burned at the stake. He says goodbye to his wife and children and tells them that what he did was right and moral. It’s about the last day of his life.

John: It’s a rebel song about the plight of the Irish – very sad.

Don: But it’s really about any government that exploits people


Describe Your music - what’s Celtic punk?

Don: It’s Celtic music but it’s got more attitude that we are just…

Zak: playing our own style

Don: Yes, it really came from the Pogues. It’s Celtic but it’s not traditional and it’s not rock. John has this phrase it’s not flutes and lutes…

John: Yes…It’s not like Riverdance with flutes and fiddles. Other Celtic bands look at us like we’re the red-headed step child. We don’t use traditional instruments. When we first started out we played a lot of the Pogues and traditional tunes. Back then people were saying the Pogues were the new traditional

Who are your influences?

Don: Shane McGowan of the Pogues. He’s an icon

Zak: He’s huge…I like the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly

John: The Murphys are criticized for taking traditional songs and adding a punk beat. They deserve credit for keeping it alive.

Don: I also like the Dubliners and the Chieftains. These are the groups you typically hear.

Do you play any far out instruments like a Bouzouki, concertina, flutes, mandolin, Bodhran and the like

Zak: Don can play them all. He can pick up any instrument and teach himself to play it in an hour. He actually plays the Tin whistle and mandolin on some of our s

Your music has tremendous energy – it’s seems to have a goodtime feel yet you sing several songs that have a political current running through them – do you see yourselves as a fun beer swilling band or a fun beer swilling political band… like the Clash?

Don: Tough question. I like to have fun but I also like to write songs that have perspective and meaning. Some of our song selection has a rebellious side.

John: The rebel songs are all like that– when I learned about the potato famine I was in tears. It went on for over four years.

Don: Celtic Rebel songs can start fights in bars – songs like Join the British Army or Johnson’s Motor Car. We do a song that is 100 years old, Fields of Athenry, about the first Irish Revolution

Why do you think Van Morrison frowns so much…constipation…ancient celtic orneriness?

John: I don’t know the guy but I’d like to drink with him

Don: Maybe it’s because the guy has released umpteen albums and had only one hit

John interrupts –“ Here Don, I saved this for you.”

Don unfolds a strip of paper from a fortune cookie and reads, “Our first love and our last love is self love”

Don: I’m a chronic self lover – it’s an obsession

You’re known to wear kilts onstage - How often do you get a tilt in yer kilt?

In unison: EVERY NIGHT

John: It’s one thing to show up for gig in full kilt and a whole nuther deal to set up…

Don: It’s like people shouting, “I can see TP up yer crack”

Zak: I get offers. Once this girl – very attractive girl – says I gotta deal for YOU. I wanna lay on the back and look up your kilt. She kept it up all night long….it was hard playing with a girl between my legs.

Don: At gigs people will come up and ask me…”Is it true what they say about a Scotsman’s kilt?”

So … What do they say?

Don: It’s a kilt if don’t have underwear on; It’s a skirt if you do. They wanna look and see for themselves. I get a lot of Guinness that way. It’s perfect for making knuckle children

Do you have any really bad jokes – remember I’ve seen your show!

John: OK – I have a bad joke…but you gotta do it in dialect

Whoaye deed thee ald Irrrrishmaun pat anly 239 bins hin ‘ees soup?

‘Cas ane more whood maak it too farty

Do you have any plans to record?

Don: We have a CD in the works – all originals.

John: I love playing our songs – I could play 12 hours straight and never get tired of it.

Don: OK John – we’ll see how you hold up in March. On St Patty’s Day we’re doing a private party and then a gig– over six straight hours of music.

John: We are tentatively booked for studio time…Don Lajiness from 2nd System (an incredibly talented local metal band- author) might produce it. I was surprised how much he knew about sound.

Don: We wanted someone who could capture our sound…and metal bands LOVE to record. They know what sounds good.

I love the traditional tunes that you recorded as a promotional EP - the Celtic waltz of Black Velvet Band, the punched-up folk of Johnny Jump Up and Join The British Army – a rebel song with a high speed shuffle

John: Those songs were our favorite songs when we first got started. We liked playing them the most

Don: We also included a cover of Sean McGowan’s Tuesday Morning – one of the new traditional songs.

Zak: We love the traditional songs…our audience requests them, songs like Danny Boy…it’s like wipeout - the traditionalists want to hear it.

John: But you can’t mess with it

Don: I’d like to try to punk it just to see if I get beat up

The Tosspints are a group determined to hone their craft and break down barriers that pigeonhole music and narrow musical perspectives. They are talented songwriters with a catalog of original world class compositions. Tosspint music is for all seasons not just March, not just for St Patrick’s Day. This is music for the ages – written in a perfect dialectic of irreverence and good times while giving a message that is at once rebellious and life affirming. Listen to Don Zuzula’s Sing To Kill, written while he was stationed in Iraq, a minor chord masterpiece that speaks to the rebel life in a war where power and repression sometimes trump courage and sacrifice. I Wanna Mulligan is John Johnson’s just naughty enough ode to America’s favorite National Pastime -through the lens of a Irishman – Baseball, mom, and apple pie…hell no - drinking, donnybrooks and debauchery is more like it…oh, yeah - and a little golf too. Zak Zuzula’s Soldier’s Song is inspired by the movie Braveheart – I love you, always have – it’s celtic punk with jangling guitars and a too real message of the fear and isolation a soldier experiences as he contemplates an unkind fate.

You can contact the Tosspints @ http://myspace.com//thetosspints Or call John @(989) 737-0272 Peace Bo White