Phillips develops renewed passion for Toad

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

Who: Toad the Wet Sprocket with Bleu, Alice Peacock.

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Tickets: $25-$30.

Information: (702) 632-7600.

When singer Glen Phillips and guitarist Todd Nichols began writing songs together as teenagers, the duo dreamt of someday playing in a successful rock band.

When that dream became a reality, however, Phillips realized it still wasn't enough to fill his days with happiness.

So in July 1998, Phillips disbanded Toad the Wet Sprocket one of the alternative rock movement's most prosperous outfits so he could go searching for his lost passion.

"It turned into a day job; nobody was passionate about it. And I made a promise to myself that I was no longer willing to live a life that I wasn't happy with," Phillips, 32, said in a recent phone interview from his Santa Barbara, Calif., home.

"I wasn't going to be in a situation that didn't feed me in a spiritual way, and Toad wasn't doing that for any of us anymore."

For the better part of five years, Phillips wrote songs on his own, collaborated with new musicians and toured as a solo artist. He also spent more time with his family, most notably his three young daughters, now aged 1, 6 and 7.

Then one day last year, Phillips determined the time had come to get back together with Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning and drummer Randy Guss. Toad the Wet Sprocket was reborn.

"The idea had come up before, and my reaction had always been no," Phillips said. "But when it came up this time, I thought enough time had passed, and all of a sudden, it seemed like a good idea."

Toad performs at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Saturday night at 6:30. Blue and Alice Peacock will open the show.

Phillips also played Las Vegas last December, opening the Counting Crows' concert at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel with a solo set. The same Crows tour also featured a string of Toad appearances, the first in five years.

"It's been great playing with them again," Phillips said. "It's automatic. We get in a room and it sounds good immediately. It's obvious we had something really special."

Taking its name from a line in Monty Python's "Rock Notes" sketch, Toad the Wet Sprocket was formed in Santa Barbara in 1986, when the four members were all still in high school.

Though the unusual moniker initially drew interest to the band, Toad soon became known as much for its mellow brand of pop. The band's third album, 1991's "Fear," established Phillips and his mates as alternative hit makers, spawning the Top-20 singles "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean."

Three more studio releases followed, but by the time 1997's "Coil" hit shelves, the four longtime friends had begun to drift apart.

"We weren't getting along well, and we knew we were headed towards a place where we would be running around talking about what jerks the other guys were," Phillips said. "So it was time to get out before that became what it was going to be. It was headed in a pretty bad direction."

Phillips immediately channeled his energy into his solo career, touring and releasing "Abulum" to mixed reviews in 2001. A live disc showcasing one of his 2002 appearances is due out soon, as is a collaboration with bluegrass combo Nickle Creek.

These days, however, Phillips' primary concern is the revitalized Toad, namely whether the band will stay together beyond its upcoming tour, which is scheduled to end March 9 in Norfolk, Va.

"There are no future plans until we see how things go," Phillips said. "Of course, there's mounting pressure because the shows have been selling well. But I can't let that affect us."

Phillips also refuses to allow criticism that Toad's music is too light bother him. He dealt with it during the grunge wave of the early 1990s, and as such assessments surface again in the midst of today's hardcore and alt-metal movements, Phillips prefers to focus on acts who are proving they don't need to be heavy to be popular.

"We were constantly slammed for not being heavier," Phillips said. "But as big as that stuff has been, Norah Jones is selling more albums than anybody. John Mayer is doing well. So is Jack Johnson. There are a ton of people who are getting out there who are authentic and quiet."