Toyboat Toyboat Toyboat

toyboat toyboat toyboat are a popular jazz punk ensemble from Portland, OR in the United States. Electric trumpet played in a fashion reminiscent of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew era, and the rare photoreactive synthesizer The Drum Buddy, invented by New Orleans' Mr. Quintron, are symmetrically matched with analog percussion and strings. Despite befuddling journalists' efforts to categorize their aesthetic, the combo have enjoyed happy pairings onstage with national and international acts including Pere Ubu.

Drummer Mehmet Vurkaç earned his PhD in computational ethnomusicology and brings complex Brazilian rhythms to an already eclectic melange of instrumentation and influences. He has performed with Pink Martini, Fishbone, Obo Addy and Brazil’s Olodum, and appears on Mirah's 2009 album (a)spera (K Records) with members of The Decemberists and The Haggard.

We've played over 60 shows across the West coast in venues including Doug Fir, Mississippi Studios, Someday Lounge, Dante’s, Rotture and The Know in Portland, the Funhouse Lounge in Seattle, Stork Club in Oakland, Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco, and recurring showcase in Idaho/Washington Valley.

Our music is simultaneously heavy, danceable, and provocatively odd. Audiences have described us as “Sun Ra meets Devo,” “Miles meets Fugazi,” “Zappa meets Beastie Boys” and “Afrobeat meets the Melvins.” Jonathan Boober reviewed us for allmusic.com, “If Raymond Scott, Martin Denny and Bootsy Collins decided to form a band at Ennio Morricone’s house, it might sound something like toyboat toyboat toyboat.”

Mehmet Vurkaç,
Travis Henderson,
Hank Failing,
Danny Norton

Portland, Oregon r