Tysk Tysk Task: Toadstool

Tysk Tysk Task is Samantha Hartsel, Rick Martel, Joe Milia and Keith Dusoe! This week we’re covering their song “Toadstool” along with many other topics! :)

When I first heard “Toadstool,” I was immediately captivated. The uniqueness of the instrumentation paired with Samantha’s haunting vocals made for such a surprising treat.

Every time I hear this song, I think it belongs in a Halloween movie or something. The vibes are incredibly ominous, and Rick’s guitar leads are so wide they feel almost like a siren sounding off. Samantha’s vocals are wailing yet effortless, and Keith absolutely rips the bass apart; especially in the breakdown when the song starts to mellow out. The whole vibe shifts and becomes transcendent. It genuinely feels like the soundtrack to a werewolf thriller, or something tearing through the woods at night.

That atmosphere is perfectly captured in the music video, directed by Asher Thomas of Poltergeist Media.

The video features the band alone in the woods with nothing but their instruments, the trees, and plenty of dirt. It captures the feeling of the song beautifully, and the visual effects are incredible. The chemistry between everyone involved is so apparent, and you can tell just how much fun it is to be part of TTT.

From recording in the woods of Massachusetts at Treehaus Recordings to filming the video in the woods, it’s safe to say this song is perfectly represented. The DIY feel is strong, but it only adds character and depth to every moment. The backstory, the location, the music itself, and those insane vocals make “Toadstool” such an enjoyable experience. It’s no surprise the band is nominated for Rock Artist of the Year at the BMAs.

I really enjoyed dissecting both the song and the music video together. This is the first time I’ve really focused on the visual side, but it’s such a crucial piece of the Toadstool puzzle. Everything works together so seamlessly and will no doubt leave you with that creepy, anxious feeling in the best way possible. It’s a truly great and unique song, and I think everyone should give it a listen right now.

Thank you so much to TTT and everyone involved in making Toadstool. It’s been a pleasure putting this write-up together, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

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A Conversation with Samantha Hartsel:

EH: Toadstool has a very ominous and haunting vibe to it; Was there any discussion on the vibe of the track before going in to record?

SH: Absolutely. So much of our woodland grunge aesthetic and sound is derived from where we live and practice and record, in the woods of Lowell in our clandestine cabin, Treehaus. The conservation land right outside of our walls, in the dark and dreamy forest, is haunting - there's no other word for it. The moss that hangs down, the tendrils and vines and drooping branches of wind-tossed trees, all of that imagery informs the process, sets the tone, brings the vibe... and the premise of the song is a metaphor around a woman who is abducted and killed in the forest. She is only discovered later when toadstools emerge from the ground in the warmer season and reveal where she was left and forgotten. 

With that kind of imagery, we used that as a starting point to make the heavy grunge-y guitar riff grow from there that grew into the song it is today, and now we use it as our final song in our live set. I take the vines and flowers we use to decorate the stage at our shows and fall to the floor, tangled and grabbed and snarled and held by them all during this song. This aspect of performance art at our live shows is so important to me, personally, and speaks to a greater metaphor about a woman's lived experience, especially one that deals with PTSD, complex PTSD and greater trauma.

EH: Your vocal melodies are very distinct and suit the song perfectly; Did you try any other melodies or lyrics to this song in the past, or did it come naturally the first time?

SH: Thank you for saying this - I definitely tried a few different versions in practice before landing on this one. Especially as a singer songwriter, vocal melodies are a huge part of the process for me, but to me, I am careful that they are not always the primary focus. TTT started as a folk grunge cub duo and has grown into the heavy and dissonant bear it is today. I am so inspired by the vocals of Karen O in Yeah Yeah Yeahs and always admired how especially on my favorite record Fever To Tell, how her gorgeous voice was not the primary focus on many of those songs... she shared her vocal lines' prowess with the roars of Nick Zinner's guitar, and sometimes he even drowned her out. The playfulness and power of Karen O's vocals and how she emulates those raw edges to me has always been a major goal of mine. It's often a consideration; I hope I hit that sweet spot. 

The melody of Toadstool came to me while out driving from Connecticut for a few hours home from a flea market. I was inspired to write something heavy and dirge-y, in the vein of one of my personal guitar icons, Zinner but with a noise rock playful dissonance à la Unwound's "Corpse Pose." The guitar line was a little erratic and a little unusual, and it did make finding a vocal line to pair with that more difficult than most Tysk Tysk Task songs. 

EH: What kind of music did you grow up listening to? What music inspired you to start creating your own?

SH: My late father was an amazing influence on me, and he had an enviable record collection he had carefully selected and curated over the years. Early records of The Who, The Beatles, Crimson, Zeppelin, Floyd... those were all so instrumental in shaping my love of guitar and heavier music. I was tricked by a childhood friend into attending Ozzfest when I was in middle school and I had the most wild night of my young life. I came home wearing a P.O.D. shirt singing System of a Down and telling my father how I wanted to know if he had any Sabbath records. I think that really freaked him out (Sabbath was "too dark" for him).

In high school, I got so into The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beck, especially the Guero album, and also, an after school mentor turned me on to PJ Harvey. In my early teens, I fixated on piano greats like Regina Spektor and Fiona Apple and started a piano solo project around that time. I still love to play and work on those songs privately when I can...

EH: What was your favorite thing about creating the music video for Toadstool?

SH: That collective buy-in of a band and a team, where we all work together toward a greater goal, truly motivates me. I am a better songwriter because I want to know what Rick, our producer and my biggest collaborator, thinks of my latest idea. I want to see if Joe dances while he thrashes along to the riff I brought to practice, and I want to see how Keith can really help me bring out the lowest of the heavy low-ends. I understand the landscape of music is changing, and it's hard for an indie band to "make it," especially as a DIY project, but to me, being a band is what defines Tysk Tysk Task... so the making of the video and collaborating with Asher Thomas on one hot, sweaty day over the summer to me defined our connection. That's what I loved the most...

We struggled to set up the PA, and Joe drove out from his venue in Lowell, the Valley, a couple of extra long extension cords. We all banded together - seriously - to drag the amps and the equipment down into a wooded and treacherous ravine. We hunted around to find the perfect mushroom that would drive the story of the song home... Asher hunted around with his camera to find the best natural pieces - a feather, a leaf, a log - for the B-roll cuts. Each one of us brought an idea to make this special. 

EH: What are some things Asher Thomas did that really sold you on his style and his work under Poltergeist Media?

SH: I can't say enough good things about Asher - Asher organizes Tough Luck Fest and leads his incredible band Nailed Shut, and ever since we met him in Worcester opening for Nailed Shut at the PNI Club, I have been all-in on whatever Asher is up to. He has also shot exceptional music videos for indie and hardcore bands around here including Sevalynn - you have to check out their video "blind spot," if you haven't yet - as well as Gut Health, Keith's band out of Worcester. Also, Asher spits water in the "Severed Gullet" Nailed Shut video just like Karen O so of course, I have always thought we are like-minded kindred spirits.

The night we first met Asher in 2022 back at the PNI Club, Asher came up to me and told me repeatedly he understood exactly what we meant by "woodland grunge" after seeing the way we decorated our live sets with vintage fake plants. He came to our nearly sold out show last winter at Dorchester Brewing and also filmed one of my favorite performance vids of our band ever performing Toadstool for one of the first times. He helped me see how we could make that song what it is today, and I will forever thank him for that.  

EH: How does it feel to be nominated for Rock Artist of the year at the BMA’s? I know it’s probably a hard feeling to describe, but I imagine it feels great!

SH: It's such an honor, especially to be nominated with some of our greatest friends and supporters in this scene including The Ghouls and JVK, both of whom we're playing with at Taffeta in Lowell the night before V-Day next year, 2/13. For me though, awards are meaningless - they are a thrill and a kindness or an acknowledgement that we are on the right track to a larger or different kind of artist, but for me, I am embedded in the DIY scene of Boston, of Worcester, of Providence and especially of Lowell... I see how hard small and truly independent bands like ours are working day in and day out. I know dozens of bands that should be nominated in that category and who deserve it, too, right? I mean, we all do! I am grateful the BMAs acknowledge the hard work of our community collectively, and it is a wonderful reminder of what a beautiful enclave it is that we have in New England.  

EH: How did your community and upbringings help shape your artistic vision?

SH: Such a beautiful question... I came into DIY later than a lot of my peers. I was 28 and left a career and a marriage in an attempt to start over and rediscover myself. I had been songwriting since I was 9, and attempted so many bands in high school and college but I kind of left all of that by the wayside in my early 20s to pursue, in the end, a path I thought everyone expected of me, but which did not truly fulfill me. In honesty, I had a mental breakdown at 28 and I realized with the help of friends and loved ones that music, as corny and cliche as this sounds, would save me. It became my religion and today, it is still my spiritual practice, my way to connect with the community, an attempt to give something back and to have real earnest expression as a creative individual. 

Many different people have helped me on this path and there are sincerely hundreds to list. But I often think of my dear friend Johnny Gifford, of Wolf Girlz, of Cousin Greg... Johnny and I met at a house party in Fitchburg in 2020 where he booked us to play at his venue. I discovered Johnny's self-titled ambient music from there and was just amazed and inspired. To me, Johnny is the epitome of DIY, with a heart of gold to boot. He's now in Brattleboro, Vermont and he does so much for that community at large, with his radio show and hosting and organizing shows - Wolf Girlz will open for Planning for Burial Jan. 3 at Stone Church and I'm so excited for him. Johnny is someone who just sees certain people in the scene giving it their all and then comes in to see how he can help, expecting nothing in return. There are so few people like this in the scene.

Joe Milia, our drummer, is another heart of gold actor in our midsts. He runs the Valley with several others and ensures Lowell has a DIY house/stage/platform so other bands get a chance to showcase their hard work. He partners with LLAMA, Lowell Mutual Aid, to ensure the DIY shows give back, with his girlfriend, and my best friend, Jovanna Mason, who runs and organizes much of LLAMA's important efforts to help the unhoused in and around Lowell. Jovanna also comes to the shows, supports the shows, brings all of her friends that she can think of TO the shows, and hand watercolors our art and some of the coolest flyers around... this is what DIY is about! The party is the show, and the show is the party... the show is about bringing the community together and helping artists find their voices. 

I would be remiss if I didn't shout out the important work of people in the DIY Providence scene, too, especially Kaylee Lindquist of AWARD and also Leatherrax. Kaylee is a sister in these efforts to bring the community together and she put on and promoted an amazing show we had the privilege of playing with AWARD and baby muffler at News Cafe this fall, opening for Gramma, one of my personal fave DIY bands out of Minnesota on their national tour. Kaylee understands what DIY is about and how it shapes and moves us, how we have to come together if we're going to keep important independent projects going...

The extraordinary RI-based photographer Collin Heroux @innovacancy is also someone who contributes tirelessly to this scene as a photographer, much like Asher. Collin is someone I've gotten to know better because of Kaylee. Collin is always out there capturing the scene in a light I've never really realized. There are about 89 other people I could list, but another few notable people who have so helped us include Samm Scho and Alex Ilyadis, of Weatherless and Good June, both devoted scene photographers. Without the eyes and edits and focuses of photographers like Asher and Collin and Alex and Samm and so many more, I really don't believe you would understand what happens in this scene.  

EH: What are some of your biggest goals moving forward as a band?

SH: A massive goal of mine for years was to get to Boston Calling - that opportunity truly blew me away. To play for 1,000 people in 2024 cured my stage fright, if nothing else. It showed me, even when I am so nervous and anxious before a show, I can do it. 

I have massive lofty goals for TTT like Coachella and playing Red Rocks, recording at Third Man in Nashville or Detroit, performing on KEXP or Tiny Desk -  watching Model/Actriz collab with A24 for their latest video has set a new goal in my mind, as did watching them perform on Stephen Colbert... I imagine these are dreams of so many bands in our area, too.

For now, I set my sights on the tangible: playing amazing local shows, regional shows, more college campuses, opening for bands we admire and adore like Gouge Away and Ovlov and maybe even some day Yeah Yeah Yeahs, touring farther than NYC and NJ and PA to the Midwest in beyond (if we can afford it), making cooler and more exciting videos (again, if we can afford it)... so much of this DIY landscape has changed, and I give Low Cut Connie so much credit for putting this out there years ago: if you are an indie band, even with the endorsement of President Barack Obama, literally, you still struggle.

Getting signed to a label doesn't mean what it does anymore, though opening for Chat Pile or getting signed to the Flenser label remains a major dream of mine as well. Flenser partners with bands and brings them such honor and lifts up their projects. I am always amazed by what they do, from bands like Have a Nice Life to Agriculture.

I just feel in my heart that Tysk Tysk Task will keep finding our way, as we always do. 

My moniker online is "delicate tendril," and to me, that stands for resiliency. A friend told me how "geffen" is a word in Hebrew that means "vine," which encapsulates the concept of always moving toward the light for new growth. Tysk Tysk Task for me drives my art and my heart and my life forward - it is the plant that keeps moving toward the sunshine as best it can. I know my bandmates Keith, who is also the love of my life, and Rick, my biggest and best musical collaborator, and Joe, one of my most honorable and gifted friends, all share this vision for this small but important project.  

EH: What’s your favorite place to visit? Whether it’s tour, vacation or even just a road trip.

SH: These questions are too good - I love how thought provoking and introspective they're making me, so thank you for this one, too!

On tour, I love any opportunity to connect with Maggie Denning of Tetchy, another DIY band with pure intentions that continue to inspire me. We usually meet up with Maggie when we tour to Brooklyn or Bushwick, and I love hearing all of her ideas and motivations - I feel so much sisterhood and connection in our talks and aspirations for growth. Her NYC apartment also inspires me... she has an amazing art collection and curation and I'm a collector as well, so I find that her objects of curiosity really instill something real and magical in me.

Another place we love to visit is a place we have actually played with Tetchy, the Loading Dock in Littleton, N.H. Any time of year, but especially in the fall as the foliage turns, the beauty that venue brings to that neck of the woods is truly awe-inspiring. Jason Tors, the executive director and operator, is a wonderful individual in the DIY scene whom I met because Johnny Gifford connected us. My favorite places to visit are ones that remind me how strong and connected this community, across New England, across the Northeast, really is. A venue director like Jason really understands this, and locally I'll shout out some of our favorite places to visit and catch shows, like Deep Cuts in Medford and Marigold Theater in Easthampton. Those booking teams and venue directors there really understand what this is all about and put on powerful shows that capture the sound and art of this region. 

EH: If you only had one album you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?

SH: Wowwwww, ok! You really had to put me on the spot like that.... I know I've mentioned a few artists that really inspire me, but ... it really would be Ivy & The Big Apples by Spiderbait. Australian grunge. Heavy as hell. Quiet and soft as can be in parts to make those colossal crashes hit just right on the harsher songs. And by the way, opening for Spiderbait, someday, anyday, if they ever tour to the Northeast or really anywhere in the U.S. again soon, would be a dream come true. 

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Thank you so much Samantha!

This has been so amazing, and everything about the interview was my favorite!

Everyone go watch the music video for Toadstool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ZUMzZr9e4