Shortly after Bombay Bicycle Club announced their hiatus, bassist Ed Nash unveiled his solo project, Toothless. Nash is a musician who has already achieved a lot during his lifetime (toured the world, released a chart-topping album and sold around half a million records in the UK alone), but now he’s striking out on his own, armed with BBC’s drummer Suren de Saram and an album recorded in the same studio I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose came into formation. Nash’s debut release, The Pace of Passing is set to be an intriguing album, with single releases ‘Terra’ and ‘Sisyphus’ already collecting critical acclaim. We grabbed a minute with Nash to chat about past, present and future endeavours surrounding the release.

 Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Highgate in North London. I now live in Hornsey, which is about half a mile down the road. Didn't get far.

Do you think where you lived or live now has influenced your music?

Totally! All the bands I was in up until Toothless were made up of friends I had met at school or through friends in the area. I'm aware of how privileged I was to grow up in London, there were always small venues and pubs to play in when I was starting out and you can see other great shows any night of the week. 

What kind of music were you brought up on?
My dad introduced me to all the classics when I was growing up. David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles. 

Can you remember the first album you owned?
You've Come A Long Way Baby by Fatboy Slim. My dad heard the song ‘Fucking in Heaven’ and swiftly returned it to the Virgin Megastore. I'm not sure if it was because of the bad language or because he was offended by the kind of music I had chosen to listen to. 

What music are you listening to at the moment?
I've been listening to a bunch of John Grant recently, I heard a radio documentary he did about living in Iceland and it inspired me to check out his back catalogue. I know I'm a bit late to the party. 

What is the inspiration behind the name Toothless?
When bands break up you normally expect a project from the lead singer and perhaps the guitarist, no one expects anything of the bass player. No one thinks a bass player will do anything with any bite. 

How long were you making solo music before you decided to share it?
I’ve been writing music for as long as I have played guitar but only thought of doing something with it in the past few years; probably a blessing as the early stuff mainly consisted of guitar solos.

How is your creative process different to how it might’ve been with Bombay Bicycle Club?
I guess it's not too dissimilar from the Bombay process. The song gets written and then sent off to a trusted group for feedback. The main difference is with Bombay I was giving feedback, whereas now I'm writing the songs. 

What influenced you to choose ‘Sisyphus’ as a single? I hear it narrates a Greek myth.
The Greek myth is about a man who is punished by being made to roll a boulder up a hill every day, only for it to fall back down. I took this idea and applied it to a relationship where no matter how many times people make mistakes and mess up you will always be there for them. 

Tell us a bit about The Pace of Passing, is it a concept album?
I wouldn't call it a concept album. There are themes that run throughout but there's no overall story or message. I used astronomy and Greek myths as a way into writing lyrics as I couldn't bear to write about my own life openly. 

How do you approach the writing and recording process?
They coexist really; I record as I write the songs. A lot of the parts on the album are first takes from when I came up with the idea. For lyric writing I try and stay as involved as possible with music/films/culture and wait for inspiration to strike! 

You’ve played a handful of live shows as Toothless, what kind of response have you received and is it what you expected?
Everyone keeps telling me how good looking and talented my drummer is (he is).  

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I want to get out there and play as many shows as possible, it's the thing I have missed the most over the past two years, hopefully this album allows me to do that. 

Have you been thinking about the next release?
Yeah I've already started writing it, no point in waiting around. I've got two songs I'm happy with and about twenty that are terrible. 

Have you got any advice for musicians who are just starting out? Is there anything you'd do differently if you knew then what you know now?
All the people you meet on your way up will be there on your way down, so don't be a dick. 

Wesbite: toothlessband.com
Facebook: facebook.com/toothlessband
Twitter: twitter.com/toothlessband