Where Is My Mind?: Toy Soldiers’ Ron Gallo

My fondest memory of the band Toy Soldiers was the first time that I ever heard them perform. The Deli Philly was asked to sponsor the inaugural show by what later became known as the short-lived Fishtown Collective. It was also the first or second time that we had ever sponsored an event, which took place in a plastic bag factory diagonally across the street from Kung Fu Necktie on Front St. Someone’s father had allowed the collective to build a massive stage so that bands could perform at one big Valentine’s Day party. About five hundred college kids – mostly from Temple – took over the place as nearly ten of them walked on stage and helped us shimmy, twist and boogie the night away. (To this day, I have no clue what the DIY space was called, nor do I think that it ran long enough to even get a name, well, according to my partners in crime. If anyone out there knows otherwise, please feel free to leave it in the comment section of this post.) Toy Soldiers have gone through plenty of growing pains since then, as the band shrunk and grew again in size like the waistband of a “Biggest Loser” contestant. Well, the group seems to be settling into their own skin as they get ready to celebrate the release of their new album The Maybe Boys at Johnny Brenda’s this evening. We had a chance to catch up with the band’s frontman Ron Gallo, the gangly, lone constant that has kept this army of “maybe boys” marching forward. So before you head upstairs at JB’s tonight, please check out our recent interview with Gallo HERE.