INDUSTRY REPORT # 59 | CATCHING UP WITH THE TOADIES’ MARK REZNICEK

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INDUSTRY REPORT # 59

Catching up with The Toadies | Mark Reznicek

March 26th, 2026 by Traci Turner

There were so many amazing bands that found success in the ‘90s, but of those, only a small fraction still have songs in regular rotation on the airwaves – both terrestrial and satellite. “Possum Kingdom” from Toadies is not only still on our daily musical soundtrack, but it seems like EVERYONE knows it. From the oh-so-familiar guitar riff that kicks the song off, to the entire lyrics – beginning to end – all memorable! As a radio DJ at the time, EVERY time we played it – remember this was pre-internet days – the phones would light up and I’d get “What’s that ‘Do you wanna die?’ song!?!”

Toadies have not only given us songs for our enjoyment over the decades (see also “I Come From the Water” and “Backslider”), but they are now prepared to give us new stuff as well. Are you ready to add “The Charmer” into your playlist? The answer is: “Yes!”

The Texas alt rock band will drop the new album on May 1st and have a massive tour set to cover the US. Toadies will have rotating support from Local H, Vandoliers, and Sparta when things kick off April 16th in Texas.

As Vaden Todd Lewis (vocals and guitar), Clark Vogeler (guitar), and Doni Blair (bass) prepare to hit the road, we snuck in a chat with drummer Mark Reznicek for all the “charming” things with a side of superheroes.

Traci: Mark, I know press is not fun, so we are gonna do a five-hour deep dive on all your deepest emotions.

Mark: Uh, I’ll be right back!

Traci: (laughing) Hopefully it won’t be that painful! But going back far, what was the first song you remember falling in love with?

Mark: Hmm, it was probably “ABC” by The Jackson 5. I was probably about seven years old. One of my brothers was a teenager at the time and he had a job hanging flyers on people’s doorknobs.

He continued: One summer he enlisted my help, so we would drive around town and then go to wherever it was assigned for him to hang these flyers. While we were driving around, we’d be listening to the radio and that was a big hit at the time, and I asked him, “This is a cool song, who is this?” And he told me, “Oh, that’s The Jackson 5, and they’re all brothers.” I come from a pretty big family, so I thought that was really cool. I always had a dream of starting a band with all my brothers and sisters. Never really happened though.

Traci: Did any of them get into music?

Mark: Not professionally, but my younger sister plays saxophone. We were both in the school band at the same time for a little bit. And one of my older sisters played guitar a little bit. One of my older brothers played clarinet. Our dad was a professional musician. He was a sax and clarinet player. That’s how he met my mom, actually. So yeah, that kind of runs in the family a little bit, but after my dad, I’m the only one that really took it to the limit.

Traci: They mostly did horns and you went to drums. Why did you choose drums?

Mark: I’m not sure. I think the drummer in bands always fascinated me. I remember when I was a little kid, The Beatles were everywhere. You know, there was even a Saturday morning cartoon show, and they were always on TV and always on the radio, and Ringo was always the funniest one. I thought, “Oh, that’s cool.” Then I watched “The Monkees” when I was growing up, and I thought Micky was the funniest one. And then cartoon bands like The Archies, Jughead, or the Banana Splits, Bingo the Gorilla. The drummer always seemed like the coolest, funniest one. I think I just gravitated to that somehow.

Traci: Do you wear a smartwatch?

Mark: I don’t.

Traci: I’ve always wanted to know how many calories a drummer burns during a show.

Mark: Yeah, that would be interesting to know because I definitely get my heart rate up while we’re playing!

Traci: So many bands had hits in the ‘90s and they are no longer played anymore, but “Possum Kingdom” is so iconic of the time, and it’s still heavily played. What is that like?

Mark: It’s really cool, obviously. It really seems like in the last five or 10 years it’s kind of gained a new life. It didn’t seem like it ever really went away, but just recently, it’s appeared in different TV shows and movies and movie trailers and stuff like that. It could just be nostalgia for the ‘90s is coming around or something like that, but it’s really cool, and I never imagined – I don’t think any of us did – that we would be in a position where one of our songs is considered a classic or whatever. It’s a really cool feeling.

Traci: You guys have this tour and man… how many stops are on this tour? It looked like 50!

Mark: Yeah, at least. And there’s a bunch of dates that haven’t yet been announced for later in the year. There will be time off, but basically from the middle of April till about the middle of October, we’re pretty much out there.

Traci: I know you co-author comic books and you have the Dallas Comic Show in April. When you go on these tours, do you go to comic book stores on your day off? A little escape from “work?”

Mark: Yeah, it doesn’t have to be a day off! Like in the late morning, early afternoon before we get busy with sound check and all that stuff, if I’ve got time to kill, I might see if there’s a comic store in walking distance or something and just go look around and see what I can find. So yeah, it’s kind of nice to get away and take my mind off things for a couple hours. And, yeah, it’s still something I enjoy.

Traci: Do you have to take an empty suitcase with you so you can fill it?

Mark: (laughing) You know, last time I didn’t realize until we were done just how many comics and albums and books and stuff. Like, “Man, I think I overdid it on this trip,” so I might have to watch it a little bit this time!

Traci: Nah, just take an empty suitcase, it’s fine! Have you loved comics since you were a kid?

Mark: Yeah, pretty much my whole life. Like I said, I’ve got a large family; I’m the number six of seven kids, so I had five older brothers and sisters, and pretty much all of them read comics. Back in the dark ages before video games and all that stuff, comics were just more of an everyday kind of thing for kids – you’d read them and trade them with other kids down the block and stuff like that. So even before I could read, I would have my mom or one of my siblings read a comic to me; grab one of my brother’s Batman comics or Captain America or whatever, and say, “Hey, can you read this to me?”

He continued: When I got old enough to learn to read, that was my main motivation. Like, “Now I can read them myself. I don’t have to wait till somebody’s unoccupied to read a comic to me.” I just never really lost the bug for it. I just like reading comics. I like reading about the history of them and about the writers and artists and the publishing companies. I guess it’s my main hobby, and yeah, I love it.

Traci: What superpower would you have if you could choose one?

Mark: Hmm, well, flying, that’s a pretty cool power to have. Just step outside your door and take off like a bird. Yeah, so you didn’t have to go to airports – like instant teleportation. I want to be in California today and you could just snap your fingers and instantly be there and not have to deal with airports. Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

Traci: Your touring would be so much easier!

Mark: Yeah, it sure would.

Traci: “The Charmer” is out May 1st. Who does what when it comes to making a new album?

Mark: We’re all involved. For the most part, Vaden will come up with the initial idea and might even make a demo of it. But when we all get together, we kind of flesh it out, add our own parts, or add ideas for arrangements and stuff like that. But sometimes, somebody else might come up with a riff and say, “Hey, Vaden, here’s a riff I came up with,” and a lot of times he’ll take that riff and craft a whole song around it. It varies song to song how they come together. He’s the main architect, I’d say, but we all add our own little bits.

He continued: There’s one song on the new album that actually started when I sent a voice memo to Clark, just me beatboxing with my mouth, “Hey, here’s a beat with a weird time signature. Do you got any kind of riff that could go with it?” He took my beatboxing and kind of programmed a little drum part and then added a guitar riff. And then we sent that to Vaden, and he made a whole song out of it. So, that’s not a usual way of doing it, but it’s interesting that one of the songs on the album came about that way.

Traci: You guys work on an album for so long, and you love it, you create it, you birth it out, and then… when do you listen to it again?

Mark: This album obviously isn’t out yet, but it’s been done for almost two years! You know, it is weird because I have been listening to it quite a bit, and we’ve already played a number of songs from it live since a lot of the songs have been written for a few years already. And then for the upcoming tour, we’re going to add a few more from the new album. So I’ve been listening to it in order to refamiliarize myself with the songs since it’s been like two years since we recorded them. I’m not to the phase where I’m tired of listening to it; I can still listen to it and enjoy it. But, I don’t really go back and listen to our old albums hardly ever, unless we’re like, “Hey, let’s start playing this song from such and such album,” I think, “I better listen to it to remember how it goes!”

Traci: I saved my hardest question for last: On superheroes – capes or no capes?

Mark: Hmm, well, capes are inherently cool looking, like Batman. What would Batman be without a cape, right? Or Superman. But I feel like in real life they’d be really impractical. Like, they might blow in front of your face, or you might trip over it, or if you’re jumping off a building or something, you might get caught on something. Yeah, so I think they work in the context of a comic book, but I think in real life it’s probably very impractical.

Edna Mode knew what she was talking about.

Thank you to Mark for the talk and we can’t wait to experience “The Charmer” and seeing the Toadies live once again! SoCal has three dates: June 13th in Los Angeles at The Belasco; June 14th in Santa Ana at Observatory; and June 16th in San Diego at Observatory North Park. Tickets are on sale now.

TO FOLLOW

SID 260327 | JIMMY ALVAREZ | EDITOR