Jason McMaster on “Demolition,” and Rediscovered Songs

Welcome to Episode #137 of the Rock Interview Series. For this feature, I’m joined by Jason McMaster, vocalist of the Austin, TX–based hard rock band Dangerous Toys. Formed in 1987, the band released four studio albums between 1989 and 1995: “Dangerous Toys” (1989), “Hellacious Acres” (1991), “Pissed” (1994), and “The Rtist 4merly Known as Dangerous Toys”** (1995).

Now, for the first time in nearly three decades, fans are getting a new batch of original material—sort of. Dangerous Toys has just released “Demolition,” a collection of demos recorded between late 1991 and 1993, on Cleopatra Records.

In our conversation, McMaster explained how the project came together. During COVID, he digitized boxes of old four‑track and eight‑track cassette demos—raw early versions of songs written during the long stretch between “Hellacious Acres” and “Pissed.” At the time, the band was submitting songs to Sony/Columbia, only to hear the same response repeatedly: “Nope, keep writing.” After more than a year of rejections, the band asked to be released from their contract and went on to record “Pissed” independently in early 1994.

The remaining demos—dozens of them—sat untouched for decades. When Cleopatra asked, “What do you guys have lying around?” McMaster and guitarist Scott Dalhover dug through the tapes, salvaging the best material they could. Some tracks were too rough to use, but others captured a raw, unfiltered snapshot of the band’s creative peak.

The fan reaction to “Demolition” has been overwhelmingly positive, something McMaster admits feels surreal given how many of these songs were once dismissed. With “Demolition” marking the first Dangerous Toys release since “The Rtist 4merly Known as Dangerous Toys,” longtime fans are energized—and McMaster hints there’s still plenty of archival material left in the vault.

Watch the full video here.