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Todd Park Mohr, lead guitarist and vocalist, formed Big Head Todd and the Monsters with a couple of buddies almost twenty years ago. Todd Mohr, bassist Rob Squires, and drummer Brian Nevin have spent most of their adult lives together making music and touring the United States. Their debut album, Sister Sweetly, should have made them superstars but Todd didn’t want to go that route, he wanted his life and legacy to be about the music, and not burdening himself and the band with having to live up to early excessive commercial success. MusicPix had the opportunity to sit down with Todd backstage at the Rib America Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, to talk about his choices, his band and his music. Read on:

"...there’s something about it…when artists become over-played….that kind of success doesn’t last long and bands are always trying to keep up with their initial success and it falls apart. Like I said, our fans believe in us more than any record label has and so they’ve been the ones who have determined the longevity of our career." -Todd Park Mohr

Todd: Cool. Thank You.

MusicPix: I recently heard you say that “Music is too important to be left to the professionals.” Could you talk about why you feel this way?

Todd: Actually, Michelle Shocked said that and I thought it was a great attitude. It means to me that everyone should get involved in music. Pick up and instrument or whatever…

MusicPix: It’s been reported that when Sister Sweetly broke, your band chose to pull back the reigns because the ‘success’ was making you miserable. Will you purposefully avoid that kind of major exposure again if given the opportunity?

Todd: At the time that happened, I was uncomfortable with it to the extent that we were very young and it’s a very difficult psychological thing to be in celebrity situations. The main reason that our career is being limited is because our label situation has always been tentative… We’ve never had the belief and support from our record label like we do from our fans. I have to take some responsibility for it…like refusing to make videos for Bittersweet. I’m really happy with my career and the way it’s worked out. Now I don’t feel like I have anything to prove as far as being a legitimate artist whereas I did back then and there was a lot at stake. There were so many groups that were one hit wonders and they had a success via MTV that was kind of the defining moment of their career and I did’nt want that. I didn’t want to be just known for one song. So, in an ironic way, those decisions have lead to the longevity of our career.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters photo gallery:

MusicPix: So you do believe that video killed the radio star?

Todd: I don’t know…there’s something about it…when artists become over-played….that kind of success doesn’t last long and bands are always trying to keep up with their initial success and it falls apart. Like I said, our fans believe in us more than any record label has and so they’ve been the ones who have determined the longevity of our career.

MusicPix: One of the things I really admire about your band is the fact that you operate with a collective conscious, you respect each other’s contributions, and have remained friends since the beginning-which does translate in your performance. Could you talk about the band’s chemistry?

Todd: We met in high school and became friends in High School and college and our band began as a friendship. We’ve been together for almost twenty years now so our togetherness plays into our success. Part of it I enjoy, I like being a band member. I like for us to rely on each other for different things. We have different strengths that we bring to the table. For me, that’s what makes it interesting and fun. If I was just a solo artist, it would be kind of a burden.

MusicPix: BHTM is a blue-collar rock and roll band. Will you stay this course or can we expect a new direction musically?

Todd: Yeah. Every record we do is individual. I try to never write the same song twice. We struggle to find a new way to present who we are. It’s a constant struggle to be new and avoid our own clichés. It’s a tough part of the job but it’s joyful for us…we have to please our fans. Those are the ones we’re working for…not lawyers and corporations.

MusicPix: Your songs are so enduring. In your opinion, what are the ingredients to an ‘evergreen’ song?

Todd: I come from the background of blues and folk music. Actually, I think a lot of great songwriters like Bob Dylan. So, I’ve always tried to work on my craft as a songwriter. I think it’s a combination of developing my skills and gifts. It’s also about being as honest as I can and writing songs that are honest songs. I’m not writing to write hit songs.

MusicPix: I’ve read where you hope to raise the consciousness of your audience. What are the specific topics you hope to address?

Todd: I don’t have to raise anybody’s consciousness…that’s not my job. That’s not my role. I don’t think that I need to give something that people lack….I look at it as sharing a moment. Music is a joy of being in the present. In my songwriting and lyrics, we talk about a lot of things, but I don’t intend to pose judgments on any of the characters in my songs or I’m not trying to improve anybody.

MusicPix: The content itself can make people more aware…not necessarily imposing your beliefs. Like the fact that you’ve become more political in nature…topics that are top of mind, which leads into certainly, the last week of our lives and what’s happened to the gulf coast. Obviously, BHTM’s foundation is built on southern rock & delta blues. How are you personally affected by this tragedy and do you have any specific plans to join the relief effort?

Todd: We’ve all been racking our brains to figure out what role we can play in that regard. Right now, it’s just so overwhelming and I feel numb. It’s really hard for me to figure out. To me, the tragedy is how we’re reacting to it more than the tragedy itself. I look at it like a mirror in a way…that’s showing us who we are. I think we need to take responsibility as a culture for looting and shooting when the infrastructure goes away and that’s who we are. I think that it’s a cultural problem. It’s not a hurricane that’s the issue in my opinion.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters photo gallery:

MusicPix: The internet is changing the music business in radical ways. How do you see it affecting your music & your business?

Todd: I really love the idea of free music and I think that it should be free. I wish that the industry could be a grip on that…that broadcast is changing…the implications of technology is that I should be able to watch, listen, and have whatever I want, whenever I want it. The internet is an ideal society. It’s anarchy. By that I mean, every viewpoint can live on the internet. It doesn’t matter…the minority point of view..all kinds of people and ideas have their place in cyberspace. It’s an ideal society.

MusicPix: We’ve seem you perform many times. We’ve seen you play the guitar with your hair down and covering you face and it’s beautiful to watch because you are releasing yourself. Only once have we seen you slicked back-GQin' it… Is most of your playing the release of yourself, your energy…for you?

Todd: I guess so.…I never really thought about it. I enjoy performing. I enjoy making a living performing the music that I wrote. Although, I’m mostly thinking about the audience and putting on the best show for them, no matter what that entails. It’s less of a confessionary kind of thing…

MusicPix: We have a series of questions that we ask every artist we interview called the MusicPix Six:

MusicPix: What is the first musical instrument you played and at what age?

Todd: Piano…probably around 6 years old.

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

Todd: Aretha Franklin.

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

Todd: Hmmm, boy, maybe James Brown.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

Todd: Aretha Franklin-Live at the Filmore West-Live Ray Charles, Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan.

MusicPix: Given that Aretha Franklin in one of your inspirations and also her Live at the Filmore recording is on your A list…being that, was there any planning on that’s where you wanted your live recording?

Todd: Oh yeah, no doubt. It was a dream come true.

MusicPix: Who do you think is the most over-rated in the music industry?

Todd: Oh boy, there are a lot of people on the list…laughs. I don’t really like to pooh-pooh anybody but I don’t really care for Sheryl Crowe that much. There are others. They aren’t on the tip of my tongue.

MusicPix:They are on the tip of your tongue, but they just won’t come off…[BIG Laugh.]

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

Todd: I’m living in it I would say. I really mean that. A lot of people are really pessimistic about our world and the situation in the world now. I’m really not. I think that it’s our story as human beings to go through a lot of shit and that’s part of bringing us someplace. We don’t know where it’s going, but I think it’s going where it’s supposed to go… I have a philosophy podcast…so you can go to itunes and type in philosophy. It’s just like I was teaching a course. I’ve had so much time in twenty years doing this, and all I do is read philosophy.

MusicPix: Who’s your favorite philosopher?

Todd: Arthur Schopenhauer is my favorite philosopher? It’s been really fun for me to have an outlet. Podcasting is great because you don’t have to force it on anybody. If you’re interested, you just go to the topic and find it. I love the fact that it’s free. And it’s a subscription which is cool to me. So as I issue new ones, people who are interested, get them.

MusicPix: Your statement is almost an eastern one…everything is as it should be…

Todd: Western philosophy is kind of where Eastern philosophy was before Buddhism in a way… [laughs] It has a mystical bent to it. A lot of people aren’t that familiar with philosophy. And also what I like about it, it doesn’t exclude anybody because of religion of whatever…it’s a common place that everybody can participate in it. It’s not a dogma. It doesn’t rely on a certain kind of view.

Discography

Another Mayberry 1987
Midnight Radio 1990
Sister Sweetly 1993
Strategem 1994
Live Monsters 1998
Beautiful World 1997
Riviera 2002
Crimes of Passion 2004
Live at the Fillmore 2004

The Tour

09.10.2005 Portsmouth, NH
09.16.2005 Deadwood, SD

2006 Dates are rumored and not yet confirmed

01.17.2006 Kansas City, MO
01.20.2006 Minneapolis, MN
01.21.2006 Chicago, IL
01.22.2006 Indianapolis, IN
01.24.2006 Cleveland, OH
01.25.2006 Louisville, KY
01.26.2006 Philadelphia, PA
01.27.2006 New York, NY
01.27.2006 New York City, NY
01.28.2006 Boston, MA
01.29.2006 Washington, DC
01.31.2006 Charlottesville, VA
02.02.2006 Asheville, NC
02.04.2006 Lake Buena Vista, FL
02.07.2006 New Orleans, LA
02.09.2006 Houston, TX
02.10.2006 Austin, TX
02.12.2006 Dallas, TX
02.13.2006 Santa Fe, NM
02.14.2006 Tempe, AZ
02.14.2006 Cave Creek, AZ
02.15.2006 Tucson, AZ
02.16.2006 Las Vegas, NV
02.16.2006 San Diego, CA
02.17.2006 W Hollywood, CA
02.18.2006 San Francisco, CA
02.19.2006 San Francisco, CA
02.21.2006 Portland, OR
02.22.2006 Seattle, WA
02.24.2006 Spokane, WA
02.25.2006 Park City, UT
03.11.2006 Atlanta, GA

By:
Gwyn Tyme
w/Steve Mitchell