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Doktor Toddzilla (A.K.A. Todd Antony Perkins) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and eccentric living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although his solo recordings and stage performances are typified by critics under genre categories such as Psychedelic, Folk/Rock, Avant Pop and just plain Weird, his credits as a sideman are many and diverse. He is well known in the Roots Rock/Blues/R&B world, having performed with such greats as Snooky Pryor, Larry McKray, Madcat Ruth, Ann Rabson, George Bedard, Billy Branch, Howard Levy, Boogie Woogie Red and many more. Eclectic from an early age, Toddzilla first played on stage in his teens with the Schultz Food Band, a Dadaist performance collective founded in the 60s that actually occasionally used food as musical instruments. Later his musical interests led him to studies at Washtenaw Community College with noted jazz instructor Dr. Morris Lawerence, and from there to Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. In the early 1980s he played in the seminal Swing band the Blue Front Persuaders (a band which also featured a young Steve Lucky, later founder of San Francisco's Rhumba Bums). Later as a founding member of the Swing/Jump Blues band Big Dave and the Ultrasonics he toured intensely and almost continuously for five years, from Chicago to Vancouver to Omaha to Banff, playing clubs and festivals with artists like Koko Taylor, Mitch Ryder, John Mayall and Gatemouth Brown. The bands first two albums, with Toddzilla on bass, drew a good deal of acclaim from the music press. Leaving the Ultrasonics in1995, the Doktor adopted the pseudonym Itchy Orgone for the recording of the mysterious cult classic "Am What Am" with the Chubb Sessions Band, a truly strange ensemble in what could be called the SpaceRock/ConspiracyFear genre. Funded partially by MUFON and UFO fringe groups, the project dissolved when Chubb Sessions himself disappeared abruptly for reasons unknown. 1996 saw the Doktor composing the music for a show at the Detroit Institute of Arts featuring Celeste Oatmeal, poet, science fiction writer and performance artist. He has since performed collaborative duets with poets Celeste, Marc Taras, Arwulf Arwulf and others (himself playing basses, percussion and assorted electronica) at shows throughout Southeast Michigan. That same year he also began playing with the Ann Arbor Irish Ensemble, performing Irish, Scottish, Appalachian and Arabic Instrumental music. Early the next year the Psychedelic/Folk/Rock band the Buzzrats album "Tiny Speck In A Ruthless Universe" was released, with Toddzilla playing accordion and fretless bass. Current Magazine voted it one of the most significant CDs of the year ("A masterpiece..." Larry Golding).Also in the cards for him that year was a stint in the great Blues band the Motor City Sheiks, resulting in the recording of their first CD, "Working Every Day," with the Dok playing Upright Bass. In 1998, Doktor Toddzilla accepted a gig with Roots/Rock and Boogie legend Mike Katon, accompanying him on tours throughout Europe and the U.K. During breaks in the schedule Toddzilla found time to get into the studio long enough to put a small sample of his lifetime of (previously all too little heard) songwriting onto disc at last. "My Whole Life," his first CD, is a great album with a dizzying array of stylistic elements, from Beatlesque Pop to New Orleans Swamp Rhumba to Appalachian Stomp to Worldbeat, all skewed by the Doktor's eclectic melodies and intriguing lyric perspective. Initial response was overwhelmingly favorable, with critics in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands giving thumbs-up approval. By 2001, Toddzilla was juggling two bands...Mike Katon's Boogie Train and wunderkind Danny Pratt's Vipers. In the same year he and Danny (thinly disguised as Beowulf Kingsley & Sneakers Durango, respectively) released the CD "Cosmic R&B Debris", with both members playing and singing, Danny on harp and guitar, Toddzilla on guitar and upright bass. What started as a lark and an experiment in Swing roots soon turned into yet another popular musical act. 2002 sees the Doktor engineering and playing on the new Vipers album, finishing up his new solo CD, Touring with Katon in Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and gigging with Kingsley/Durango and the Vipers regionally in the U.S. It seems a busy life, but ultimately a happy one. Check out the artist's website: http://drtoddzilla.com Track List: 1. This One's A Dork 2. Gumbo 3. Peter's Song 4. Mad March Hare 5. Bargain Bin 6. Shaddowlake 7. My Whole Life Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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