Big Head Todd And The Monsters life and biography

Big Head Todd & the Monsters is a rock band formed in 1986 in Colorado. The band has released a number of albums since 1989 with their 1993 album Sister Sweetly going platinum in the United States. The band has developed a sizable live following especially in the Mountain States of the United States.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters have inspired loyalty among their fans, most of whom admire their unpretentious attitude. Just like their fans, the Monsters are inspired by their love of music and don't aspire to be rock and roll stars. Even with that guy next door image, fans still put the band on a pedestal at times along with their other rock n' roll heroes. The band has enjoyed a slow and steady ascent into stardom over the last eleven years.

The group was formed by three friends who had known each other since their high school days, and they are led by Todd Mohr, who plays lead guitar as well as being the band's singer and songwriter. The monsters are Rob "Rodeo" Squires on bass and Brian Nevin on drums. The trio hails from Colorado and enjoys supergroup status there. The band started in Boulder as part of the college campus music scene and their first gigs were at fraternity parties and blues jam nights in local nightclubs. Locals have enjoyed watching the band grow from their early beginnings in 1986 to their current national status.

The Monsters hold a special place in the heart of their Colorado fans and the band is very appreciative of the local support. Nevin explained the band's enthusiasm about playing in their home state in the Colorado Daily: "I still feel like we're a part of this community and to play here is different than playing any place else--it's always like one big family reunion. In some senses, I think we're in the right place at the right time. We want the musical popularity, but it's a tough game. Follow your heart, and things will happen the way they're supposed to. That's always been our deal. I'm glad we've had the opportunity to grow slowly and develop, as very few bands have the luxury of having the education we've had. But in the end--it's the music that's important."

The Monsters formed in 1986 and became a successful local group in the Denver area and soon built a loyal regional following across the Rocky Mountain States. The band paid their dues traveling the country in their van dubbed "the Colonel." They accumulated many memories while logging 400,000 miles on the odometer of the Colonel. Their regional success was gradually expanding through the Midwest and the west coast. Mohr, remembering those early days, stated in an article on the band's website, "I don't think it's really unusual that we started in a van because everybody does. But what is unusual is the fact that we were in that van for probably seven years."

Their earliest fans were constantly pestering the band for a recording of their music. With their modest means the band formed Big records and released their first album, Another Mayberry in 1989. This was followed by Midnight Radio in 1990, and both these independent releases carried the band to another level of success. Constant touring allowed the band to perfect and refine their live performance and this soon became known for passionate, inspiring live sets. The band released a live album called Big Head Todd and the Monsters Live that was recorded live at the 1993 H.O.R.D.E. festival.
The band reached the pinnacle of their success with the 1993 release of Sister Sweetly. Blessed with good timing and more national exposure--including the H.O.R.D.E. tour--the album went platinum. Alternative music was breaking throughout the country, and radio stations and fans were eagerly looking for new sounds. The Monsters came to the fore, with their unusual name, solid talent, and smash new album. They rode the alternative wave to the top as Sister Sweetly continued to rise on the charts.

The financial and critical success of Sister Sweetly allowed the band more freedom to grow and change as musicians without the pressure to make a living. The album was followed by Stratagem which enjoyed less success than its predecessor, but nevertheless was well received. The band took a prolonged hiatus between albums, fueling unfounded rumors of a breakup.

For a band like Big Head Todd and the Monsters, working with your heroes and musical influences is a dream come true. That dream was realized by the band as they worked on their Beautiful World album. The album was recorded in Sausilito, California with producer Jerry Harrison. Harrison, ex-member of the Talking Heads and producer of many of the band's contemporaries such as Live, Crash Test Dummies and The Verve Pipe, brought some surprises into the studio.

During the early days of the band, they often performed the John Lee Hooker classic "Boom, Boom." Unknown to the Monsters, Hooker was recording down the hall from them. Harrison arranged for the blues legend to sit in on the band's cover of the song. Bassist Rob Squires remembered in an article on the band's website, "Hooker has just this incredible presence. He walked in the room and literally everybody was intimidated, including our producer and the people that work at the studio. His voice is just thunder, and when he started talking into the mike, everyone just lost it." A new collaboration of "Boom, Boom" was born.

The band claims many influences in the blues world, as well as soul, rock and funk. The band's name was inspired by bluesman Eddie "Clean Head" Vinson. They claim Albert Collins, Lightnin' Hopkins, the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and the Grateful Dead as influences on their music. The band also worked with funk legend Bernie Worrell on the title track of Beautiful World, Worrell is the former keyboardist for funk supergroup, Parliament-Funkadelic. Squires told the Colorado Daily plans for the Beautiful World tour, "We're playing soulful and funky stuff more. We'll have more Hammond B-3 organ in the sound with Corey Mauser (formerly of the Ugly Americans) and we'll have Hazel (Miller) doing some singing ... We just found that when we're playing on huge stages that a three-piece can feel really lost. Hopefully, the other players will give assistance in that area."

In 2002, the group released the follow-up studio album Riviera. As Giant Records had closed its doors, the self-produced album was released through Big Records with distribution through Warner Music. Crimes of Passion was released in 2004 with Sanctuary Records distributing it. Another live album Live at the Fillmore was released in 2004.
In 2005, the group joined the throng of Internet-based music sales by releasing the single "Blue Sky" exclusively on iTunes. This single was written at the request of crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Discovery for their STS-114 Return to Flight mission in 2005, the first mission after the Columbia disaster.

In 2010 Big Head Todd and the Monsters again returned to the studio to record "Rocksteady". This featured "Beast of Burden" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and "Smokestack Lightning" by Chester Burnett.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters returned to the studio again in 2011 to record an all new project under the name Big Head Blues Club. The album "100 Years of Robert Johnson" celebrates the songs of the late blues singer and musician Robert Johnson. The members of Big Head Todd and the Monsters were accompanied by B. B. King, Charlie Musselwhite, Cedric Burnside, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Ruthie Foster, and Lightnin' Malcolm. Big Head Todd and the Monsters have also played shows under the name Big Head Blues Club, and have invited some of the legends featured on the album to perform with them.

Discography:
-Another Mayberry 1989
-Midnight Radio 1990
-Sister Sweetly 1993
-Strategem 1994
-Beautiful World 1997
-Live Monsters 1998
-Riviera 2002
-Crimes of Passion 2004
-Live at the Fillmore 2004
-From The Archives 2007
-All The Love You Need 2007
-Rocksteady 2010
-100 Years of Robert Johnson 2011

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