Tod A. | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Tod Ashley |
Born | Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. | November 30, 1965
Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass guitar |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels |
|
Member of | Firewater |
Formerly of | Cop Shoot Cop |
Tod Ashley (born November 30, 1965), better known by the stage name Tod A, is an American singer, songwriter, and bass guitarist. He founded the rock music groups Cop Shoot Cop and Firewater.
Ashley also spent time while in art school in a band called Shithäus [1] with Jon Spencer, later of The Blues Explosion.
Ashley was living in Bushwick, Brooklyn when he decided that he wanted to travel the world. [2] In 2005, putting his musical career on hiatus, Tod spent most of the year traveling the Far East, including Calcutta, India and Bangkok, Thailand. He has published a written account of his travels in a blog, which he calls Postcards From the Other Side of the World. [3] He lived in Bali for three years until 2010.
In 2019, Ashley published his first novel, Banging the Monkey [4] based on his experiences abroad.
Year | Name | Ref |
---|---|---|
1990 | Consumer Revolt | [5] |
1991 | White Noise | [6] |
1993 | Ask Questions Later | [7] |
1994 | Release | [8] |
Year | Name | Ref |
---|---|---|
1996 | Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire | [9] |
1998 | The Ponzi Scheme | [10] |
2001 | Psychopharmacology | [11] |
2003 | The Man on the Burning Tightrope | [12] |
2004 | Songs We Should Have Written | [13] |
2008 | The Golden Hour | [14] |
2012 | International Orange! | [15] |
Year | Name | Artist | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | Crush: Live Crush 84–85 | Shithaus | [16] |
1994 | Forces You Don't Understand | Lubricated Goat | [17] |
1995 | Gash | Foetus | [18] |
1996 | Null/Void | Foetus | [19] |
1997 | Red Expendables | Red Expendables | [20] |
2002 | Obtanium | Skeleton Key | [21] |
2010 | Combat Disco Casbah | Figli di Madre Ignota | [22] |
2010 | Gecekondu | Baba Zula | [23] |
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on vocals, guitar and theremin. Their musical style is largely rooted in rock and roll although it draws influences from punk, blues, garage, rockabilly, soul, noise rock, rhythm and blues and hip hop. They released nine official studio albums, collaborative records with Dub Narcotic Sound System and R.L. Burnside as well as numerous live, singles, out-take albums, compilations, remix albums and, in 2010, a series of expanded reissues. Throughout the course of their career, this experimental sound and occasionally unconventional recording techniques has allowed the band to work with such artists as Elliott Smith, Beck, Solomon Burke, Steve Albini, Martina Topley-Bird and Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys.
Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and the Tulsa Sound.
Jon Spencer is an American singer, composer and guitarist. He has been involved in multiple musical acts, such as Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Heavy Trash and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Firewater is an American band founded by American singer/instrumentalist Tod A. in New York City in 1995, after the breakup of his previous group Cop Shoot Cop. A self-described "world punk" band, Firewater incorporate diverse elements of world music with punk rock rhythms, including cabaret, ska, jazz, folk and most notably Eastern European influences such as klezmer and gypsy music, which has led to their inclusion in the gypsy punk genre.
Cop Shoot Cop was a noise rock group founded in New York City in 1987. They disbanded in 1996. The band were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed: having a distinctive instrumental lineup that encompassed twin bass guitars, found metal percussion, and no lead guitar. The group had little mainstream success, despite tours with Iggy Pop and music videos on MTV's Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes. They retain a cult following—their out-of-print releases sometimes sell for large amounts.
David Ouimet is an American artist, author, and musician. He was a band member of Cop Shoot Cop, Motherhead Bug, Firewater, and Sulfur but has since moved on to interests other than music.
Kevin Shirley, also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists, such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, Rush, Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Marya Roxx, Dream Theater, The Springbok Nude Girls, All Night Radio, Steve Louw & Big Sky, HIM, Tyler Bryant, Mr. Big, and Europe.
Now I Got Worry is the fifth studio album by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It was released via Matador Records on October 15, 1996. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. "Weird Al" Yankovic directed the music video for "Wail".
Consumer Revolt is the debut studio album by American noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, released in 1990 by Circuit Records.
White Noise is the second album by American noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, released on October 1, 1991, by Big Cat.
Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire is the debut studio album by Firewater, released on October 22, 1996 by Jetset Records. It is a marked difference in sound from Tod Ashley's previous work in Cop Shoot Cop. In 2017, the album was re-issued on vinyl in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its release by Checkered Past Records.
Ask Questions Later is the third album by American noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, released on March 30, 1993, by Big Cat and Interscope Records.
Release is the fourth and final album by American noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, released on September 13, 1994 by Interscope Records.
Suck City is an EP by American noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop, released in 1992 by Big Cat Records and Interscope Records.
Phil Puleo is an American composer, drummer, illustrator and visual artist from New York. He is known as a founding member of the band Cop Shoot Cop in the 1990s, and for his current involvement in the experimental rock group Swans. He has also collaborated with Swans leader Michael Gira on his Angels of Light musical project. After briefly touring with Swans during the mid-nineties, Puleo joined the band as a full-time member in 2010.
International Orange! is the seventh studio album by the alternative rock band Firewater, released on September 11, 2012, through Bloodshot Records. It was recorded in Istanbul.
Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill is an American restaurant and live music bar in Dallas, Texas started by entrepreneur Richard Rawlings, who is also the star of Discovery Channel reality television show Fast N' Loud.
Headkick Facsimile is an EP by American noise rock band Cop Shoot Cop, released in 1989 by Supernatural Organization.
Jack Natz is an American bass guitarist and vocalist best known as the original bassist of The Undead and a member of the noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop. He has also acted in independent cinema such as in the 1987 film Submit to Me Now. In 2003, he joined Lubricated Goat, led by musician and composer Stu Spasm, and recorded and toured with them. He lives in Brooklyn, with his attention focused on creating collages, paintings and found object sculptures.
Dick Smoker Plus is the debut split EP by Meathead and Cop Shoot Cop, released in September 24, 1996 by Fused Coil. The album comprises the first four tracks of Cop Shoot Cop and Meathead's Kill a Cop for Christ and Bring U His Head single and the last five tracks are from Meathead's Dick Smoker single. It also contains Cop Shoot Cop's final recording before disbanding, titled "¡Schweinhund!".