Todd Merrell studied music composition and voice at Berklee College of Music and with composer James Sellars of the Hartt School of Music. His 1990 collaboration with Sellars, "Jnny: A Love Song" has been performed over sixty times worldwide, including a performance by Michael Barrett and The New York Festival Of Song. In 1996 he became a member of the notorious Bunny Brains as their keyboardist, and in 1998 he produced Jake Bell's debut album Synjase: Return Of The Vortex on Whirlybird Records, the label created by Silver Apples founder Simeon Coxe. Todd recently completed a compact disc recording of his own work, including some pieces with drumming by Andy Algire, to accompany David Valyou's mixed media art installation "Clear" at the Hoppin Gallery in Farmington, Connecticut. In May of 2001 Todd became the keyboardist for Stone Church in Manchester, New Hampshire where their song 'Forever' became a local hit on Rock 101; he left the band shortly thereafter for artistic reasons. He makes his home in Connecticut.

Collaborated on unreleased tracks with: · Brian Transeau (better known as BT) · Dave Ellis and Eleazar de la Garza · Dan Graham · Eddie Martinez · John Haydon · and most prolifically, Patrick Jordan, as · Hands of Manipula · Future Perfect · X-Men · Ikon · The Single Side Band · and Twee Armada · Produced many solo projects of previously unreleased material as: · Dreamtank · Supertonic · Brawny Prawn · and toggle.

Written pieces for: Pianist Yvar Mikhashoff · Double Bassist Robert Black and Percussionist Amy Knoles · and had works premiered by: · Jan Williams' percussion ensemble at SUNY at Buffalo · Pianist Charis Bean Duke · Percussionist Steve Butters · Flautist Tim Lane · Harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa · and Chicago A Capella

Performed at: Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY · OpenAir [Share], New York, NY · Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT · Brownies, NYC · The Cooler, NYC · The Berklee Performance Center, Boston · The University of Connecticut, Storrs · The Hartt School of Music, Hartford, Connecticut · Hot House, Chicago · Club Lower Links, Chicago · Café Voltaire, Chicago.

Performed and been interviewed at: East Village Radio New York, New York · WBEZ Public Radio, Chicago · WFMT Classical Radio, Chicago · WWUH and WRTC, Hartford, Connecticut · Anchorage Public Radio (KSKA), Anchorage, Alaska.

todd merrell
music from the ether

Since 1978 Todd Merrell has been fascinated with the imperceptible environment of electromagnetic radiation that shortwave radio and processing can capture, and transform into an immersive, musical environment. In 1991 he began exploring the musical possibilities of this world in a collaboration with Patrick Jordan. The result was 'SWR', a two movement work that was performed several times in Chicago, and on WBEZ National Public Radio. Composer Lou Mallozzi, of the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, wrote in P-Form Magazine:

"It soon becomes clear that the focus of the work is not on acheiving any particular musical moment, but on the ephemerality of sonic transformation itself. Unlike compositions that utilize radio in part for its referential or signifying qualities, SWR is more in the minimalist tradition of relying on the primacy of the material itself. The work is a celebration of the radio as material and of the belief that minutiae and limited systems can yield rich results. But it is also a celebration of the rich, ragged, unstable thickness of analog sound in a world anesthetized by the crisp and clean precision of digital audio."

Todd Merrell has since developed these techniques and incorporated them into a larger, more visually and sonically evocative world, with an emphasis on live performance, and the thrilling contingency and danger that such site- and time- specifically dependent work produces. He has released several recordings, solo, with collaborators Aidan Baker, Duane Pitre, Casey Block, and Lou Rossi as Todd Merrell and Musicians, and with Patrick Jordan as The Single Side Band, a reference to the use of shortwave single sidebands to receive the electromagnetic ether of unintended broadcasts, and to render them as a musical environment. His newest solo album, 'Neptune', was released February, 2006 on the Australian label Dreamland Recordings, and he will be contributing a track on the 'Compiled Sounds vol. 1' album on Transient Frequency Recordings later this year.