Music Milker - Discover new moosic

Topher Mohr is quickly gaining momentum as a solo artist after a successful career as a session and touring musician, with artists such as Alice Smith and Custom.

Topher's music is the next step, building on the current incarnation of alternative music, a genre where artists from Death Cab to Gnarls Barkley are finding success.

From the soulful pop/rock of songs like Give It Away and California to the gritty wit of Girl in a House and Killer, there is a defining thread: Topher's voice and his character.

Toper has been kind enough to give away a song from his latest album -- True Love on the TV Set -- to all Music Milker's readers.
You can download Killer for free, and buy his albums on Amie Street.
Make sure you check out his MySpace profile, too.

Below is a short interview we had with Topher.

How long have you been singing? when did you decide you wanted to become an artist?

I have been singing since I was a kid, and always had it in my head that I was a musician. I played violin and trumpet growing up and started playing guitar in high school. I've been a professional guitar player for about 10 years, but only started making my own records a few years ago.

Do you write both lyrics and music for your songs?

I do write both music and lyrics, but I do a lot of collaborating. My drummer and co-producer, Alex Elena, and I come up with most of the arrangements together. I also do a lot of writing with Imani Coppola and Jackson Perry, and Alex Dickson. Many of the songs on True Love on the TV Set are co-writes. I feel like you can get much more interesting songs when you let people you respect in on the process.

What does inspire you? what artists did influence you the most?

I'm inspired by great ideas and collaborations. I love when a group of people can get in a room and create something far beyond what any one person is capable of.
I get compared to Elvis Costello a lot. He is definately one of my favorites. I actually came up playing a lot of hip hop, funk and r&b. I love P-Funk, Outkast, and A Tribe Called Quest, James Brown, Maceo Parker, Prince... As a guitar player, I of course love Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc... I studied jazz for a while and was heavily influenced by Coltrane, Weather Report and McCoy Tyner. As far as singers, Jeff Buckley and Sam Cooke are two of my favorites. I've been listening to a lot of Bowie lately.

Thanks to the Internet, things are starting to change in the music industry, it seems like there's a lot more space for artists to get out and build their own success. How do you feel about it?

I think it's exciting and terrifying at the same time. There are no rules right now, and the big guys are subject to the same learning curve as the little guys. This levels the playing field a little bit. However, there is no solid model for success right now. I'm seeing labels spend absurd amounts of money to push artists using outdated marketing plans while refusing to shell out any money on new forms of artist development. Most artists want to make music and not deal with the business and marketing side. Unfortunately, that's not an option now. The days of getting "discovered" and propelled to stardom are over.

What do you think about Music Milker?

I'm really honored to be Music Milkers first "Artist of the Week." I think it's great that a group of music lovers is taking the initiative to spread the word about up and coming artists. Nobody is going to dump a bunch of money into developing an unknown artist, so it is up to the fans to spread the word through blogs and word of mouth.

Finally, if you like holding a real CD in your hands, you can buy Topher's latest album directly from him by following the link below.