ADSR / TODD NICKOLAS

Give a teenager in a rural Canadian setting an analog synthesizer, a drum machine and a four-track cassette recorder and feed him a steady diet of 80s EBM, Post-Punk, Synthpop, Electro, Dub, Acid, Hip Hop and House, and you’ll get the kind of genre melding electronic-based music that Todd Nickolas has been known for since his early days writing and producing.

By the early 90s, Todd and long-time friend and musical collaborator Dom Paterson did their first studio session as ADSR. They realized quickly that they could easily achieve studio quality recordings themselves, and began to purchase more analogue keyboards, digital samplers, classic drum machines, effects processors and mixers. Out of this mess of wires, circuits and patch cords Floorshaker Productions was born. The next four years saw the release of two albums, numerous singles and placement on several compilation CDs alongside the likes of Moby, The Prodigy, Alec Empire and CJ Bolland. Critical praise drew comparisons of ADSR to luminaries such as Orbital and Leftfield. During this time Todd also maintained an extensive nightclub, rave and radio DJing schedule, making regular trips to Europe to unearth the developing electronic sounds not readily available back in Canada, and expose them to hungry audiences.

For the next 10+ years Todd frequently jumped residency between Canada and the United States, wearing the multifaceted hats of producer, DJ, distributor, remixer, performer and multi-media specialist. Of note were his placement alongside Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie and John McEntire of Tortoise for Moonshake’s collection of remixes, his transformation of the downtempo track “Backslide” into electro-vocoder lushness for ADSR partner Dom’s debut Soma Sonic album, and his post-punk inspired remix for Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) produced AM Radio. As well he founded the influential but short-lived Phonics Distribution & Label with childhood friend Linus Booth (Jokers of the Scene), handled the daily audio and video editing for comedian Tom Green’s (MTV) website, and completed music for companies such as Quicksilver Software and Suzuki Automobiles.

Todd’s original passion for all aspects of music production continues under the names Onaisa, Civil Discobedience, and the (now solo) moniker of ADSR. Recent releases/remixes can be found on Treibstoff Germany and Mutate UK.

www.discogs.com/artist/ADSR

www.discogs.com/artist/Todd+Nickolas