Todd Trainer is the drummer for the band
Shellac
Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...
. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands
Breaking Circus and
Rifle Sport
Rifle Sport was an American post punk band active in the 1980s and 1990s, from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The band took its name from an arcade in downtown Minneapolis which was open in the 1940s to 1960s. An unrelated art gallery, Rifle Sport Galle ...
, and he played drums with
Scout Niblett in 2005.
Personal life
Trainer resides in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...
, Minnesota and maintains close ties to his parents and sister Terri. His
Italian greyhound
The Italian Greyhound ( it, Piccolo levriero Italiano, italic=no) is an Italian breed of small sighthound. It may also be called the Italian Sighthound.
History
Small dogs of sighthound type have long been popular with nobility and royalty. ...
Uffizi inspired the title of Shellac's fourth studio album ''
Excellent Italian Greyhound''. He and his dog, along with his band Shellac, were featured in an episode of ''
Dogs 101'' in 2009 centered on Italian Greyhounds.
Drumming style
Critics generally have favored Trainer's primitive approach to rock drumming. A review in ''The New York Times'' of a 2001 Shellac performance described the "stubborn crack and thud of Todd Trainer's drums", and critic Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that "Trainer beats his drums so primally, you'd swear he's only wearing a loincloth." A review in ''Spin'' of the Shellac album ''
Terraform'' declared that Trainer "gracefully resurrects the lost art of the
ohn Bonham stomp".
[Review of ''Terraform'' by Shellac, Spin, May 1998, p.140, 7/10 rating.]
Brick Layer Cake
Brick Layer Cake is the solo project of Todd Trainer, who plays every instrument and sings in a deep, spoken word monotone. The music of Brick Layer Cake features very slow tempos and "drone-like" compositions, which Steve Albini described as follows: “Think of
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...
on
downers
A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug that lowers neurotransmission levels, which is to depress or reduce arousal or stimulation, in various areas of the brain. Depressants are also colloquially referred to as downers as they lower the l ...
fronting
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...
, if Black Sabbath played only the good parts of their songs."
Discography
*''Eye for an Eye - Tooth for a Tooth'' (
Ruthless Records
Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the ...
) 1990
*''Call It A Day'' (
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. To ...
) 1991
*''Tragedy Tragedy'' (Touch and Go Records) 1994
*''Whatchamacallit'' (Touch and Go Records) 2002
References
External links
Touch and Go Records Artist PageMyspace Band Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trainer, Todd
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American male drummers
American drummers
Musicians from Minnesota
Shellac (band) members
American punk rock drummers