Meet Todd McCool | musician, perpetual adolescent and student of life

We had the good fortune of connecting with Todd McCool and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Todd, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?

First off, I love the word Habits. Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits, the Power of Habit, the list of books about the cyclical actions that can change the course of destiny in an automatic and subconscious manner fascinate me. Whether they realize it or not, it’s at the root of every musician’s talent.

Some habits that I think have helped me succeed, with success of course being a personally subjective term are, start small, expect mistakes, take notes, compare yourself to the average of your last 5 days, shoot for incremental progress and let it build like compound interest . During the pandemic of 2020 I was reminded of a lot of things I learned in (and after) college about habits. With plenty of time to put the platitudes of pop and classic psychology to the test I was reminded of the personal potentiality of habits. I got a bachelor’s degree in Psychology because at the time the colleges I was considering didn’t have a pop or rock music program, so I studied the one other subject that attracted my wonder.

I love to remind myself and others that after years of attempting to shed excess weight to my growing waistline, I finally made it happen when we were all waiting for that pesky “Corona Virus” to exit our lives. It started with walking, then I tagged a short run to the walk, then did it another time each day and within a few months I was looking forward to my 2 90 minute walk/runs, and 20 minute midday workout. I also stopped eating Del Taco on the way home from gigs because, there were no gigs …within about 6 months I lost 55 pounds. I applied the same start small and aiming for incremental progress to learning to play bass (like a bass player, not a guitar player mind you…totally different feel and playing with fingers and learning how to play counter to the way I was accustomed as a 6 string slinger for decades) piano, ukulele, and dJing. Anyway, while music is my vessel, I just enjoy learning new ways of looking at life and I think each day, whether it be on an instrument, in the gym, or in creating a silly app on the computer, I find a certain little degree of success.

Ironically I’m also seeking a balance of emotion of that passionate borderline self-hatred that keeps me striving and the self-acceptance that’s required to step out the door or pick up the phone with confidence and spread good cheer. The Music business is funny because most people that get to a certain level of “talent” did so because they were introverted but to be in the business side requires some social navigation. I’d like to think that being a professional musician is a result of a successful balance that I’ve learned from my parents, my friends, my heroes, and my teachers. I’ve blended in to my (mostly) favorite life influences. But if you asked me on a different day I may have just said it’s all luck. In fact, scrap the first part of that answer, I’ve been lucky to have habits bestowed on me that have kept me off the streets so far. But bottom line on habits that have helped me succeed: If you ask the people that call me for gigs, they’ll say (because I’ve asked and they’ve told me), I’ve been told I make it easy and stress free for others (particularly when I’m subbing in), I get the job done, I perform, and I genuinely enjoy it and that resonates with audiences. I strive to connect with others and have fun (that’s why I started playing music for goodness sake).  These things mostly come naturally gig after gig, show after show, now, but they didn’t always.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
A fair amount of corporate events/weddings with a couple of different agencies, live band karaoke, acoustic gigs: playing solo, duo, and trio, some theme park gigs, even the occasional bar gig when I can.  I love the raucous energy… Most of the stuff I do is pop/rock/top40 oriented, the occasional jazz, standard, or blues number. I also play at a church every Sunday I’m in town.

Typically I am hired to play guitar and sing backgrounds.  When I play solo I’m usually singing as well though sometimes I do instrumental gigs.  I also work frequently playing Bass and I DJ as well.  I enjoy seeing entertainment from different vantage points and just being a facilitator of merriment in general.

I make the gig easy and fun. Others have told me that my genuine enjoyment of music and performance is apparent and a great asset for any group.

Some don’t like to stay quite that busy or balk at learning new songs.  But I find value and usage in most all of it, even if it’s in repurposing it or using it years down the line.   I do my best to not let learning a song be just learning a song.
I spent so many years just having to learn songs to get a gig that it’s cathartic to me now.  So even though now I typically know most, if not all of, the songs before I’m sent a song list from a new or existing band, I can use that back catalog to flow from one song into the next like a medley or a mashup (particularly in a duo or trio setting) and keep it interesting for myself, the other players, and I hope, the audience, as well.

These days I’m excited about playing bass and DJ’ing. Specifically with DJ’ing, I love putting songs together that most people wouldn’t imagine and then being surprised and amused at the resulting harmony (and discordance). I think that’s something that happens in the mind of most musician’s. There’s this cross pollination that happens in the back of our minds and that’s where a lot of ideas for “new” songs come from. DJ’ing allows me to experience this process in real time and nudge it along a bit. I’m looking forward to putting these to work to create some new “original” music. In many ways I’m still looking for my unique voice, but this gives me a way to create on the journey to that.  I’m reminded of the Jim Morrison quote about the  the future of music:

“…it might rely heavily on electronics, tapes. I can kind of envision one person with a lot of machines, tapes and electronics set up singing or speaking and using machines.”

The road to where I am professionally has been a long upward trajectory and I never know how long it will last, but it’s been pretty solid for over a decade, doing over 200 gigs a year most years, sometimes closer to 300. My journey has not been easy. I’ve never felt like music came natural to me. The one thing that has been easy about the whole journey is that no matter what’s happening in life I find an instrument in my hand or a song coming out of my face.

Every day presents a challenge, I’m no longer surprised by that aspect. I strive to be better to those that I work with and feel very fortunate to know and work with the wonderful people that employ me and play alongside me. I learn lessons constantly and just aim to take every misstep as a method of mitigating the situation from that moment forward.
I don’t think I realized starting out that it’s often more important to NOT be a burden than it is to be an absolute superstar. Then again that was before I knew anyone or anyone knew me in the music industry. As my buddy Shane says, “People remember how you make them feel”, especially if it’s bad, “not what you do”. If you have the desire you will persist beyond the pain, and persistence is a necessity for success.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I were to give a friend a tour of my favorite spots in the city I would probably take them to Griffith Park, through some ridiculous neighborhoods and hopefully to a house party. My favorite place In LA is anywhere my friends are hanging out. If anyone of my friends from my hometown were here for a visit I would want them to meet them. The closest I got to the types of people that live in LA was college. A place where people aren’t rushing to become a stereotypical person who mindlessly goes through the paces of life, school, marriage, kids, career. I think that way of life is on its way out for most people anyway, but the artist types that flock to Los Angeles have been into this bohemian trajectory for a long time. The dreamers are my kind.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my Shoutout to my parents, whose unique influences have shaped me. My mother always made me feel special and that my artistic efforts were appreciated. My father taught me things he learned in life and in the military about the power of discipline. Together, they’ve nurtured me into a knowledge-seeking, creative spirit that harnesses the power of regimented activities to advance my abilities to do so.

Website: toddmccool.com

Instagram: /toddmccool

Youtube: hawkmcdork

Image Credits
depending on which photo you choose, the 2 i know to be credited are listed in the file name