Todd Kerns
Todd Kerns (born
December 5,
1969 in
Lanigan,
Saskatchewan,
Canada) is a Canadian musician who has worked with several successful Canadian bands, most notably
Age of Electric.
In the 1980's Kerns started playing with a band called
The Wicked Infants, a cover band who played a few original tunes. After
The Wicked Infants, he joined another cover band named
Bladerunner, which didn't really amount to anything.
In
1989, Kerns moved to
Calgary, Alberta and started writing songs. Todd and his brother
John Kerns joined with another set of brothers,
Kurt and
Ryan Dahle, to form a band named
Electric, originally playing a lot of LA
glam rock-era covers. At gigs, they sold a 5-song cassette entitled 'Electric' and an album called 'The Latest Plague' under the
Gods Teeth Ethel! label. Later on, the band changed its name to
Age of Electric.
In
1994, the band released the 'Ugly' EP, which sold well independently. The group gave Cargo the rights to distribute the EP, and its title track debuted on the Canadian Album Charts at #73. Invasion Group Management helped with the promtion of the album, and got 'Ugly' video airplay on
Muchmusic. No major label deal was in sight, so the group decided to continue and release an independent LP called 'Untitled'.
After performing at Music West in
Vancouver, British Columbia in
1995,
Age of Electric group got signed to Mercury records, and re-released 'Untitled' as
The Age of Electric. They won a Canadian Rock Award for 'Best West Coast Independent Artist'.
In
1997, Kerns starred in the independent film
Horsey (1997 film), which saw little critical support. Also that year,
Age of Electric released their most successful album
Make a Pest a Pet, and their song "Remote Control" gained heavy airplay on both radio and television channels.
In March
1998, Age of Electric was nominated for "Best New Group" at the Juno Awards.
Meanwhile, the Dahle brothers had formed a side project known as
Limblifter, and Age of Electric fell dormant in 1998, disappearing after a
1999 cross-Canada tour as openers for fellow countrymen
Our Lady Peace.
After the dissolution of Age of Electric, Kerns started a number of his own projects. In addition to Todd Kerns Odyssey (TKO), Kerns formed the group
Static In Stereo with brother - and fellow Age Of Electric member - John Kerns, younger brother Ryan Kerns, and drummer Scott MacCargar. They released a self-titled album in 2002.
