About

I first started my musical journey when my parents bought me my first ukulele. I became pretty good at it, so they eventually got me an upgraded “Uke”. One day my parents, my uncle and I were in the car on the way somewhere. A song on the radio came on and my uncle started “air” drumming. I watched his hand movements and I could hear and visualize the parts of the drums he was drumming to. It was at that moment “I knew”, I would become a drummer and my focus changed. It took a while for my parents to get me a set of drums. Probably due to my parents coming to grips with all the noise pollution it would cause and the financial hardship they were going through at the time. I finally was blessed with a used drum kit. Through-out middle school and high school I became very good at drumming. I played in marching band, concert band, ensemble band and stage (jazz) band. Our marching band competed in numerous competitions, where we swept all trophies in every category. You can probably tell I’m proud of my “band geek” high school days, Lol. In high school I also picked up the guitar, and that’s where my song writing actually started.
I started “closet singing” in my car, with the windows up and AC blasting. NO, not in the shower like people say, because people can still hear you. I wasn’t very fond of my voice. My musical taste at the time was predominately rock. At that time, a friend of mine, who was an excellent singer, told me to listen to R&B singers if I wanted to get better vocally. I listen and actually broadened my view of singing.
After high school, life came at me hard. I had responsibilities, I had to grow up and be an adult. Although music was always there for me, it went on the back burner for some time. When things started to settle down, I started playing drums in the live band music circuit. I played with several bands and started singing with them as a drummer/singer. We played clubs around town including “Hard Rock Café”, weddings, parties and shows. In the midst off all the gigging, I made time to serve on the worship team at several churches as well. Although I was having a lot of fun, something inside of me wanted more. I eventually moved out to northern California in 2014 to expand my opportunities.
The “Mahal” in Todd Mahal comes from the Tagalog (Filipino) word for “Love”. My life path is centered around “Love”, from the compassion for animals of my Lacto Vegetarian diet (leaning toward Vegan), the messages in my music, to the way I’m trying to live my life. I’ve been working on my craft and finally feel, it’s time. The recent songs I have been gifted with, have messages of “Positivity”. There is so much negativity in the world today, that I want to make a difference by spreading love, peace and harmony through the gift of music.
Sending love and light from my heart to yours.
Todd