If Freddie Mercury was genetically crossed with Johnny Rotten and Alanis Morissette, you'd end up with Toggo Ultrarock. Anything but your normal rock star.
Born and raised in Norway, Toggo Ultrarock moved to Hollywood, California in his teens to hone his musical skills by attending Guitar Institute Of Technology. While there, he studied with rock virtuosos Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big/Racer X) and Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson), which made a huge impact on his playing.
Toggo decided to make the...
If Freddie Mercury was genetically crossed with Johnny Rotten and Alanis Morissette, you'd end up with Toggo Ultrarock. Anything but your normal rock star.
Born and raised in Norway, Toggo Ultrarock moved to Hollywood, California in his teens to hone his musical skills by attending Guitar Institute Of Technology. While there, he studied with rock virtuosos Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big/Racer X) and Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson), which made a huge impact on his playing.
Toggo decided to make the City Of Angels his permanent home and threw himself head first into the local Hollywood music scene; recording, performing, producing and writing, growing his rock'n roll shoes several sizes in the process.
His hard work paid off. Within a few years, Toggo turned the local Hollywood scene upside down with his flashy, larger-than-life alt rock band "Scared Of Girls". From their neon-colored looks, high-octane concerts and unusual celebrity guest performances, to a PR-machine that set a whole new standard for bands in Hollywood, Scared Of Girls was a force to be reckoned with.
From their devoted fans to prestigious music authorities like Music Connection Magazine (who featured Toggo, alongside crooner legend Tony Bennett in one of their cover stories; both giving advice to LA musicians on how to get rid of stage fright), and listen.com (who described their music, all penned by Toggo, as "Expertly crafted rock that runneth over with enthusiasm and good vibes"), there was no doubt - Toggo and Scared Of Girls were going to be the next big thing.
But fate had other plans. At the brink of a national breakthrough, Toggo went missing from the world – gone, without a trace. 6 months later, he reappeared, and the strange, almost unimaginable experience he had gone through while missing caused him to lose almost everything he held dear - his band, house in Studio City, car, money, bank accounts, and a name he had made for himself in Hollywood from years of hard work - all gone. The only thing left when the smoke cleared was his guitars, master tapes and a large case of incurable optimism.
The surreal and traumatic experience pushed Toggo right to the brink of a complete breakdown. But instead of submitting to his fate, he took a 180 degree turn, relocating to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he started working himself back into music by performing weekly casino shows with infamous gangster Al Capone's grandson, Jeep Capone.
To process what had happened to him, while sharing an incredible story with the world, Toggo decided to chronicle what had happened to him - he started writing a book. In addition to being a testament to how far you can get in life by never, ever quitting on your dreams, the book, named "Rock'n Roll Virus", takes its readers on a mental, physical and spiritual thriller-esque roller coaster with a storyline so surreal and unthinkable that many a reader will find the story too far fetched to believe. For those who do believe, chances are it will leave them holly convinced that Toggo has lost his mind.
In 2009, upon requests from a few hardcore fans, Toggo made his song Head Over Heels available as a free ringtone download on Myxer.com – one of the world's largest online stores for music ringtones. Since he hadn't yet launched his solo career, he had no aspirations with this move, beyond making a few fans happy. However, the song started receiving large numbers of downloads, and within weeks, Head Over Heels was the #3 most downloaded song on their rock charts, as well as being Featured by Myxer.com, generating over 11 000 ringtone downloads in just one month.
To monetize this large surge of downloads, Toggo changed the ringtone from free to paid status, not knowing that he couldn't stay on Myxer.com's top 100 rock chart with a paid ringtone - so it was removed off the charts by default. However, the experience served as a powerful reminder of the massive potential and viability of the song.
In the summer of 2010, Toggo started production on two music videos – one for his song "Monday Morning" (completion date September 20), and another one for "Nat King Cole Is A Metal Head" (completion date October 30). The videos mark Toggo's launch as a solo artist.
From his melodic sing-along hooks and choruses to his hang-on-to-your-seat charisma and colorful looks, Toggo Ultrarock delivers a refreshing punch to ones musical senses that is rare to find today. And he is crystal clear about his goal: To leave the world irrecoverably inspired by his music and persona.
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