Perkins grew up in Fairborn, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. During his earliest years, his family lived on Titus Avenue in Dayton's Northridge neighborhood, a few houses from Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard. Perkins has stated that his proximity and early exposure to Guided By Voices was influential, noting that Pollard's lo-fi production technique and uninhibited vocal approach gave him the confidence to "make weird sounds" with his voice. Perkins was also influenced at a young age by The Beatles, particularly the albumMagical Mystery Tour, as well as singers Van Morrison, Roy Orbison, and Patsy Cline. In 2002, Perkins began experimenting with a TascamPortastudio 4-track cassette recorder and amassed a catalog of original songs. He later referred to this formative material as "garbage," citing the negative influence of Top 40 radio on his writing.
2007-2013
In 2007, Perkins' early psychedelic material was discovered by MGMT, who later offered him a touring support slot at the time of their debut release, Oracular Spectacular, on Columbia Records. However, Perkins declined due to anxiety. Later that year, he produced a full-length record under the pseudonym of The Esther Caulfield Orchestra. This album, called Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast, included contributions from Joseph Sebaali and Andrew Gabbard of Buffalo Killers and was described as a "potent cocktail of thrilling, 60s-inspired psychedelia." Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast was made available through Perkins' website as a free download, with only 25 hand-made copies of the album on CD made available for purchase. During this time, Perkins worked as a roadie for Buffalo Killers on their tours in support of The Black Crowes, and he has referred to this experience as his "formal introduction to the music industry." In 2011, all three members of Buffalo Killers acted as Perkins' backing band for a period of time before he retired his Esther Caulfield Orchestra moniker in order to form his new group, called Goodbye. For this new project, Perkins recruited the members of West, a group fronted by Kelley Deal of The Breeders. After Deal put the group on hiatus in anticipation of The Breeders' 2012 reunion tour, drummer Ian Kaplan, guitarist Nick Eddy, and bassist Chris Green began rehearsing and performing with Perkins as Goodbye. Goodbye produced a full-length record, entitled Cheerio!, however Perkins reportedly spent over 5 years revising the album before ultimately deciding that it would not be released.
Present
After the death of Chris Green in 2014, Perkins disbanded Goodbye and began working on new solo material at his home in Dayton's Belmont neighborhood. These new songs would form the basis for Perkins' first official release. SofaBurn Records approached Perkins with a recording contract in 2015 after Zach Gabbard presented the company with a collection of material by The Esther Caulfield Orchestra and Goodbye. In January 2016, Perkins recorded the drum tracks for the forthcoming SofaBurn release at Gabbard's analog studio, Howler Hills Farm. The remainder of the album's instrumentation was completed by Perkins at his home studio. Perkins' debut release was announced after the song "Humboldt County Green" premiered in High Times in July 2016. The album, called M Ross Perkins, was released by SofaBurn on October 14, 2016. Initial critical reception of the record was enthusiastic, with Record Collector calling it "a truly great album" and others drawing notable stylistic comparisons to solo artists such as Harry Nilsson and Emitt Rhodes. After touring in support of the debut record, Perkins produced a follow-up EP entitled What Did You Do For Summer Break. SofaBurn released the album in streaming format on August 31, 2018. Critics noted a shift to "a more sophisticated and precise," pop-oriented writing style throughout the EP. Brooklyn music criticJack Rabid, publisher of The Big Takeover, described the album as "dreamy" and dubbed Perkins the "Brian Wilson to Pollard's Pete Townshend." While promoting the EP, Perkins performed the song "Amazing Grace " on the Jerry Springer Podcast, with Springer and producer Jene Galvin calling it the best song ever performed on the show. In 2019, Perkins announced the release of "Gabbard & Perkins," a full length collaboration album with Andrew Gabbard of Buffalo Killers. Perkins is sponsored by Höfner Guitars and plays a rare 1967 Höfner model 4578 signed by Sérgio Dias of Os Mutantes.
