Terry Grant

: A bit of history: I used to have the standard dj biography. For some inexplicable reason, every dj, producer, and musician in the world writes essentially the exact same gash in these things. Let's see... they always start with a line about how music grabbed you at an early age, how you found the passion for creation, or how you were drawn by some invisible tractor beam toward a life of expression through the arts. "I didn't choose this life, it chose me."

A bit of history:

I used to have the standard dj biography.

For some inexplicable reason, every dj, producer, and musician in the world writes essentially the exact same gash in these things.

Let's see... they always start with a line about how music grabbed you at an early age, how you found the passion for creation, or how you were drawn by some invisible tractor beam toward a life of expression through the arts.

"I didn't choose this life, it chose me."

I suppose it's true, really.

Growing up in Ohio, my parents were always listening to old soul and rhythm 'n' blues records, and I remember identifying with that sound. That sound...

Not that I had any idea about soul (or rhythm) at the time, but it was that beat - that groove - that got to me. Something about those drums and that bass, and the way they worked together, well... it just did it for me.

Then I got a little older, discovered girls, and I realized that it was going to take a little more than a baggy t-shirt, a shy smile, and a bowl cut to get any of them to pay attention to me.

So I took up the guitar and - listen up guys and girls - it worked. It always works. Just ask... well... anyone who plays, really.

Eventually I grew up (legally, anyway) and flew the coop for Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career as a guitar player. And then...

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum.

You see, all my life I'd been a fan of movie soundtracks and electronic music. I was a child of the Eighties, when synthesized music came of age, and some of the greatest electronic albums were made.

I had a great affinity for the moody and emotive qualities of the synthesized sound, and the idea that these sounds could affect me in such a profound way without actually saying much of anything specific, well... it made quite the impression on a younger me.

This affinity for sound would stay with me into the Nineties, where I discovered groups like Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, and Nine Inch Nails; all of whom have made records that changed my life.

So anyway, I moved to Nashville at age 22 and began traveling in various bands. I played blues, soul, funk, country, rock, you name it - it was in there somewhere.

I also continued on buying and absorbing various electronic albums. I bought my first turntable, and in doing so, opened myself up to a whole new world of music that I hadn't known of before.

I discovered drum and bass, underground hip hop, breakbeat, IDM, and the like. I was discovering all these great records that I never heard about on MTV, and playing them for anyone who would listen. Spreading the word, I suppose...

One day, quite by accident, the chance to be a dj pretty much fell in my lap. A new club was opening up downtown and a friend recommended me for the dj spot. My complete lack of experience turned out to be what got me the gig, as the proprietors of the establishment were looking for someone who lacked the battleship size chip on their shoulder that so many of us djs seem to have when it comes to good music/bad music/important music.

The next three years or so would prove to be the most rewarding learning experience of my life.

I learned how to dj proper for one thing, and I learned that girls treat djs roughly like they treat guitar players.

Most importantly though, I learned that I had a desire to make the kind of music that I wished to play in the clubs. So I bought a computer and some more instruments and went to work.

A couple of years later, I had my first release. And it was on Bedrock Records no less, a legendary dance label run by a legendary figure in the scene. It was a nice start...

That first track was called "I'll Kill You", and it featured the incredible vocal talent of Jennifer Horne. With mixes from Luke Chable, John Debo, and a few from moi, it was a smashing good success.

I was blessed enough to follow that up with the track "Be My Guide" on Deep Records, as well as "Komputers Are The Devil" (Bedrock again), "Beautiful Dirty" (Fiberline), "The Tie That Binds" (Baroque), and most recently "Blood Oranges" (Epsilon Trax).

In the middle there I managed to remix artists such as Morgan Page, Darkarma, and Blue Room Project, and work with labels like Nettwerk, Progressive Global, and Blueprint Sounds.

The coming months will see releases on labels such as System and BEB, and remixes for artists too numerous to mention until they pay me. ;)
Seriously though, I'm just afraid to list it all in a document that I might not get to update for like, a year.

So, in closing...

This sort of thing usually ends with some sort of affirmation of said dj's desire to "push boundaries" and "further his/her unique sound and vision", which generally means we just want to get better at what it is we do and hopefully make more money doing it.

I'm going to continue on as a DJ, a producer, and a musician, and see what the future holds. I hope to release many more records in the next few years, tour the world, maybe score a film, and then marry a supermodel.

Or maybe I'll marry a model and then score a film, I don't know.



? 2009 terrygrant.net