Exclusive Interview with Todd Terry

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NYC, Todd Terry is one of the world's most celebrated figures in dance music. With almost two decades of dance floor domination under his belt the quality of his productions goes from strength to strength. As a DJ, he's absolutely incredible - cosmic disco vibes with bags of hip hop attitude make for something totally unique.

Todd singlehandedly defined the New York house sound in the late 80's and 90's. Todd Terry's career as a producer and DJ continues unabated to this day with his 'Strictly Todd Terry' mix album as well as the Todd Terry Allstars feat. Kenny Dope, DJ Sneak, Terry Hunter, and Tara McDonald. His official remix credits include commissioned work for Bjork, Kylie Minogue, Duran Duran.

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Todd Terry, shortly before his performance at Levels on Wednesday 29th August.

You just played at the Summer Sound Festival in Helsinki, Finland - the largest electronic music festival in northern Europe - and been on stage with Armin Van Buuren, Axwell and Funkagenda and Chris Lake. Please share your experience with us.

Definitely one of my best gigs, I can't wait to get back, the sound was great, light show was amazing, and the people were great.

The majority of your appearances are in America and Europe, but you have played shows in Tokyo, Bali, Seoul and Bangkok. How does the Asian crowd differ from the western crowd?

The Asian market is one of my biggest markets as far sales of my music go so its great to get out and see my fans.

Which songs (out of all your songs) would you suggest to people that are not yet familiar with your music?

House of Gypsies "Samba" one of the best records I ever made, check that out.

Listen to it on Beatport:
www.beatport.com/release/samba-20th-anniversary-remixes/934646

In 1995 the album "A Day In The Life" was released by the label Ministry of Sound. The album featured a collection of your tracks that had been causing dance floor panic. What tracks would be on "A Day In The Life" if it was released 2012?

I'll have to think about that one.

It's almost exactly a year ago that you played at Bed Supperclub. Are you excited to return to Bangkok?

Yes one my favorite shows ever, I had a bunch of Red Bull that night, the crowd was great.

Did you ever have the opportunity to enjoy Bangkok's nightlife?

No, I was off to another city the next day.

Shortly after your performance in Bangkok you will play in Bali. Will you be able to spend some time in Thailand?

No time to hang around, I'm off to Australia right after the gig.

Are you familiar with Thai food? Do you enjoy it? Can you eat spicy food?

I love Thai food, not too spicy though.

With over two decades as a DJ you experienced the complete progress from Vinyl, to CDs and to now USB-Sticks. From a time when DJing implied a high degree of skill, to a time where DJing sometimes is reduced to simple track selection. What are you thoughts about this?

My job is getting easier and easier in that I don't have to carry crates of Vinyl, so my crowd is enjoying more music inside my DJ sets because I carry CDs and Flash drives with more music.

Please tell us something about your year 2012, your highlights so far...

Working with J Paul Getto, Remixes for Lana Del Rey and The 2 Bears, Releasing House of Gypsies.

... and things you are planning or looking forward to.

I'm finishing up Todd Terry vs Hip Hop.