Todd Terje
(Olsen /Smalltown Supersound, Oslo)
Following a string of celebrated releases leaning on everything from kitschyeuro sounds to deep funk and latin jazz, the relatively new tothe scene ToddTerje has already made his mark within dance music circuits. Gems such asthe cheese monster “Eurodans” and the latin disco-fuelled edit of Jacko’s“Can’t Help it” under his Tangoterje edit-moniker instantly made industry typesand clubbersalike go bananas, and whatever the Norwegian puts his fingerson, it always comes out with that crucial blend of musicality and playfulness.
Growing up in the rural village of Mjøndalen, dance music influences werescarce, and no, there was never any Diskoklubb there. Not a lot of obscuredisco or acid house in his milk either. However, during the early/mid ninetiesdance culture sneaked it way into even the most remote parts of Norway,thanks to the popularity of acts like The Prodigy and national radiostationsfilling prime time slots with underground jocks Olle Abstract and Pål“Strangefruit” Nyhus. On the more personal level, Terje’s sister was a closefriend of the late Tore “Erot” Kroknes, and the tapes she brought home to theyoung Terje became a major source of inspiration. Playing around in his earlyteens on a crap PC together with his mate Dølle Jølle, Terje made his firstattempts on house and jungle, which they played from cassette tapes onjunior high school-dances. Maybe too young for old music back then, Terjereckoned that disco was all a bit silly–until Bjørn Torske’s “Sexy Disco”caught his ears in 1999.
Training to become a pianist Terje enrolled at a local music school, but to hisdisappointment there wasn’t much jazz being taught there. Gradually leavingthe musical career path, he later moved on to studying physics at theUniversity of Oslo. Although not longer aspiring to become a pianist, he wasby no means over music. In 2001 Terje got in touch with Prins Thomas, whowas at the time working at HS Records in Oslo. Thomas soon recognized hispotential, and helped pushing Terje in the right directions. Oslo is a smallplace where like minded folks tend to join forces, and with his thoroughmusical understanding and nerdy like interest in old and new recordsspanning from that new Idjut Boys 12″ to experimental synth bands very fewof us have ever heard of, he soon became one of the key players on the Osloelectronic disco scene. Besides working on his own projects, Terje’s playedon some of Prins Thomas’ tracks, and not to mention his remix of theLindstrøm 12″ “Another Station”.
Is it house, funk, techno or disco? Terje is speaks of catchy rhythms, dubbysounds, dreamy synth layers, cinematic moods, a playful approach andsearching for that one nerve when asked to describe his music, and theresistance to being pigeonholed is obvious.