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Terry Mullan (Issue 4)

Matt Massive | Tuesday, 26 January 2010 18:29

Interview with DJ Terry Mullan

How old are you, where were you born, any family history of insanity?
I recently turned 24 and I was born and raised in Chicago. As far as family history…we're all a little warped.

How long have you been spinning?
I've been spinning since I was 15 or 16 - so about 9 years. Breakdancing got me into the DJ world. I went to high school in a suburb of Chicago where everybody was into breaking. I really wasn't as good as most of these kids who could helicopter and spin on their heads for days - I was always the tall white kid with the good box but the breaking skills of a brick. So it became a natural progression for me to get into the musical side of breaking.

What brought on your change of style in your style of spinning from a year ago to now?
I never really changed my style. I had grown up listening to house. I just got into the scene when techno was fresh - house was something that had been around for years. So naturally everyone was on the techno bandwagon - and that's what I got known for spinning. However, in St. Louis I was always known for playing both; I was usually the last guy to play at the raves and finish out with House. Why did I stop playing techno at parties…? Easy, it got really stale. I was into breakbeat mostly, and the breakbeat I really liked stopped coming out. Everything was going 'dark' or real evil sounding. It was getting real wack and boring. I was into breaks techno because of the energy, not because of some track trying to sound hard just for the sake of being hard. The music was getting too fucked up and it wasn't me - so I started playing House at parties again. This was an easy yet hard transition to make. Easy because I had been buying House all my life - even when I was playing techno - but hard because everybody thought I was selling out. But as long as I stayed true to myself - Fuck what everyone else thought.

How would you describe the music you spin - because it seems too good to be labeled 'House'?
The music I spin ranges from funky, slow breakbeats with lots of scratching thrown in to some tribal, to acid, to some old electrobass, to some stompin' ass hard house to vocal/deep House. All of these are hybrids of House…or mutants, whichever you prefer. People get to caught up with labels. House is many things besides 'the Perculator'. Basically, if it bumps, I'll play it.

Tell us a cool story from your days of puberty.
Well, one of my favorites is the time my best friend and I broke into this jerk kids' house on Christmas Eve and stole his Atari 2600 - wrapped and all - out from under his Christmas tree while his family was out and about running last minute errands. We got caught a week later and my dad proceeded to then kick my ass.

Do you spin other styles of music outside of what the rave population hears you spin?
I spin Acid Jazz and lots of Hip-Hop. The Hip-Hop I like is more on the Tribe/GangStarr etc. tip - not much for the gangsta shit…except for Ice Cube.

Do you get 'The Box' in St. Louis? If so, what videos are you guilty of ordering?
Yeah, we get 'The Box'. The last couple of videos I requested were, I believe, GangStarr - Mass Appeal, Too Short - Money in the Ghetto, and Vanilla Ice's new one - just for laughs.

Have you ever been interested in making music?
I'm finally starting to work on tracks. I'm interested in either breakbeaty/funky house, or acid/track oriented stuff.

Many attribute the success of the St. Louis scene to you; what is your opinion on this? Also, why the decision to dedicate so much energy to that town when you can get tall-ass jobs elsewhere?
Well, myself and 2 other guys started throwing parties in St. Louis. At first the parties were really weak and lost some serious $$$, but after 2 years, people really respect St. Louis…I think primarily because our parties never get busted. You're almost guarenteed a good time if the right DJ's are there. As far as me being the reason it is so successful is hard to say. The people are pretty cool and I have learned a lot of the mistakes that other promoters in other cities have made. I left Chicago right before raves started in the Midwest and found it much easier to get shit done; and get more respect in St. Louis than Chicago. Not as many people means not as many greedy morons out to fuck people and the scene. But now, I'm moving back to Chicago in early June - where I'm looking forward to a break from promoting. Chicago, I feel, is on the rise and someday I might be so bold to try and do an event. As for St. Louis and the future; I'm worried. I think it's gonna collapse unless something or someone wakes up. Every fuckin' week there's 2 or 3 party promoters throwin' weak shit in the same, old, tired spaces…Nitrous; kids dropping out of High School to move to St. Louis because of the scene…gimme a fuckin' break, this isn't San Francisco. Oh well, we'll see.

So, what places has the DJing profession taken you?
Well, I've been to practically every city in the Midwest, L.A., San Francisco, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and soon New York. This is all thanks to DJing - I really like to go to new cities and meet people.

We hear you own a rad car - give us some specs on that baby.
Naw, I own a piece-of-shit '87 Honda LRX SI with too many miles on it.

Give us the history and details of the St. Louis 'Vibe Tribe'.
Well, the Vibe Tribe came into existence almost a year ago. At first, I used it to refer to myself, Merlin, and JaJo as a joke. Merlin and I always threw Friday night afterhours with us three spinning. We all complemented each other's style, and the name stuck. As for the Vibe Tribe's future, it's unknown since I'm moving to Chicago and Merlin and Juan (JaJo) will be in St. Louis. We have a couple dates outside of St. Louis this summer where we'll all be playing together.

And the future?
As far as the future of the scene goes, I think it will be forever changing and growing. The word 'rave' is dead, but there will always be underground dance parties. As long as everyone keeps in mind that it's all about the music and the people, I think we will have a lot to look forward to.

This concluded the Massive interview of Terry Mullan. We gave him the option of including a self-drawn portrait of him next to Satan, but he opted for a simple photograph. YOU CAN LEAD AN OUTSIDER TO MILWAUKEE, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM DRINK THE WATER.

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