Rhythmism.com

Few DJs have logged as many miles and rocked so many rooms as Chicago's veteran Terry Mullan. When the rave scene blew up coast to coast in the mid-90's, you'd be hard-pressed to find a massive party that Terry wasn't spinning at. With a jacked-up, funked-up house style, accented by loads of acid lines and ferocious scratching, Terry became an instant fan favorite nationwide.

On Saturday, September 9th, Terry brings his unique take on house music to the Sullivan Room for his debut performance at the underground hot-spot. This is sure to be a memorable night of music, both for Terry's long-time fans and for those new to his style and sound. With pumped up disco filtered licks intersecting with speaker-shaking drums and thick acid basslines, Terry's sound gets right down to business on the dancefloor.



You grew up in Chicago. What was it like living there when house music was taking over the club scene? How important was it to the city at the time?

It was such a magical moment in time that I’ll always treasure. And even though that sounds like a Hallmark card, it’s true, the music was so brand new. I remember listening to the radio stations WBMX and WGCI when I was in junior high right before the term "house" was even coined and the music and the mix shows were so damn amazing. I believe the music was very important to Chicago, whether or not anyone at the time really made that connection I don’t know. Besides being a homegrown thing, house music really kept a lot of people out of trouble and gave them something to feel really good about.

Why do you think so many important and influential house artists have come out of Chicago over the years?

I guess we’re lucky, hmmmm, the radio had to make all the difference in the world. There was so much great music (Disco, Funk, Italo-Disco, & High Energy) played that laid down a real solid musical foundation for what we now call house.

What was the biggest influence on your own musical and DJing style?

Growing up in Chicago and being so inspired by the great music I heard growing up, it just sucked me in. I used to go roller-skating a lot and I really dug the music I heard at the roller rink. Also, all the kids I went to school with were really into break dancing & they used to loan me mix tapes from a local college radio DJ named Rocking Raheem who used to play all the old break dance and early rap jams.

You have always been known for your scratching abilities in your sets. How did you start incorporating that into your house sets? How did the crowds react at first?

Basically I’d throw the scratching in whenever I thought it wouldn’t sound cheesy. It adds nothing but energy to a set when it’s done at the right time. ALL the old house DJ’s on the radio in Chicago used to scratch and that’s where I learned it was OK to scratch to house.



You've been through the highs and the lows of the rave scene and the club scene here in America. What's kept you in the game for so long, and where do you see things going from here?

To be honest, even though I have a degree I never really imagined myself doing anything else in life but playing music and being a DJ. I feel so much from this music and always wanted to share it with other people. Even though shit got rough, I still believed in myself and kept at it. I feel like if I was truly meant to do this I’d have to ride out the strange moments in time. As for the future, I only see things getting bigger and better. This music isn’t going anywhere.

When you were traveling to all these different parties, did you ever have one particular place you enjoyed playing the most? Why?

I probably enjoyed playing in Canada, Detroit and San Francisco back in the late 90’s more than anywhere else I’d ever been. The people were just really up for it. I mean crowds that got super amped when they would hear a new track starting to mix in, I’m talking just the drums mixing in.

What are you focusing on now these days? Any noteworthy projects coming up?



I’m currently working with a good friend of mine from my childhood named Kevin Ford as The Acid OG’s. This guy actually taught me how to mix and count measures in 1984 and Kevin now plays keys in an Afro beat band called The Chicago Afro beat Project. We’ve been working on trax for about 2 years together. He lives in Chicago, and I live in San Diego, so every time I go to Chicago I stay a couple extra days and work on trax with him. He’s a musical genius and I feel between the two of us we could really do some dope stuff.

You've always done a lot of collaborations in the studio. Anyone you're working with these days that you're excited about? Do you prefer collaborating versus working solo?



Yes, I just worked with Jake Childs on an EP, and I have a couple more Acid OG’s EP’s to release and a dope new acid EP with Bryan Jones that’s yet to come out. The whole production end of things has been such a learning process for me. It’s been really cool to work with other like-minded people in the studio and learn a bit and see what happens.

DJs have always been feeling your label Catalyst. What do you have in the works for the label?

Thanks alot, I always sign stuff that I believe in and would play out myself. The next record dropping on Catalyst is a solid three-track EP featuring trax by TJR and Mike Gillenwater. The TJR track is a big room acid house number and the Mike G track on the flip is more on the jacking house side of things. After that I have a dope Bryan Jones EP and then an EP I did with a Jake Childs Remix.

Finally, how about a recent top 10 list of tracks you're feeling?

1. Recloose – "Dust (Induceve remix)"

2. Sound Republic – "Party People"

3. Fabio Bacchini – "Funk Player"

4. Timmy Vegas/Barbara Tucker – "Dutty Funk (Johnny Fiasco RMX)"

5.The Sound Republic – "Imaginary Lover (Inland Knights Remix)"

6. The Littlemen – "Shake The Club"

7. Mike Gillenwater – "How Much Longer"

8. ICAN – "A Quien"

9. Natural Rhythm – "Chicago Tower"

10. The Funk Monkeys – "Remember The Times (Sebastian Leger Rmx)"



TERRY MULLAN @ SULLIVAN ROOM

SATURDAY SEPT. 9TH

I've always loved Terry's scratches in his sets Awesome skills!