How My Brain Works « Sistine

Terry’s been making waves throughout the DJ and mixtape scene for some time now. Perhaps you’ve heard of his mash-ups of Santigold with southern rappers, titled Southerngold. Or the Jay-Z and Coldplay mixtape that together, him and long time partner Mick Boogie unleashed. Then there’s the How My Brain Works series, a mashup of great sounds for those who really appreciate music of all genre.

I had the chance to work with Terry two years back for a party in Hong Kong. Terry and Mick brought the house down that night. You can find him rocking the crowd at the best nightlife spots in NYC.

Oh and did I mention he’s got his own radio show The Press Play Show on Sirius Radio? Check him out every Saturday night between 8-10pm on Shade 45 XM/Sirius Radio.

Interview with Terry Urban

Hi Terry, how’s it going?
Its going good.

What inspired you to become a DJ?
The X-Men (the X-Ecutioners now).

You were pretty much self-taught on the turn tables. What was that experience like?
Very difficult. I’m still learning new shit everyday.

Your sound can be described as eclectic, blending hip-hop with rock and electro. Musically, what influences you the most?
I would say older music influences me the most. There’s only a few artist today where im like “Wow this is amazing!”.

You’ve mixed Santigold with Southern Rap, Lady GaGa with David Bowie, and worked with Mick Boogie on the Jay-Z/Cold Play mix. Out of all the mixtapes you’ve done, artistically, which is your favorite?
How My Brain Works series is my favorite. Its a series of mixtapes for advanced listerners who know their music.

Back in the days, people were more pigeon holed when it comes to music genre. You either listened to metal or hip-hop, punk or pop. Nowadays, it’s difficult to draw the line when it comes to genre. Would you say mixtape DJ’s such as yourself contributed to this diversification in music?
I think we contributed a little bit. Its mostly due to kids having so much media in their faces constantly. They dont have to go down to their local record store anymore and spend hours picking out one album with their weekly allowance.

Aside from your involvement in music, you are also a semi-pro skater and have a background in art and graffiti. Tell us a bit about that.
I’ve skated all my life. Watching skate videos got me into listening to the music that was featured in them. Growing up we got kicked out of every place we skated so we would have to skate the slums. The slums are covered in graf which obviously got me into writing graffiti.

You are the co-host of The Press Play Show on Sirius Radio. How did you get into that?
We’ve (Terry and Mick) been on Sirius for years now. We just like to do a show where we can play whatever the hell we want. It’s a lot of work but it’s great!

What are you working on next?
How My Brain Works III, an Outkast dedication mixtape and i’m going on tour in November which should be nuts.

Any last words?
Thank you guys for the interview and hopefully will see you again real soon Hong Kong!

Interview by Joe
Photos courtesy of TONE 2010

September 3rd, 2010