WWF 2009: Terje Olsen aka Todd Terje (pronounced ter-ee-yee)

What made you such a disco fanatic?

I’m not sure I am a disco fanatic anymore. Ten years ago, I was playing house music and getting bored with it, I searched for music in other places. Disco and all things old were much more appealing to me than the newer sounds. Now I think house and techno are starting to cross over to other genres, which is quite interesting. Actually now I am buying more new stuff than old stuff.

How would you describe nu disco?

It’s actually a word I don’t use that much. It’s a good term to refer to when you are record shopping, because you can go straight to that section and find all the songs you are looking for. But I don’t particularly like the term, in fact I don’t really like using any terms. But I think nu disco was at its best in the mid-’90s, a time when Idjut Boys and Street Corner Symphony, Ashley Beedle and DJ Harvey, they started to cross over house music into disco. There’s too much of it now, even Hed Kandi has a compilation called Nu Disco.

How do you choose which songs you choose to re-edit?

I’m a DJ, so honestly it’s easy for me because there are a lot of tunes I want to play but it can be hard, a bit difficult to mix in…older tunes are not always made for deejaying. If I want to be creative I usually pick pop tunes because I find them more interesting and fun to dub out. For instance, I am very happy with the edit of ‘Jive Talkin’’ by The Bee Gees. The original song is really cheesy but if you focus on the beats that are already there it can become really moody also.

How do you think today’s re-editing fetish will affect the music industry?

I don’t know, I didn’t think it would be this big. Of course, DJs have been editing for a long time but now it is easier because people have money to buy software. Imagine in the ’70s when only people who had money could produce. There were probably also loads of people who were very talented but couldn’t afford to produce or make music. But now anyone can do this. There is a lot of good music coming out, but of course, also a lot of bad music. But I think ultimately this trend is a good thing – although I believe, ideally, everyone should produce – editing is the doorway into producing. If I hear a really great edit, I would think that this person could make really good music later.

Todd Terje is not your real name. Is it true that the name is a homage to Todd Terry?

Yes, that’s true.

Any thoughts on that? Why Todd Terry?

Todd Terry was a cool guy! I actually regret it now because it’s a little bit hard for people to pronounce. I guess it’s kind of a good thing also because people notice the name is a little weird. Though I don’t know how much I have really gained out of it. Maybe I should have used a different name…but now it’s a bit too late [laughs].

Terje Olsen (MySpace) plays at Worldwide Festival 2009 (8 May) at Velvet Underground.

Check out Time Out Singapore's Worldwide Festival 2009 preview and DJ interviews.