CM>>>Terre, when I hold your album "Midtown 120 Blues" for the first time in my hands I was kind of confused because the artists name on this album contains both; your real name and your artists name. So when I feel in love with this album I asked myself why do he uses both names Terre Thaemlitz and Dj Sprinkles for this release?
Terre>>>Really? Let me check... Oh, you are referring to the sticker on the plastic wrap, I guess. The actual CD design just says "DJ Sprinkles." The inclusion of my full name was a Mule marketing decision, which is fine, but I would not let them release it as "Terre Thaemlitz." Actually, there was a mistake on the "I'm Starting to Feel Okay"compilation, where they credited a DJ Sprinkles track to Terre Thaemlitz. That was a proofing error on their side. For the "You? Again?" CD they released in 2006 compiling my various dance identities, we agreed on "Terre Thaemlitz presents..." rather than just "Terre Thaemlitz." These things are important to me, but not life-threatening.

CM>>> And then after a while I also started to ask myself what's the difference between both "artistically persons"? When I started my search I came to the conclusion that Terre stands more for the "experimental" music and DJ Sprinkles for the "House soul" of Terre... am I completely wrong?
Terre>>>That's basically correct. I reserve the "Terre Thaemlitz" name for the more "serious" projects, which is in fact a joke about sincerity on my part. It is around those projects that I think people most ascribe my identity as a producer or "artist," which is a process I seek to deconstruct and complicate in many ways, so I thought it would be funny to use my legal name as a kind of signifier of sincerity - a decoy of sorts.

CM>>>Names and persons... as a person with a sinful mind I asked myself what's behind his DJ's name "DJ Sprinkles". First I thought about Annie Sprinkles, a slave of business that sells illusions - besides leaving the real person behind the "role". Then I tried to translate the word in my language and thought, " ...maybe it's a DJ's name about a colourful person who plays multilayered music..."? Please, tell me what's the message behind this Dj's name?
Terre>>>The reference to Annie Sprinkle (no "s" at the end of her name) is totally correct. She was doing her safer sex performance art in the neighborhood where I lived at the time I started using this name, which was also when I was involved in safer-sex educational outreach and HIV/AIDS activism. And of course, she took that name "Sprinkle" in reference to "golden showers" and water sports (urination, etc.), which is also implied in my use of the term. But, basically, I just wanted a name that was totally non-macho. There was an instant cake mix which advertised "Sprinkles in the mix" - referring to small colored bits of sugar - but it also sounded like a common DJ phrase... you know, "Grandmaster Flash in the mix, ya'll..." Jesus, all of my project names are the offspring of bad jokes. Sorry.

CM>>>What came first the multitalented artist Terre Thaemlitz or the DJ Sprinkles?
Terre>>> I was born, baptized, circumcised, communionized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic church as Terre Thaemlitz - all of which was as contrived as the construction of my audio producer identities - so I guess the Vatican owns my ass... like they have owned the asses of so many other young boys. But, of course, I was an atheist since age 13, and was forced into confirmation. The other stuff happens too young - nobody can be responsible for their own indoctrinations at those ages. As for how my productions qualify or disqualify my status as an "artist," that is precisely the kind of cultural process I hope my projects shed light on. Personally, I do not identify as an "artist." I realize that places me within a long history of "avant-garde artists who deny they're artists," which is also a culturally assigned designation. I am interested in showing how we cannot escape designations, and so my professional emergence as a "musician" (who cannot play any instruments, etc.) is a metaphor for the hypocrisies of the other roles we assume in life - gender, sexuality, etc. We are all faking something or other at some point, if not continually. I seem to have made a career out of doing it openly (that openness, of course, is also fake).

CM>>>Maybe you can share my feelings... when you listen to a new record and you get lost in the atmosphere of the album and you start thinking about the artist behind the music you develop an imaginary picture of the artist ... yes, you can laugh about my childish views... but for me it was clear that the artist behind "Midtown 120 Blues" must be a person who lives currently in New York. Than I found out that you left New York 1986. So I asked myself what was the reason that you left America and moved over to Japan?
Terre>>>Actually, I moved to New York in 1986, and left in 1997. My personal feeling about New York is that it was culturally "over" (ie. completely compromised by gentrification) in 1993. After New York I lived in Oakland (near San Francisco) for 4 years because I had friends there, and eventually moved to Japan in January, 2001. The reasons for a person's migration to another country are always numerous and complicated, layering the personal and political into a kind of emotional lasagna. Economically, I had never imagined I would have the opportunity to leave the US - I do not have the kind of money or career that buys employment visas, which are reserved for corporate types. Perhaps this impossibility to leave the US partially fueled my critical resistance to American culture during the years I lived there. Yet my economic funding has always come from outside the US - particularly Germany and Japan. It was only through a (since-failed) marriage that I was able to move here. But having gone through that departure from the US, I have no desire to return. I really feel miserable when visiting the US. It's scary to think that even saying this in a publication could result in troubles if I ever did wish to return. That's the kind of fearful place it is. I know many US ex-pats like myself who have experienced nationalist immigration officers treating us like traitors simply for legally living overseas. The US has nothing to do with the rhetoric it spews about "freedom." It's a scary bully. I guess it's simply too oppressive for me, having been raised there. Too painful.

CM>>>I hope you aren't upset, when I ask you this question, but when have you started to discover your sexual orientation and the fact that you are a transgender?
Terre>>>Ruuuuuuuude! (Laughs) No, your question is fine. Actually, I relate to sexuality and gender as ascriptions - things assigned to us through social conditioning - as well as alliances of convenience. Not as things we discover about ourselves, but things we discover about society. Personally, they are always in flux, in contradiction to themselves, failing to coalesce. They are realized through shame, betrayal, deception... Horrible things. But even more horrible is to go along with those processes, and feel pride about them. I feel obligated to resist and complicate them, if only out of resistance to the types of homophobic harassment I was exposed to since childhood. I admit, I am completely politically compromised by sexual and gender identities - like everyone else. But I refuse to lose sight of the violence that entails. I refuse to "naturalize" my various compromises. I was ostracized and harassed as "Gay" and "girlish" since elementary school, before I had any sense of my own identities. I "officially" began self-describing myself as Queer and Transgendered in my 20's, but I guess I started actively trying to "empower" myself as a gender-freak or "other" around age 15 or 16. This was not about becoming Queer or Transgendered - but simply about distancing myself from the identities embraced by those who oppressed me. As an adult that opened into a broader understanding of the interrelationships and codependencies between dominant- and fringe-identities as well, placing me at critical odds with conventional Lesbian, Gay, and Transgendered outlooks along the way. But, if given a choice, I would always prefer to identify as "Gay" over "Straight" if the moment fails to allow for elaboration... I guess in the same way someone in the US might vote Democrat rather than Republican. It's still a total concession of personal interests.

CM>>>Comparing America and Japan will be an ... hmm-complicated undertaking. Both countries own a modern and a conservative face. But which country personally seems to be more "open" in your opinion?
Terre>>>The answer to this question also depends upon one's class, ethnicity and immigration status, etc. For me, I don't really care about openness. I think the word "open" is too deceptive, since all nations run on rules of exclusion. As a transgendered person who entered Japan on a spousal visa, I can attest to the fear those rules conjure. It goes beyond the usual airport customs official demanding answers as to why a man would have so many women's clothes in his suitcase before granting me entry (which I have experienced most frequently in the EU). But I can say I feel very comfortable here. Japan has substantially less violence, guns and Class A narcotics, which makes it a much safer and culturally stable place to live.

CM>>>When have you founded your label? And what was the reason for founding an own label... artistically freedom?
Terre>>>I founded it in 1993, assuming I would only have one release. If we can substitute the romantically loaded term "artistic freedom" with "direct control," that was also a part of it. But it was mostly done as a kind of hobbyist adventure. I loved records, I had collected them my whole life, and I was curious about the process of manufacturing one myself.

CM>>>But your new album "Midtown 120 Blues" is released on Mule Musiq. What was the reason that you released this album on that wonderful label?
Terre>>>I prefer to license my production to other labels when possible - primarily because I hate the process of "selling myself" and doing promotion, as well as the fact that sometimes I need to get some money from somewhere. My own label has never had stable distribution, largely because I insist that distributors pay me for orders in advance of shipment. For a small label like mine (only one person doing everything, from making the audio to manufacturing and selling) it is too much for me to additionally risk financial loss from non-payment. I do not have the luxury of a financial background that would allow me to do so. Like most producers, I rely on performance fees and license royalty advances. Mule was interested in releasing a full-length dance project, and I had never had an opportunity to have my house projects distributed in the EU before, so I thought it could be interesting.

CM>>>From where do you know the wonderful and restless label chief Toshiya Kawasaki?
Terre>>>From the tone of your last two questions, I can see they service you with promos on a regular basis. (Laughs) Toshiya was the friend of the organizer who brought my "DJ Sprinkles' Deeperama" events to Club Module in Shibuya. Sometimes Kuniyuki or other Mule related artists would guest DJ or perform at those events, so I would see him from time to time at the club.

CM>>>The album kicks off with "House wasn't so much a sound as a situation. The majority of DJ's - DJ's like myself - were nobody's in nowhere clubs: unheard and unpaid. In the words of Sylvester: reality was less "everybody is a star," and more "I who have nothing." Twenty years later, major distribution gives us Classic House, the same way soundtracks in Vietnam war films gave us Classic Rock. The contexts from which the Deep House sound emerged are forgotten: sexual and gender crises, transgendered sex work, black market hormones, drug and alcohol addiction, loneliness, racism, HIV, ACT-UP, Thompkins Sq. Park, police brutality, queer-bashing, underpayment, unemployment and censorship - all at 120 beats per minute"... This leaves a lot of questions for me... one of them was what's the magic behind 120 BPM? And the reason that all tracks are recorded at 120 BPM?
Terre>>>Most early deep house tracks were in the 116-122 bpm range. 120 was the average. But it's a kind of slow tempo that defeats the high-energy people expect on a dancefloor. I like that about it. This kind of atmosphere in which people look at each other, and the empty dance floor, and ask, "Is it okay to dance?" It's not this fascistic high-energy shit that orders you to dance. It's not lounge music that denies you a dance. It then becomes about the dancers self-activation.

CM>>>Have you suffered from police brutality and also queer-bashing?
Terre>>>I have seen police brutality first hand, several times, but have luckily never experienced it on my person (other than verbal intimidation, or phone taps as the result of a former roommate's involvement in demonstrations against George Bush Sr. It is a common ploy for agencies to "obviously tap" the phones of activists involved in demonstrations against federal officials, so as to create paranoia and self-censorship which complicates planning. So in the weeks prior to the anti-Bush Sr. "100 Days" rally in NYC we heard voices speaking police-type dialogue, clicks, and other strange noises during routine phone calls on our home phone, which ended after the rally). As for eluding queer-bashing, I have not been so lucky.

CM>>>Can one say that "Midtown 120 Blues" is an album that stand for the rights and feelings of people who aren't willing to follow the mainstream? I mean this in terms of music, sexuality and also maybe political...?
Terre>>>I think the notion of "rights" or "entitlements" need to be approached cautiously, especially since so many rights movements these days are rooted in the assumption that "if it can't be helped, it must be legalized." For example, being "born non-White," "born non-Straight," "born a woman or in the wrong gender body," etc. This is a kind of ideological trap, because it replaces our capacity for social acceptance (the act of learning to co-exist) with a kind of supra-social mandate that we have no choice but to concede rights to those poor souls who just happen not to be Straight White Men. I maintain these are two completely different processes, and over time they foster completely different social outcomes. So I am not interested in standing up for rights as that concept functions under current Liberal Humanist ideology. I am interested in actively confusing our relationships to those rights, as they both help and defeat us in various ways, in relation to our various identities. This, of course, is a political act.

CM>>>As I said too many questions about this album, but one must be asked. The album disperses a kind of melancholic but also save and warm atmosphere, also rough and dusty... If some of your listeners share this feelings, do you think they are near to that what House music stands for?
Terre>>>No, we are all far away, disconnected... realizing house music does not stand for one thing. In fact, it has come to stand for nothing at all - by which I refer to the lack of content that in turn makes it sellable on a mass scale. Mass distribution requires an erosion of specificity and context. It relies upon pretending music is "universal" and understandable to all, which clearly is not true or all people would all like the same genres. Dance music is basically all about love songs, and who the fuck needs more of those?

CM>>>At this point I would like to ask you with which kind of gear you working your studio - I found a Japanese article with some pictures of your studio with some Power Mac's and some Hohner or Casio samplers. Is this your actual set-up?
Terre>>>Yes, I have two Casio FZ-10M samplers, a Korg M1, and then your basic digital sequencing software.

CM>>>... how long have you worked on "Midtown 120 Blues"?
Terre>>>Somewhere around six months or so? Maybe a few months more, with remixes...

CM>>>... Midtown 120 Blues... please forgive me for asking this stupid question, but for me Midtown sounds as a place where sad... no music with soul and feelings - Blues - is played at 120 BPM. Is this the right translation for the title? And where is midtown? In New York - Tokyo - Barcelona?
Terre>>>"Midtown" is a reference to 42nd Street in New York City, which is where I used to DJ, and where Sally's II used to be located. It was a rather bleak scene of sex workers, not the artsy drag queen scene of the East and West Villages. This album is a continuation of themes presented in the first DJ Sprinkles EP, which had the long but descriptive title "Sloppy 42nds: a tribute to the transsexual clubs destroyed by Walt Disney's buyout of Times Square." The initial title for the new album was just "Midtown Blues," but that was too vague and could be the title of any crap album. Including the "120" made it specific to my crap album. (Laughs)

CM>>>And what's behind a Madonna free zone...?
Terre>>>Very easy - not playing Madonna's shit music. Beyond her horrible and talentless sound, I take issue with her "popularization" of certain aspects of Queer communities. For example, in Vogue she has the lyrics about how "It makes no difference if you're black or white, a boy or a girl." As warm and fuzzy as that might sound to the naïve Humanist, they violently erase the explicitly Transgendered, Latino and African American origins of vogueing. That pisses me off. And the fact that most everyone - including from Queer Tranny communities - doesn't care, pisses me off more. "Oh, I love Madonna..." Go fuck yourself.

CM>>>Will there be any chance to see you live in Europe this year? And how do you represent your album live - as a DJ or in a kind of musician's set?
Terre>>>I hope to come this July, to do some piano solos as part of the recent festivals around Cardew being planned in France and Austria. If that happens, I might be able to get some DJ gigs scheduled as well, but nobody has airfare budgets these days. It's difficult. We'll see what happens. As for the performances themselves, DJ Sprinkles is a DJ. I include my own tracks in my DJ sets, but am not interested in conventional stage performance, and wish people just looked at each other as they danced rather than staring at the DJ booth. Even when I am forced into performance, such as with the electroacoustic projects, I do my best not to deliver a straight concert. For example, when everybody is drinking beer and getting a good buzz on, I begin with a 15 minute lecture on a project's theme and get boo-ed. That sort of thing. I think exploring the ways we are easily disappointed at performances, as audience members and performers, is more informative than what a typical "good show" offers us. Good feelings fade too easily. Pain and humiliation linger and lead to reflection. (Laughs)

CM>>>How do you feel about the reactions about "Midtown 120 Blues"?
Terre>>>Much more positive than I had expected. Of course, even when people write positive things about it, many are coming from a kind of "positivist" attitude I simply cannot relate to. But others absolutely "get it," which is nice. There was one blog, though, where it seemed like most people were young party-hearty types. They fucking trashed the shit out of it. I loved it. I felt so old, ha ha! Really great. "Fucking kids these days." (Laughs)

CM>>>Do you miss sometimes America especially New York?
Terre>>>Never. Only certain foods, and certain friends.

CM>>>When I started to find out more about your person I found some mixes and podcasts in the web. Some of them sound to me like they were mixed like the usual Dj mixes but most of them were more like collages without mixing the tracks into each other. Which style do you prefer mostly?
Terre>>>I'm more interested in people listening to the music, and less interested in them listening to me DJ the music. I'm not interested in "skills." I approach it more as a consumer and collector, not as an egoist master-mixer. Some call this "Loft style," because the Loft in NY was famous for playing tracks all the way through. That's important, to allow the structures of compositions to unfold. I was always a wall-flower in clubs, so I don't get the whole "let's hype this sucker, whoop-whoop" DJ approach.

CM>>>How did you get in touch with art and music? Are you from a family with an artistically background?
Terre>>>I really dislike art, as well as most music, and films... But the things I like, I tend to really like. I grew up in a house where anything "artistic" was relegated to being a hobby, or maybe volunteering to do music at church. My father was a teacher turned chemist, but sang in chamber chorales. My mother was an administrative secretary, but is one of those people who plays almost anything from accordion to organ to guitar to hammered dulcimer. I kind of stumbled into audio production from this hobbyist perspective, and my projects are not so much about the music for me as simply having a vehicle to discuss social issues. I didn't choose audio because I find it expressive, but to the contrary because it is so phobic of discourse. It insists upon "soul" and doing things "from the heart" in an age when those approaches have been dismissed in most other media (to little or no effect, of course, since learning from those dismissals would affect the flow of commerce). I guess the inappropriateness of my projects in any commercial marketplace is a kind of metaphor for the general inappropriateness I feel around myself as a person in any social context.

CM>>>I found on your labels website a complete back catalogue of your release as Terre Thaemlitz. Then I found the special issue as fast food - the CD is boxed in a Hamburger. What's the message behind that - a wit - or the caducity of art and music?
Terre>>>You are talking about the limited edition "Plush CD Burger" package for the "Dead Stock Archive," which is an offline DVD-R MP3 collection of everything I have ever produced. I call it the "Dead Stock Archive" because I have a closet filled with my unsellable releases on vinyl and CD. While looking for a package for this archive, I stumbled upon the hamburger shaped CD case and thought, "Who the fuck would want to buy that?" And that seemed a completely appropriate way to package my own releases.

CM>>>Can you tell me something about the Zeitkratzer project?
Terre>>>I love zeitkratzer (they prefer a lower-case "z," by the way). At first glance, we should not get along at all, but we absolutely do. I really enjoyed working with them, and hope we get another chance soon.

CM>>>What are your next plans for 2009?
Terre>>>I am currently working on my next electroacoustic project, "Soulnessless," which will be a double disc. The overall theme is a critical analysis of "soul music," meditation, spirituality and religion. Disc 1 is a 30 hour piano solo compressed as a single 4GB 320kbps MP3 file on data DVD-ROM. Disc 2 is a video DVD comprised of different materials, perhaps a bit similar to my "Lovebomb" video. Since both discs are not immediately playable on a conventional CD player, and use lengths that relate to today's media capacities (the 4GB FAT32 file limitation on most computers) rather than the time durations we are familiar with from vinyl and CDs, it also raises issues of "what is an album anymore?" It's a completely monstrous project in scale. I expect it to flop marvelously.

CM>>>What do you need for a perfect day in your life?
Terre>>>In all honesty, the concept of "perfection" is so absent from my thinking for years now that I simply don't know how to answer you, nor care to pretend I can. This is quite an intimate question, actually. If you ask it of others, maybe this is the one you should start with, "I hope you aren't upset when I ask you this question."