Biography

Todd Terje, born Terje Olsen, arrived on the Scandinavian dance scene in 2004 and, in short order, became one of its prominent figures beside early supporter Prins Thomas and Hans-Peter Lindstrøm. Terje channeled a voracious appetite for several styles of music -- including dub, disco, synth pop, house, and techno -- into warmly received edits of tracks by the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, and Santana. He also made a splash in 2005 with "Eurodans," one of his own productions, released on Thomas' Full Pupp label. By 2006, it was difficult to keep tabs on all of Terje's remix work, though the man's looks at Lindstrøm's "Another Station," Studio's "Life's a Beach!," Kaoru Inoue's "The Secret Field," and Dølle Jølle's "Balearic Incarnation" weren't easy to avoid in discerning DJ sets. On Remaster of the Universe, released on 2010 through Permanent Vacation, Terje served up a collection of his edits and remixes in the form of a continuous DJ mix. A year later, Gerd Janson's Running Back label released Terje's Ragysh EP, which contained one of his most popular tracks, "Snooze 4 Love." This was followed by 2012's It's the Arps on Smalltown Supersound, which contained another club hit, "Inspector Norse." His profile was raised outside of the dance music world through his co-writing of Robbie Williams' chart-topping single "Candy" in 2012 and his production of a couple songs on Franz Ferdinand's 2013 album Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action. He also produced and mixed fellow Norwegian Lindstrøm's 2012 album Smalhans, while prepping his long-overdue debut album. It's Album Time arrived in early 2014 on his own Olsen label. A proggy, colorful opus, the album was well received, particularly for its cover of Robert Palmer's "Johnny and Mary" featuring singer Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music). Terje formed backing band the Olsens, including members of Jaga Jazzist and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, in order to perform the songs live. In 2016, Terje and the Olsens released The Big Cover-Up, which featured covers of tracks by Yellow Magic Orchestra, Boney M., and Vangelis, in addition to remixes by producers such as Prins Thomas and Daniel Maloso. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi