Terence Toy

Terence Toy started buying records at eight and got into house music in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, after a friend suggested he enter a DJ competition at a local nightclub. The late New York DJ David Bryant became an early mentor, mailing him copies of whatever Larry Levan had just played at Paradise Garage each week and steering him toward the sound that would define his career.

A trained drummer who spent years reading and studying music, Terence hosted his own radio show, The Underground Beat, on Los Angeles' 92.3 The Beat, and held a residency at Release, San Francisco's largest and longest-running club at the time, after promoters heard him play at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. A booking in Japan turned into a six-month stay after demand for him grew, and he's played major cities across the US and Canada throughout his career.