Buck 65

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Buck 65
Buck 65 in concert, July 2006. Photo by Louise MacDonald.
Background information
Birth name	Richard Terfry
Also known as	Stinkin' Rich, Johnny Rockwell, DJ Critical, Jesus Murphy, Haslam, Uncle Climax
Origin	Mt. Uniacke, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genre(s)	Alternative rap
Occupation(s)	DJ, MC
Instrument(s)	Vocals, turntables
Years active	1993 to Present
Label(s)	No, Hand'Solo Records, anticon., Warner Music Canada
Associated acts	Sebutones, Haltown Projex
Website	http://www.buck65.com/

Richard Terfry (b. 1972), better known as Buck 65, is a Canadian Hip Hop artist, MC and Turntablist, although recently he has moved away from Hip Hop in a stylistic context, now attributing more of his sound to Blues, Country, Rock, Folk and Avant Garde genres. That said, his new direction is seemingly still underpinned by an extensive background in abstract Hip Hop, his trademark rhyme-phrasing and lyrical presentation even evident in his altered timbre vocal exuperations displayed in more recent releases. He was born in 1972 and raised in Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, a rural community outside of Halifax.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early career and influences 1.2 Early releases 1.3 Critical acclaim 1.4 Kerrang! Controversy 1.5 Aliases 1.6 New Releases 2 Partial discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles, 12"s, EPs 2.3 Videos 3 Trivia 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early career and influences

Terfry has said his influences include MC Shan, David Lynch, J.V.C. FORCE, Vincent Gallo, Gitche Manitou, and Kool Keith. He was first exposed to rap music in the mid-1980s while listening to CBC Radio's late night show Brave New Waves, and then by listening to Halifax campus community radio station CKDU. CKDU then broadcast at only 33 watts, and he had to climb a tree in his yard to hear the station's hip hop show on his cheap transistor radio. Fascinated by hip hop, Richard taught himself how to rap, DJ, and produce records. Using the moniker DJ Critical, he later hosted a hip-hop show on CKDU called "The Bassment" (later renamed "The Treatment Program", as Jesus Murphy), which aired for several years. This period overlapped with many of his non-major-label releases.

[edit] Early releases

In 1993, he released his first cassette of hip hop songs while performing under the alias Stinkin' Rich on the Halifax label No Records. The five song cassette was titled Chin Music, which was a reference to his past interest in baseball. The release brought Stinkin' Rich to the attention of members of Halifax alternative rock band Sloan. Sloan signed him to their independent record label Murderecords and released a 7" single and a full length cassette called Game Tight, again featuring a reference to baseball. (Terfry has often stated in interviews that in his teens he had been scouted to play for the New York Yankees but that the death of the talent scout coupled with an injury had caused the deal to fall through. [3].

After a brief break, Terfry returned reconstituted as Buck 65, recording the cassette release Vertex, which included his popular song The Centaur. He recorded Sebutonedef (released in 1996 by Funtrip Records) as a collaboration with fellow Halifax artist Sixtoo. Other releases by the duo, known as the Sebutones, are Psoriasis and 50/50 Where It Counts. While still far from mainstream success, he received several odd jobs in Canada's entertainment industry, including making soundtrack music and providing narration for a TV commercial for NBA apparell, and a stint for a sketch on the popular children's program Sesame Street.

Man Overboard, originally released on the anticon. label, was a significant turning point in his career. The record, and the entire anticon. collective (of which Sixtoo was also a part), were considered hallmarks of a new avant-garde movement in underground hip hop. It was at this time that Buck met Cincinnati DJ Mr. Dibbs who inducted him into the 1200 Hobos, a loosely-knit hip-hop collective named for their proficiency and skill in manipulating the Technics 1200 turntable.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Critical acclaim

Many of his early projects attracted attention after they were re-released, first on the independent Metaforensics label and subsequently by Warner Music Canada [4]. While Buck 65 has gained critical acclaim [5] and worldwide exposure through his major label deal, commercial success has escaped him. Although Warner's worldwide affiliates distribute his records, Warner USA does not. After a deal was signed with V2 USA, "This Right Here Is Buck 65" was released in the States, a sort of "best of" that was marketed as an introduction to his work [6]. However after V2 chose not to release his next effort, Secret House Against the World, the deal was amicably dissolved. Buck 65 is now looking for a new label in the US.

Buck's most recent albums have gradually moved away from his original pure hip-hop sound into territory influenced by folk, blues and electronica, with some even comparing elements of his sound to Tom Waits [7]. His most recent record is Secret House Against The World. Some of Buck 65's music is used on the Canadian show Trailer Park Boys, frequently in the character Julian's car. He gained additional recognition in 2006 when he appeared at the national Juno Awards with sex symbol Pamela Anderson [8].

[edit] Kerrang! Controversy

In August 2004, he sparked controversy in the underground hip-hop world over comments he made to an interviewer in Kerrang! magazine. Buck was quoted as saying that he had "grown to hate" hip hop as he had educated himself about music, and charging that "people behind hip hop don't know anything about music theory." In response, former anticon. label-mate Sage Francis (in a post on his website) stated that "Buck has had his head up his arse for many years now." [9] Buck later apologized, saying he had gone overboard after being provoked by the interviewer and that he didn't really believe what he had said.[10]

[edit] Aliases

Buck 65 has also used a number of other aliases including Johnny Rockwell, DJ Critical, Jesus Murphy, Stinkin' Rich, Haslam, and Uncle Climax. These pseudonyms typically represent different characters in his raps (as in Uncle Climax, Johnny Rockwell and Stinkin' Rich) or different aspects of Buck's creativity (as noted above, DJ Critical was his DJ name on CKDU.) Rumours abound that Buck 65's alias comes from his childhood nickname of Buck and his weight of 165 pounds; possibly the pseudonym comes from the $1.65 standard bus fare for Halifax Regional Municipality riders for a certain time in the 1990s and early 2000s. Buck 65's website mentioned previously that he was named after his uncle's 1965 Buick automobile ("'65 Buick" is a track on the Synesthesia album); he performed a show under that name but the promoter mistakenly wrote the name as it is now spelled.

Recently Buck 65 has recorded an EP under the name of Dirk Thornton alongside Irishman DJ Flip, it is scheduled for release early 2007 but a date has not yet been set.

The first release under Dirk Thornton will be a 7 single with the tracks Yesterday's News and Catwalk.

[edit] New Releases

The latest music released by Buck 65 was a 5 song digital EP called "dirty work". It was released over a month long campaign, adding one song per week for free download via his MySpace page. All five tracks are still available for download on his official website. The EP comes with artwork drawn by Buck himself, and the tracks are all b-sides from his upcoming full length record.

Buck 65 is currently working on a new full length record that will be released in Fall 2007.

[edit] Partial discography

[edit] Albums

Game Tight Cassette 1994 Murderecords performing as Stinkin' Rich	Weirdo Magnet (Re-release Artwork) double cassette 1996 Independent/Metaforensics	Language Arts (Re-release Artwork) Language Arts Part 1 1996 Independent/Metaforensics	Vertex Language Arts Part 2 1997 Independent/Four Ways to Rock/Metaforensics
Man Overboard (Re-release Artwork) Language Arts Part 3 1999 anticon./Metaforensics	Square (Re-release Artwork) Language Arts Part 4 2002 Warner	Synesthesia (Re-release Artwork) Language Arts Part 5 2002 Endemik	Talkin' Honky Blues 2003 Warner
This Right Here is Buck 65 2004 Warner	Secret House Against The World 2005 Warner	Strong Arm Language Arts Part 7 2006 Self released downloadable mixtape [1]

NOTE:All Language Arts records prior to his major label signing were repackaged with new artwork, remastered, and re-released by Warner Music in 2002.

[edit] Singles, 12"s, EPs

Chin Music Vinyl 12" 1993 No Records performing as Stinkin' Rich	Stolen Bass vinyl 7" single 1994 Murderecords performing as Stinkin' Rich	Sebutonedef Vinyl 12" single 1996 Four Ways To Rock	The Wildlife Vinyl 12" single from Weirdo Magnet 1998 Hand'Solo Records
The Centaur Vinyl 12" single 1999 anticon.	Pants On Fire from Man Overboard (video only) 2001 `.	Phil from Square (video only) 2003 Warner Music	Wicked & Weird maxi single from Talkin' Honky Blues 2003 Warner Music
4-6-3 cd single from Talkin' Honky Blues 2004	Sore 7" single from Talkin' Honky Blues 2004 Warner Music	Kennedy Killed The Hat (video only) single from Secret House Against the World 2005 Warner Music	Devil's Eyes 10" single from Secret House Against the World 2005 Warner Music
Dirty Work EP 2006 Self-released download[2]

1. "The Centaur" (1999) from Vertex (12" vinyl only)
2. "Pants On Fire" (2001) from Man Overboard (video only)
3. "Phil" (2003) from Square (video only)
4. "Wicked & Weird" (6 October 2003) from Talkin' Honky Blues
5. "4-6-3" (5 April 2004) from Talkin' Honky Blues
6. "Sore" (4 October 2004) from Talkin' Honky Blues
7. "Kennedy Killed The Hat" (Summer 2005) from Secret House Against the World
8. "Devil's Eyes" (Autumn 2005) from Secret House Against the World

[edit] Videos

1. "To Mock A Killingbird" (1998) from Sebutonedef 12" vinyl
2. "Pants On Fire" (2001) from Man Overboard
3. "Phil" (2003) from Square
4. "Wicked & Weird" (6 October 2003) from Talkin' Honky Blues
5. "4-6-3" (5 April 2004) from Talkin' Honky Blues
6. "Kennedy Killed The Hat" (Summer 2005) from Secret House Against the World
7. "Devil's Eyes" (Autumn 2005) from Secret House Against the World

[edit] Trivia

• In 2005, he contributed to the UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" along with Feist.
• Appeared in the music video for "One Evening", dancing with Feist. Youtube clip
• Raps in the song, "The Unthinkable" by Boom Bip, on the album, Seed to Sun. AMG review
• Performed a song called "Grocery Store Rap" on an episode of Sesame Street. Youtube clip
• Raps in the song, "When the Angels Make Contact", by Matt Mays, on the album When the Angels Make Contact.

[edit] See also

• List of musical artists from Canada

[edit] External links

• Official Buck 65 website
• BBC collective session
• Hand'Solo Records - early label with soundclips and interviews with Buck 65
• Buck 65 - Who he's worked with + discography
• StolenBass.com - unofficial Buck 65 archive

• Interview concert de Buck 65 Video Report 2006 on OC-TV.net
• Buck 65 in Concert at CBC Radio 3, "Poet Overboard" article by James Graham