Groove Terminator - the man better known to his friends and fans as GT - became one of the first top-flight Australian DJs to firmly establish himself as a recording artist in 2000 with his debut album, ‘Road Kill’. Orginally from Adelaide, GT is not only considered to be Australia’s top DJ, but he is also respected as a producer, performer, mixer and acknowledged as a premier remixer in this country with credits as varied as Savage Garden, Grinspoon, Groove Armada and Gorillaz.

In 2000, his release ‘Losing Ground’ resulted in 2 ARIA nominations for Best New Talent & Best Video. Another release followed - literally with the the massive radio hit ‘Here Comes Another One’. His third single ‘The Sunshine Song’ went onto immediate high rotations, charted top 20 nationally and was ARIA nominated for best dance release becoming a summertime smash and rocking the BDO. Not bad for a guy from Adelaide who's Mum used to take him to the odd concert here and there.

As the winner of Best Producer at 2001 Dance Music Awards, two years on GT is set to further cement his reputation as one of Australia's leading dance contributors with an outstanding follow-up album ‘Electrifyin' Mojo’. Titled partly as a tribute to the pioneering Detroit DJ of the same name, it's being widely regarded as a more mature and club-friendly record than its predecessor. With the 2002 Dance Music Award's just around the corner the 'Electrifyin Mojo' release is very timely given that the Dark Alley remix of 'Lovesong(This Is Not A)' has been nominated for Best Remix.

On the eve of the 2002 Dance Music Awards's and a one-off appearance at Home Sydney's largesque style 4th birthday celebrations, Resident Advisor recently caught up with GT and had a chat about the new album, cows and his gratitude for his Mum.

What kind of direction have you gone in musically with your new album that you didn't go in with your previous album?

Its more a case of where i didnt go-the last album crossed a huge spectrum of styles from hip hop thru house into punk yuo know being more about where i have come from.this album is more about where i am right now and going to ,and concentrates on a lot fewer styles and genres-i aimed for organic electronic music for want of a better term.

What exactly is an 'electrifyn mojo'? How would you describe it?

Electrifyin' mojo was a dj in detroit in the 70's who had a pioneering radio show - he used to play (and mix!) led zeppelin next to kraftwerk next to the clash next to funkadelic - that inspired a bunch of kids going to high school at the time to start making music-some of these kids in turn inspired me to start making music, their names:Juan Aktins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Jeff Mills and Mike Banks to name a few.

You've really cut back on your DJing committments in the last year or so, obviously to concentrate on your production work, are we now about to see a return to a heavy DJing schedule?

I dont really see me taking up a weekly residency anywhere soon as usually you have to compromise musically too much but i have been on the road constantly doing guest spots pretty much non-stop since i finished the album (may-ish) and have been really enjoying it as i have been getting to roadtest a lot of new material - and really get to some crazy places.

You travel interstate a lot - do you really get the "superstar Dj' treatment at the hotels or are you just some guy who spins records?

Usually in the big cities, the porter hits you up for tickets which is cool but i dont think the woman at the Albany motor inn really gives a shit who i am, if you know what i mean.

In a recent interview you mentioned that if you sit in a field of cows eventually they'll all turn around to face you. How long does this normally take or is it entirely dependant on the number of cows?

It takes around an hour and the more cows the better it is.

You combine rock and roll with electronica and yet never lose the groove that so defines your style. A boring question, but one that none the less must be asked... where do your influences stem from? Are they purely musical or do you also draw influence from your life experience?

My biggest musical influence in my life is probably my mum-cos she used to take me to all the shows from when i was very little- from the ramones to the police to devo and even buying me my first hip hop record-sugarhills greatest hits when i was 10-she gave me the love and never ending pleasure of music.

Your first album 'Road Kill' brought you numerous accolades and various Aria nominations... at the end of the day how important are these accolades and awards to you?

Whatever keeps you off the balcony. If it lets me make another record then cool. Also they only really matter when you win ;)

What does a typical day hold for you at the moment?

10 am wake up. Gym (not as often as i like tho as my gym partner who has the membership is always hungover) before midday then phone calls and email checking and some online record shopping at home. Into the studio to work on something urgent(there is always stuff that needs doing or an idea for a new tune - presentely its working on special mixes to play in the next tour). Then maybe a meeting or 2 (hopefully at the pub) followed by dinner with girlfriend and maybe friends or if its later in the week off to the airport to go to what ever gig is on.

Finish this sentence... Without the groove, groove terminator would be......
a less ridiculous dj name!!

This album is a more mature and club-friendly record than its predecessor... was this a conscious decision?

I wanted to make a record that had tunes on it that i could play in my dj sets as i found that i couldnt do that with the last one and it was frustrating, and as for sounding mature - i am 5 years older than when i started making the last one - that might have something to do with it.

In an age where the lines between club-friendly and the cross over into pop music are so closely blurred are you conscious of "not selling out" when making your music or do you just do your thing and not let the critics influence your creativity?

With this album i did just "do my thing" although i have to be concious of the fact that i am signed to a major label and with that comes certain expectations of "sellability".

You've lent a lot more towards the vocals side of things on this album than on Road Kill. How challenging did you find this process and what do you think the most rewarding tracks have turned out to be?

Vocals are the only thing in the studio you cant have complete control over as they come from people, so it can be very challenging to express your ideas and concept to the singer sometimes. Luckily i had generally, a great bunch of people contribute vocals to this album and it was a great experience, Andys'(Andy Page- who i co-wrote and produced the album with) and mine favourite track is the title track and was an instrumental for a long time. When the idea came forth that that would be the track that hamish was going to sing on - we were both hesitant as we had worked very hard on this piece - but then hamish flew up one morning from melbourne and we turned on the mic and as soon as he opened his mouth and started singing, we looked at each other with these huge grins and knew everything would be ok.

With 'Electrifyin Mojo' already looking like being an enormous success the grins should stay planted firmly on their faces for sometime yet.

More Information : GT's upcoming National Australian Tour