• Tweet

• Tweet

You may have heard her name before, but what you may not know is that she is a pioneer in the female and lesbian Chicago dance & DJ scene. Known all over the world, Teri Bristol has managed to keep a cool head on her shoulders in the male-dominated industry of being a well-known and respected club DJ.

The L Stop had a chance to sit down with the amazing and iconic Teri Bristol before she spins at our very own Motown Night, Friday November 9th at Parlour on Clark. If you didn’t love her before, read what she’s all about and dance the decades away this Friday…you’re sure to fall in lust!

L Stop: Where you from/where did you grow up?
Teri: I was born in the Chicago area and moved to Nashville, Tennessee until I was 10, then back to here.

LS: When did you realize you wanted to be a dj?
Teri: It was 1982 when I realized I wanted to DJ, it kind of all happened at the same time. I used to be a cocktail waitress at this bar in Rosemont, it was a lesbian bar called the Celebrity Club. I used to ride to work with the manager of the club and I would get there 3 hours before I actually started. So for the 3 hours there was nothing to do but play Pac-Man or fool around and play records, so I started fooling around with the dj booth. The manager showed me how to turn everything on; a simple mixer, two turntables with no pitch controls and they had about 30 records in their collection. So I would just play music to keep myself occupied until I started my shift.

They had a DJ there that was a complete jerk. He would pack the floor with a song that girls loved, then he would turn to me and say “watch this” and throw on some crazy, hard-core punk song and just clear the floor completely and the girls would be shooting him looks and calling him names and he would just do it to piss them off. It was a power trip he had. One Saturday, he asked the manager for a raise and the manager said “no - forget it, you’re not even that good.” So the guy threatened to not come in, forcing them to give him his raise. The following Saturday, sure enough, he didn’t show up. The manager looks over at me and says “you’re the only other person in this club other than me that knows how to use the equipment so, you’re on.” I said “are you serious? I don’t know how to DJ or mix beats” and the manager says “you do it or you’re fired.” So I got in, used their records and got through the whole night, but I had so much fun doing it. The girls like me so much that the manager fired the guy and he hired me. So that’s how I got started.

LS: How do you feel about the evolution of the art of dj’ing?
Teri: I think from the time I started dj’ing there was vinyl, but there was also reel-to-reel tape decks and actually in the recording studio there were 2 inch tape decks. So I think even before I started dj’ing there was already a revolution with technology. I love the fact that the technology is evolving, I love the fact that the only thing you are limited by is your own creativity. If you can push a button and you have an idea and you can get that idea out of your head and put in some medium - some format - I think it’s great. I think there’s a lot of people who think they’re DJ’s, but they’re amateurs that play what they like and not what the crowd likes.

LS: What was your first vinyl?
Teri: My first vinyl was a song called ‘Wooly Bully’. My parents bought me on my tenth Christmas a little phonograph player with some records, and they didn’t know what to buy me so they bought ‘Wooly Bully’. The first one I bought was T-Rex ‘Bang A Gong’.

LS: What dj’s inspired you?
Teri: Ralphi Rosario. There was a radio station here in Chicago called Disco DAI, this was in the late 70’s. They used to play disco mixes, it was incredible and I still don’t know who the DJ’s were but when I heard those disco songs mixed continuously, I fell in love. Then WGCI started doing the HotMix 5 which was Ralphi Rosario, Scott Smokin’ Sills, Kenny Jammin Jason and a couple other guys I can’t think of off the top of my head - but they all influenced me a lot. They played house music, Italian disco, a little freestyle. Danny Tenaglia, Tracy Young, Maurice Joshua, E-Smoove, Joe Smooth, Lil Louis, Frankie Knuckles…I actually should’ve said Frankie Knuckles first [laughs] I should’ve said Frankie first. Oh, and of course DJ Psycho Bitch.

LS: Was it hard to be lesbian in the DJ community?
Teri: I wouldn’t say it was necessarily hard being a lesbian, it was hard being a female. When I started in 1982, the only other DJ’s that I knew that were female were VJ’s - there was a girl that played at Berlin, but all she did was video. So it was hard being a female period. The lesbian bars at that time, there weren’t that many like Augie and CK’s and they had Charles Perkins. All the girl bars had male DJ’s, which now that I think of it was kind of odd. As time went on, I started playing at straight clubs and that’s pretty much like Medusa’s, Shelter, Crobar, Limelight, Cairo, Smartbar. Because of that I ended up getting a huge following in the straight community and doing “gay” nights which is how I made my mark in the gay community. There’s way more female DJ’s now then when I started.

LS: How has the lesbian dance scene changed?
Teri: The music has evolved but the taste has stayed the same; mainstream music. A little bit of indie/acoustic style music, the 80’s, the 90’s, Hip Hop. So it’s basically whatever mainstream with a little of the older stuff mixed in and thinking back to when I used to play the girl bars I’d have to say it stays the same.

LS: What old clubs do you miss in Chicago?

Teri: Medusas. Medusas was a non-alcoholic bar that started out as an after hours. They opened at 11 o’clock at night on Friday and 12 o’clock on Saturday and they were closed the rest of the week. It was a big 3-story dance hall. Started out as a Swedish dance club that was 18 and over and the DJ’s they had were really special. They played really obscure music, music that I had never even heard. As a DJ who was just getting started I was really inspired by what I heard. I fell in love with the music; it was dark. It was located on Sheffield and School street, now it’s a bunch of condos. That place was open for I think like 9 years. There’s a Medusa’s in Elgin, which is owned by the same person. It looks pretty similar actually. But Medusa’s here in Chicago, it inspired and touched so many people. There was performance art, on the 3rd floor they had video and it was all alternative, nothing commercial - it was like Skinny Puppy, Rights of the Accused, The Cult, The Cure, Suzy and the Banshees all that stuff from the 80’s.

…I absolutely loved it - we got there and we danced from like 3 am til they closed which was like 11 in the morning. That placed stayed open until the last person left the dance floor. Some Saturday’s it would go til Noon - they didn’t care. That’s what made it so special. One guy, I remember came in in a complete fencing outfit. Mask, sword, everything. They had scaffolding on the dance floor so you can climb up and dance - I mean multi-levels of the best dancers in Chicago that would come every Saturday night just to dance. They didn’t serve any alcohol, but they had a juice bar. They didn’t sell cigarettes because the owner didn’t believe in them. It was wild, there’s been nothing like it since. The place was legendary, if you ask anyone over the age of 35 they’ll tell you it was a pretty crazy place. They would also have these performers in a glass cage and they would just perform in there. It was the most random thing, like two people sitting and having coffee for 6 hours. On Fridays it was more eclectic stuff and then on Saturday they had a DJ named Mark Stevens - he was incredible. Mark played such a variety of music and he could mix everything on beat, so you could be listening to a Michael Jackson track and the next thing would be by Cult and the next would be Marshall Jefferson and then Ministry. It was all over the board, but the way he programed his music was incredible. Actually I should’ve said that he was my second inspiration, just listening to him - it was magical.

I also miss Shelter. Shelter to me was the closest club in Chicago to a New York style club. Everyone went there for the music. It wasn’t about being seen, it wasn’t about bottle service, it wasn’t about hookin’ up - it was about you walk into the Shelter and the first thing you do is you walk on the dance floor and you would just dance your ass off for the next 6 hours. I don’t really know of any place like that anymore, the scene has changed so much - not better or worse, just different. I miss Crobar, it was just such a great place to just people watch. I mean you would see a guy in a suit standing next to a guy in a hula skirt. It was one of the most fun places. The owners of the place knew how to let their creative people do their thing. You could go in there at any given time - and you would walk into who knows whatever the theme of the month was. One time they did a theme called “Washing Machine” and they had laundry hanging all over the place. They had a gay night every Sunday and they had a theme called “Hard Labor” and they had a Jeep parked inside and camouflage and netting hung everywhere and the staff had to be all dressed up in military gear. I don’t see that anymore, I mean occasionally, but not that much. Karma too, that was another great space. The place that’s now called “Hydrate” used to be called Christopher Street and I loved Christopher Street - they had a video bar, a dance room and a main bar - it was just a great place to socialize.

LS: What djs inspire you currently? who would you like to collaborate with?

Teri: Two weeks ago I went to “Queen” at Smartbar on Sunday night, that’s a really fun gay party. Frankie Knuckles was spinning and he was unbelievable - he had everyone in that place smiling and dancing. If you weren’t on the floor dancing, you were off to the side of the dance floor bouncing. He inspires me and I would love to collaborate with him because he has been a DJ for probably 40 years and he is just phenomenal with house music. He produces a lot of vocalists, which I really like. I would also like to collaborate with Ralphi Rosario - he has a real latin feel to his music and I like that a lot. Outside of Chicago, the one person I’ve always wanted to collab with is Quincy Jones - that guy has worked with everybody and he knows everything about music. He probably produces a track a day or two tracks a day. He’s a very knowledgeable and very wise man based on all the interviews I’ve heard and seen of him. I don’t know a lot of female producers, I wish there were more female producers - but one is Colette. I really like her style.

LS: What’s the best city (outside of Chi, of course) that you’ve dj’d at?
Teri: New York or Miami. New York because the people that come out, they come to dance - they come for the scene. Miami is fun because the style is more latin-influenced, of course, and it’s touristy so you get people from all over the world which is really fun.

LS: Have you done a world tour?
Teri: I’ve played in a lot of cities in the United States, I’ve played outside of the United States quite a bit as well. I wouldn’t say I toured, but I’ve played in Poland a few times, Guatemala, Switzerland, Zurich, Basle, Baron, Lucerne, Puerto Rico, Mexico City. In the U.S. - I’ve played in every state. I love playing outside of the United States. I want to play in Ibiza because Danny Tenaglia, one of my favorite DJ’s, he retired about a year and a half ago. He’s coming out of retirement next summer and his coming out party is in Ibiza, so I want to be there for that.

LS: Was it difficult being in a relationship with another local DJ (Dj Psycho Bitch)?
Teri: DJ Psycho Bitch and I were together for 8 years, and I taught her how to DJ. She was actually one of my first inspirations because when she first heard me play at the Celebrity Club, she was also a cocktail waitress there so that’s how we met. She would come up to me and say, “You know what, you’re great and you’re gonna be a famous DJ. You need to get out of here and submit demo tapes…” I would look at her and think she was crazy. I thought the guys from Hot Mix 5 were great, and I couldn’t even mix beats.
Well, little did I know that you need pitch controls to mix beats, and I didn’t know that. I would try to do it with my finger [laughs] to speed the record up and slow it down. So she started coming every week to see and she would even bring me records. “Try this” and “try that,” she would say. I really liked her taste in music; so I did. One night, she asked me to take a ride with her on her motorcycle. She kinda scared me a little so I was like “Uh, I dunno.” She had a crazy mohawk, crazy makeup and a leather miniskirt - she intimidated me! She asked me every week for about a year until I finally said “Fine, if I take a ride with you and I like it then I’ll see you again, but if I don’t like it, you have to leave me alone forever.” She said “Done.” I hopped on her bike and we ended up going to Medusa’s - and that’s when I fell in love with the place. So since I promised her a second date, we went there again and again and that’s how we started dating. We would go to Medusa’s every Saturday and dance for hours. We would hang out all the time, became good friends, then we became each other’s girlfriend. She wanted to learn how to DJ, it took about 2 years to get her to match beats [laughs], but she finally got it. The whole time she was inspiring and encouraging me to go deeper and deeper into dj’ing. We actually had a lot of fun together and I never felt she was competing against me because the whole time she was always encouraging me. We really learned together. I’m so proud of her as a DJ because she has taken her career to such a level - she was voted by Chicago Tribune as the #1 DJ in Chicago. She has a huge following, and there are so many things that she has accomplished. I’m proud to be a small part of her becoming a DJ and what she’s accomplished in her career. If she hadn’t encouraged me like she did, I don’t even know if I would’ve even become a DJ because there were times that I got really frustrated and I wouldn’t get the job because I was a girl or they wouldn’t want to pay me - so I would get so frustrated with the whole scene. She would say, “Screw them, wait for the next opportunity.” She’s always been, I know this sounds cheesy, but the wind beneath my wings states it perfectly. She’s still my best friend.

LS: Any advice for other aspiring female LGBT DJ’s?
Teri: Be patient. Just be patient. I know DJ’s that have been dj’ing for 5-10 years so they feel entitled to play to a crowd. Things happen in their own time, don’t be so eager that you end up losing your integrity. Your opportunities will come and as long as you hold on to your integrity and your true to the music that you believe in, you’ll get many many opportunities. I’ve been a DJ for 30 years now, and in the beginning I felt like it was never gonna happen for me. My friend and mentor, Mark Stevens, once told me, “Just be professional and be respectful of people. Treat people kindly. Do your research, do your homework and understand that when you step into the public eye you’re not playing for yourself. It is a reflection of your taste, but you’re performing for someone who is paying you to do a service or a job.” So keeping that in mind, be respectful and be kind to people. Try not to get frustrated; I know it’s hard. Just be patient, and most of all - have fun. Enjoy the experience, don’t be so eager to get to the next point that you miss the experience. Every time you step behind that booth, it’s all about the moment and the experience. You are doing something that 100 people would give their left arm to do, a lot of times. There’s always people that you’re going to inspire, so be a good example, share your knowledge and enjoy it.

Teri Bristol is now a resident DJ at Parlour on Clark - one of the northside’s hottest LGBT bars - with a focus on lesbian nightlife on Fridays.

See Teri Bristol spin Motown this Friday!

November 9th from 10pm - 2am
Parlour on Clark - 6341 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL 60657

You May Also Like:

• The Beat Goes On with L.A. Chandler
• City Winery Chicago Presents Cathy Richardson with Special Guest Sami Grisafe
• Hannah Thomas is A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll

Back to blog