Terfry is also a host at CBC Radio 3, with hosting a program on the CBC Radio 3 website's web radio station during weekdays. In addition, he will be the host of the weekday 3-6pm CBC Radio 2 show beginning in the fall of 2008.
Early career and influences
Terfry was born in 1972 and raised in Mount Uniacke, a rural community outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 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, the young Terfry taught himself how to rap, DJ, and, later, to produce records. His musical influences include MC Shan, David Lynch, Gitche Manitou, and Kool Keith.
Using the moniker DJ Critical, he later hosted a hip-hop show on CKDU called "The Bassment" (later renamed "The Treatment Program", when he assumed the stage name Jesus Murphy), which aired for several years. This period overlapped with many of his non-major-label releases.
Stage Names
Buck 65 has also used a number of other stage names including Johnny Rockwell, 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 weight of the first buck he shot or the $1.65 standard bus fare for Halifax Regional Municipality riders. He has been known to say on stage, "They call me Buck 65... I don't know why." 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 was scheduled for release early 2007 but the date was not set.
The first release under Dirk Thornton will be a 7" single with the tracks "Yesterday's News" and "Catwalk".
He is also involved in an online collaboration with "Greetings From Tuskan" auteur Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê, as Bike For Three, though a release is yet unforthcoming.
Early releases
In 1993, he released his first cassette of rap tunes 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)
After a brief break, Terfry returned reconstituted as Buck 65, releasing Language Arts on cassette and the 12" single Wildlife Trilogy, followed by 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 apparel, and song lyrics for the popular children's program Sesame Street. During a live performance Buck 65 told a story in which he attributed why he was chosen for Sesame Street to three things; his upstanding lifestyle of not drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, his intelligence that wasn't too intelligent for the kids, and Sesame Street's assumption that he was a virgin.
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 in manipulating the Technics 1200 turntable.
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. While Buck 65 has gained critical acclaim 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. However after V2 chose not to release his next effort, Secret House Against the World, the deal was amicably dissolved. Since then Buck 65 was signed onto Strange Famous Records where he's planning on taking over hip-hop with Sage Francis. His latest release is titled "Situation".
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. 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 Pamela Anderson.
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:
“I now hate hip hop, the more I’ve educated myself about music, the more I’ve grown to hate it. I don’t use that word lightly, either.”
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."
Buck later wrote in a letter to Exclaim!:
“I’m apologizing for all that. I lost my cool on tape which is never good. The journalist was provoking me, calling me a sell-out and a whore. I was trying to make a point by playing devil’s advocate, but I went way overboard. No hint of irony or role-playing or intelligence came across in the story. Now I just look like an idiot. I take it back. I don’t really believe any of that. I don’t think being able to read music is a concern. Most of my favourite music was made by non-educated musicians. It doesn’t matter. I still have heavy criticisms of most hip hop, but I really didn’t make them well on this particular day. I put my foot in my mouth and I’m apologizing for that."
Dirty Work
Buck 65 released 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 the full length record 'Situation'.
Situation to present
Buck 65 released the album Situation on October 30th, 2007, on Strange Famous Records in the US and Warner Music worldwide. The album is a concept album based around the year 1957, and is a return to a more 'pure' hip-hop sound than the previous blues, country and avant-garde influences in Secret House Against the World. It was produced by fellow Halifax DJ Skratch Bastid, aimed at making a "classic hip-hop record that pulses with joy and clarity of purpose".
Buck 65 is currently working on a new album which, judging from live material, will feature much more prominent electronic beats than before. Additionally, Buck 65's collaboration project with "Greetings From Tuskan" auteur Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê, Bike for Three!, has its debut album completed for release in early 2009.
He has been a host of CBC Radio 3's web radio for the past year, and recently accepted daily hosting duties on CBC Radio 2's national radio beginning fall 2008.
Cold Steel Drum
Buck 65 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Life here is getting mad without you,
The sun is hot and I can feel your heart beating
Like a cold steel drum of the winter
Overall, overall the land that spreads across there
Seasons and I'm still waiting for you...
Bring me back to love's surrender.
True desire, through the fire,
It all came right down to the wire
The way we came together and the way we split,
Man, we've been through some crazy shit...
Baby I know, you don't need me holding
Back my heart now,
I've got the feeling that it's getting stronger anyhow,
Won't you come along to the places that I wander,
I've got to get back, we can learn from each other,
[Refrain (x2)]
True desire, through the fire,
It all came right down to the wire
The way we came together and the way we split,
Man, we've been through some crazy shit...
Bring me back... Bring me back...
Bring me back... Bring me back... to love's surrender.
Who could have guessed it would ever go
As deep as this?
Singing without voice, amnesia and sleeplessness,
Hunter goes quietly, distance seduced you,
Windows that don't open, it's hard to get used to,
The other shoe drops with a dutiful thud,
Your eyes on the door and your beautiful blood,
Overcast skies that are permanent and ominous,
Hopper-esque hotel rooms and the anonymous,
Already I find myself alone,
And my mind wanders into the unknown,
Counting the seconds and vowing the thirds,
I sped through space with the rapidity of words,
The worse kind of wounds don't even break the skin,
I hope I never make the same mistake again,
Memories and scars that I intend to keep,
Wounded and ruined, I only pretend to sleep.
The song "Cold Steel Drum" by Buck 65 is a melancholic reflection on lost love and the subsequent fallout. The opening lines set the mood, with the singer expressing through colorful metaphors the intense heartache he is feeling without his lover. The metaphor of the "cold steel drum of winter" is particularly striking, as it evokes both the painful coldness of loss and the frenzied beat of a drum. The singer longs to be reunited with his beloved, whom he still harbors feelings for.
The refrain of the song, repeated twice, talks about the intensity of the emotions involved in the failed relationship. It's clear that the couple experienced some dramatic ups and downs, going through "crazy shit" together before ultimately separating. The singer expresses regret over the relationship's end and the missed opportunities for love he feels. The song finishes on a plaintive note, with the singer echoing his earlier plea to be brought back to love's surrender.
Line by Line Meaning
I lay it down for you, in black and blue,
I express my emotions for you vividly, both happiness and sadness.
Life here is getting mad without you,
Life has become chaotic and unbearable without you.
The sun is hot and I can feel your heart beating
The summer is intense and I can sense your presence within me.
Like a cold steel drum of the winter
My heart is as cold and hard as a steel drum that reminds me of winter.
Overall, overall the land that spreads across there
The world is universal and vast.
Seasons and I'm still waiting for you...
Although time has changed, I am still waiting for you.
Bring me back to love's surrender.
Take me back to the time when we surrendered to love.
True desire, through the fire,
We had strong desire, and we fought through challenging hurdles.
It all came right down to the wire
The outcome was uncertain until the very end.
The way we came together and the way we split,
Our relationship had a dramatic start and end.
Man, we've been through some crazy shit...
We have faced and overcome a lot of challenges.
Baby I know, you don't need me holding
I understand that you don't want me to hold you back.
Back my heart now,
I won't hide my emotions anymore.
I've got the feeling that it's getting stronger anyhow,
My desire for you is increasing even without your presence.
Won't you come along to the places that I wander,
Join me in my journey through life.
I've got to get back, we can learn from each other,
I need to come back and we can gain knowledge from one another.
Who could have guessed it would ever go
No one could have foreseen the depth of our relationship.
As deep as this?
How profound and intense our feelings are?
Singing without voice, amnesia and sleeplessness,
I am singing silently, oblivious to the current moment, and sleepless.
Hunter goes quietly, distance seduced you,
The hunter departed silently, and the distance pulled you away from me.
Windows that don't open, it's hard to get used to,
The closed windows are challenging to adapt to.
The other shoe drops with a dutiful thud,
The next tragedy happens with a dull sound.
Your eyes on the door and your beautiful blood,
Your eyes fixed on the door and your stunning existence.
Overcast skies that are permanent and ominous,
The constant and threatening clouds above.
Hopper-esque hotel rooms and the anonymous,
Rooms similar to the art by Edward Hopper, and the mysterious people in them.
Already I find myself alone,
I am already isolated.
And my mind wanders into the unknown,
My thoughts drift to unfamiliar territories.
Counting the seconds and vowing the thirds,
I am counting and taking an oath for a long time.
I sped through space with the rapidity of words,
I moved quickly, similar to the speed of my words.
The worse kind of wounds don't even break the skin,
The most painful injuries aren’t visible on the surface.
I hope I never make the same mistake again,
I don't want to repeat the same mistake.
Memories and scars that I intend to keep,
I want to preserve both memories and emotional damage.
Wounded and ruined, I only pretend to sleep.
I am harmed and ruined, but I pretend to be asleep nonetheless.
Contributed by Lucy B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
DarkDreamer777
65 is a legend...first heard centaur when i was 14, Buck became one of my fav hip hop artists then
ipi223
legend
Gwen Nehou
Il prend au tripes, ce titre comme beaucoup d'autres de ce type, Buck 65 qui mérite vraiment d'être connu!! Il arrache!!
BrodyYYC
"the worst kind of wounds don't even break the skin"
I'm so lucky to have seen him live a dozen times going right back to my final year of high school!
Danielle Fernandez
beautiful are you both. New video releases are always apreciated! thank you rich!
Kristi f
LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!
jonathan aiglon
je la trouve sublime.....
raena steeves
saw them at Harvest Jazz and Blues in Fredericton. They were SOOO Amazing!
CryptoJesus
Similar to other guys i was into the underground throughout the entirety of my teenhood. It's a really good duet, dj with big mouth 65 + traditional indy babe is a good combo. Ive shared it to my facebook friends but i don't think they have ears like me hahaha
CryptoJesus
whoops on my bros act its john.