Introduction
Theo Parrish is a musician and selector based in Detroit, Michigan, often described as a 'techno/house' artist. He was born in Washington, DC. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois listening to jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Nina Simone, and George Gershwin. He graduated from the Chicago Academy of the Arts and went to study at the Kansas City Art Institute. While at KCAI, he concentrated on sound sculptures, creating sonic pieces by combining live instruments, human voices, and looped recordings. He received his BFA in 1994 and moved to Michigan to focus on musical projects.
He has recorded music under his own name as well as with Rick Wilhite, Marcellus Malik Pittman and Kenneth Dixon Jr as 3 Chairs. He also puts out releases on his record label, Sound Signature. Another aspect of Theo Parrish's productions are his re-edits, often of old disco, funk or soul records. He is almost as renowned for his expansive and genre-hopping live DJ sets as his productions, and played a monthly residency at the former London nightclub Plastic People.
Discography
Labels
- Sound Signature
- Ugly Edits
- Wildheart Recordings
Studio Albums
- First Floor (Peacefrog Records, 1998)
- Parallel Dimensions (Sound Signature, 2000)
- Sound Sculptures Volume 1 (Sound Signature, 2007)
- Et Tu Brute (Submerge Recordings, 2007)
- Sketches (Sound Signature, 2010)
- Black Jazz Signature (Snow Dog Records, 2013)
- American Intelligence (Sound Signature, 2014)