Biography
Known as Brother JT or John Terlesky, this singer, songwriter, and guitarist merges classic psychedelic pop ingredients with distinctive, often spiritually inclined lyrics while building an extensive and memorable catalog, most of it tracked inside his private home studio. Solo releases tend to stay intimate and restrained, yet partnerships with Vibrolux regularly produce a more amplified, rock-focused iteration of the same aesthetic. Between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s Terlesky performed with Philadelphia garage-rock band Original Sins; Vibrolux itself incorporates players from other regional, psychedelically oriented outfits, among them Art Difuria of the Photon Band, who has also collaborated with Kurt Heasley of the Lilys.
Brother JT’s first album, Music for the Other Head, surfaced in 1996 and presented his acid-tinged, wide-ranging approach; later the same year Drunken Fish Records, then home to kindred sonic explorers Bardo Pond, issued Rainy Day Fun. Come on Down followed on the same label in 1997, the same year the Brother JT/Vibrolux set Doomsday Rock appeared on Terlesky’s own Bedlam imprint. In 1998 he released Holy Ghost Stories and performed at the space/psych-rock gathering Terrastock II; 1999 brought both the live collection Dosed & Confused: Live ’94-’97 and the studio album Way to Go. Throughout the 2000s JT sustained his blues-inflected, hard-to-classify explorations: Badman issued 2002’s Maybe We Should Take Some More?, recorded at Philadelphia’s Living Room studio, while Drag City put out that year’s Spirituals. Working with producer Dan McKinney he delivered the comparatively direct 2003 album Hang in There, Baby, then moved toward a softer, largely acoustic stance on 2004’s Off Blue.
He resurfaced in 2007 with Third Ear Candy, whose title matched its playful, funky psychedelic atmosphere. Jelly Roll Gospel arrived in 2008, followed by four further Ouroboros releases: Any Stort in a Porm (2010), Non Compos Mantis (2011), and the 2012 pair Smash Crack-Up Pop and This Mud’s for You. The Svelteness of Boogietude came out on Thrill Jockey in May 2013. Summersteps Records offered the limited cassette-only Lo Bias High Noise in 2014, and a 2015 team-up with Ouroboros yielded On High. JT returned to Thrill Jockey with 2018’s Tornado Juice—its title drawn from Terlesky’s private term for LSD—recorded at Magic Door Studio in Montclair, New Jersey, with extra overdubs completed on his own digital setup.
Brother JT’s first album, Music for the Other Head, surfaced in 1996 and presented his acid-tinged, wide-ranging approach; later the same year Drunken Fish Records, then home to kindred sonic explorers Bardo Pond, issued Rainy Day Fun. Come on Down followed on the same label in 1997, the same year the Brother JT/Vibrolux set Doomsday Rock appeared on Terlesky’s own Bedlam imprint. In 1998 he released Holy Ghost Stories and performed at the space/psych-rock gathering Terrastock II; 1999 brought both the live collection Dosed & Confused: Live ’94-’97 and the studio album Way to Go. Throughout the 2000s JT sustained his blues-inflected, hard-to-classify explorations: Badman issued 2002’s Maybe We Should Take Some More?, recorded at Philadelphia’s Living Room studio, while Drag City put out that year’s Spirituals. Working with producer Dan McKinney he delivered the comparatively direct 2003 album Hang in There, Baby, then moved toward a softer, largely acoustic stance on 2004’s Off Blue.
He resurfaced in 2007 with Third Ear Candy, whose title matched its playful, funky psychedelic atmosphere. Jelly Roll Gospel arrived in 2008, followed by four further Ouroboros releases: Any Stort in a Porm (2010), Non Compos Mantis (2011), and the 2012 pair Smash Crack-Up Pop and This Mud’s for You. The Svelteness of Boogietude came out on Thrill Jockey in May 2013. Summersteps Records offered the limited cassette-only Lo Bias High Noise in 2014, and a 2015 team-up with Ouroboros yielded On High. JT returned to Thrill Jockey with 2018’s Tornado Juice—its title drawn from Terlesky’s private term for LSD—recorded at Magic Door Studio in Montclair, New Jersey, with extra overdubs completed on his own digital setup.
Albums
