Terry Golden – Digital Workflow, Songwriting & The Road Ahead

Funktasy Magazine Exclusive Interview presents our one-on-one sit-down with Terry Golden, the Danish electronic artist known for his melody-driven sound, blending elements of melodic techno, house and trance into a distinctive signature style. With over 17 years in the industry, Terry opens up about his creative process, from building hook-driven tracks in MIDI to trusting instinct over perfection. We also dive into his latest collaboration “Could Be Loved” with Alexander Popov, exploring the balance of collaboration, songwriting and evolving into new sonic territory. Looking ahead, Terry Golden shares his perspective on staying ahead of the curve, the importance of originality in today’s music landscape and delivering unforgettable live experiences as he continues shaping his next chapter.

Do you work analog/ digital or hybrid?

Almost 100% digital guy. I do not play the piano well. I do play the guitar quite well, so I do know chords and notes and all that stuff. I do know which chords mix well together. I have my MIDI keyboards, Push 2 by Ableton. I use them to play around when I start a new track.

What is your approach to music creation?

The melodies are super important in my music. I usually start with the hook lines or the drops because you need something that the song can be remembered by. And the song can be remembered with a great vocal, but often you also need a cool hook line. I’m always thinking music, so at some point you get something stuck in your head, and then I know it’s time to put it on paper, so to speak. In my case, I put it in MIDI. I take the notes from my head and punch them into my MIDI keyboard and then start working from there. I think it’s always important to remember that it will never be perfect. There’s always something you can improve. At some point, you will say to yourself, “This is cool,” and then you should just accept it’s done.

In your latest release, Story of the Skull, what kind of technology and new techniques did you experiment with?

Yeah, the new track Could Be Loved with Alexander Popov, that’s a nice one, a special project actually. It’s the closest to pop music I’ve ever done. It’s different when you do a collab with Alexander or anybody. Obviously, you need to compromise a little bit from yourself and create space for the other artist. It’s so easy today when you just put some stems or say, “Hey, listen to this.” We use WhatsApp a lot and just send ideas back and forth. The vocal part got a little bit of help from AI, but most of the lyrics I actually wrote, and then we got a nice vocalist to sing it for us. So that’s the different part of the process for Could Be Loved, and I think the learning part of this is that two is always better than one.

With 15 years of experience under your belt, what were the contributing factors that developed your signature sound?

You say 15 years—that’s actually not true. It’s 17 years in the industry, so I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. I went to a Tiësto concert in 2008, a Denmark concert, a big stadium show, and it was my first really big interaction with electronic music. Luckily, I went, and I just remember looking and listening to these incredible tunes and saying, “I want to do that.” I was thinking I would make some great mixes, and obviously I’ll get my inbox full of bookings. The music business has evolved that much. You need to be your own brand. You need to create your own sound. You need to create your own music. My sound is like a mixture of the genres I really enjoy—resonant house, melodic techno, and some trance. When I started doing this, it was not really very common. So now, these days—actually 2025–2026—you hear many big artists doing exactly the same as I’m doing. So you could say I was a little bit ahead of time. I’ll take credit for that.

Tell us about your live sets; how do you dominate the dancefloor?

Yeah, live. I’m happy you asked me that question because that’s the whole reason why I do music. I really enjoy playing live, to stand in front of a crowd. And I really don’t care if it’s 200 people or 5,000 people, as long as the people are there enjoying the music and I can connect with them. I want to give them something special, something they can remember me by. So I tend to play a lot of my own music in my live sets. 80% at least. The music you play should not be Shazamable on your phone—if you’re doing that, then you know you’ve got something special. I do understand that it’s a difficult line to cross for many DJs. You see them all the time, not really looking up, not really interacting with the crowd. It’s probably because they’re super nervous. I understand that. I’m lucky because I don’t really get nervous. I get excited, anxious to go play, but not nervous. I just really enjoy being in front of a crowd.

Thanks for having me, Funktasy. It was a pleasure. Terry Golden out.