Buck 65's been around for awhile. In fact, just last year he released his album 20 Odd Years---an eclectic mix of hip-hop, rock and folk---commemorating his 20th anniversary as a musician.
But after more than two decades of performing, Richard Terfry still can't shake that uneasy feeling he gets when he jumps up on stage---especially in front of a home crowd.
"It still doesn't feel natural. I just feel like I've had enough experience and I've had enough time to think about it that I've come up with some sort of game plan," he says.
Returning to his old stomping grounds to perform at Reflections Cabaret on Friday, Mt. Uniacke's Terfry says he's happy to be back. But the iconic Canadian artist says there's a different feeling that goes along with playing back home. "I guess maybe the best way I can explain it is that I go out there and I don't really perform as Buck 65. I go out there and just perform as a regular old guy," says Terfry.
He says it's impossible to perform as anything but himself in Halifax, because it brings back all the memories from before he had a career, like living in a dingy apartment and going to art openings at NSCAD to eat free cookies (the only way he could eat at the time). And with a crowd that knew him before he was famous, he thinks the audience knows that deep down, he's really an introverted guy.
Terfry says he's developed a bit of a persona, if not to craft some sort of image, then to help him through those hour-and-a-half performances. "It's felt like almost a survival tactic or a defense mechanism to allow me to do a very extroverted thing---getting up on stage in front of a bunch of people and performing."
But when he's back in Halifax, he's conscientious about that stage identity. He doesn't want people to see through it. "I guess it must means that I think about it. It becomes way more of a weird, existential thing than it would be to play anywhere else," says Terfry. "Maybe it's worth it---that's what it comes down to, is that there are so many rewards that make being a little bit uncomfortable from time to time totally worth it." --Sarah Mateshaytis
