#he probably had a small thought to put a tracker on tyler out of the possibility he might be a hyde

[maxintime]

I don't know if im fucking stupid or what but my mind just clicked after reading a fanfic that donovan has a tracker on tyler this whole time

And the fact that he never even thought about maybe idk using it to see where tyler's been this whole time when he mysteriously disappeared every now and then? He could've used it to find out the location of the cave tyler's been held in. The whole thing really could've been prevented if he really just paid some attention to his son but nope

Also, what's even worse is if he knew the whole time but completely ignored it

[ebdaydreamer]

The Old Team

For Doomsday Month. @doctorroseprompts ‘ Jack, as a member of Torchwood Three, finds out what’s going on at Canary Wharf and warns the Doctor, who fixes it earlier’

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Rose/Ten

Warnings: N/A

A/N: Still completely unedited and un-beta’d. This one is a lot longer and doesn’t focus much on what happens in Doomsday but it’s my first time writing Jack and this is what came to mind.

[AO3]

The Doctor was bored. Very bored. Dangerously bored. It wasn’t unusual for them to stay a week at her mum’s, but the fact she spent every second with her was clearly driving him bananas. Jackie had banned him from tinkering around the flat long ago, and for some reason he wasn’t going back to the TARDIS during the day.She could kinda understand: since they both stopped being idiots about their feelings they’d spent very little time apart, and it was worse after their trip to the Krop Tor. Hell, she didn’t think he’d been more than six feet away from her since then - not that she blamed him; not that she was protesting.

But the day before they were due to leave suddenly got very interesting.

“Would you one of you get the bloody door?” Jackie called from the shower, in response to the very loud knocking.

Sighing, Rose untangled herself from the Doctor and opened the door, freezing when she saw who was on the other side.

“If it isn’t Rose Tyler?” the American voice she hadn’t heard in nearly a year cooed.

Rose gaped, “Jack? How-” Before she could say anything else, she was swept up into a big hug.

“God, is it good to see you!” he cheered, setting her down. “So, where is he?”

The Doctor chose that moment to step forward and the men regarded each other reservedly.

“Doctor,” Jack nodded.

“Captain,” he replied.

“Good to see you,” Jack stated, though a little coldly, and Rose felt her head spinning trying to figure out what the hell was going on or if she’s just having an insane dream.

“And you,” the Doctor returned, jaw clenched in what appeared to be discomfort, though he was putting on a brave face. “Same as ever. Although…” he squinted, and Rose tried to focus on what was probably the most normal thing to happen in the past two minutes, “have you had work done?”

Jack's face dropped completely. “You can talk!”

The Doctor looked mildly confused, and Rose finally found some words that weren’t incoherent questions. “Your face, Doctor. You’ve regenerated.”

“Oh!” he nodded vigorously. “Yes, right. Thanks, love.”

Jack raised a brow at her, but swiftly turned back to the Doctor. “Care to tell me why you abandoned me on that Game Station ankle deep in Dalek dust?”

“Abandoned?” Rose turned round on the Doctor. “You said he chose to stay behind! You said he was rebuilding the Earth!”

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes, well, right, I suppose I should explain.”

“Please do, unless you’re not planning on sleeping tonight.”

*

So the Doctor explained everything: what happened to Jack, how it happened, why he left and why it couldn’t be reversed (he and Rose had spoke briefly about Bad Wolf already).

“Jack… I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“Hey,” he said, wrapping an arm around her. “It’s ok, Rosie. You saved me because you actually care about my worthless ass - that, that means a lot to me.” He handed her a tissue as tears leaked down her face. “I was mad about him leaving, and I just wanted answers.”

“How did you find us?” the Doctor piped up.

Jack slung his bag off is back. “With this.”

It hit the table with a loud thud, making Jackie look up from where she was making tea, “Oi! Watch it!”

“Sorry,” Jack winced, but everyone had become entranced by his package.

“Oh my god...is that?”

“That’s mine!”

Jackie stared at him. “‘S what?”

“My hand!” the Doctor squeaked. “What do you think you’re doing, running around with Time Lord DNA like that?”

“It’s my Doctor-tracker.”

“I’m sorry, how is THAT your hand? Was it left over from big ears?”

“What?” Rose tore her eyes away from the hand in a jar, “from Christmas Day?”

“How did you even get the technology for that?” the Doctor asked, pulling his brainy specs on and studying the jar.

“I have a team,” Jack began ominously. “We’re part of an organisation called Torchwood. We’re Torchwood Three.”

“Hang on, where have I heard that before?” Rose pondered.

The Doctor glanced at her, “That house in Scotland, that was called Torchwood.” He turned back to Jack, “Who are they? How come I’ve never heard of them?”

“My team’s only small,” Jack explained, “we’re a little...kinder than Torchwood One. Their motto ‘if it’s alien, it’s ours’, and they seemed to be pretty interested in you, Doc.”

“Well,” Rose butted in, “if the whole organisation is based off the time we made Queen Victoria not amused.”

The Doctor chuckled, “I still owe you that tenner.”

“Anyway,” Jack interrupted, “they’re up to something, I can tell. I need your help looking into to them. Whaddya say? The ol’ team back together?”

*

“Idiots, absolute idiot’s!” the Doctor ranted as they slumped into Jackie’s flat, chips in hand. “‘Ghost shifts’ - what the hell is that? In what universe is that a good idea?”

“I mean, I kinda see the appeal,” Jack replied, munching on a chip, “But stupid to mess with things they don’t understand. I’m just glad we sent those few Cybermen and that ship back into the void before anything else unwanted could get through.”

“What do you reckon was in there, Doctor?” Rose asked, one hand in his, the other stuffing more chips into her mouth.

“Dunno,” he shrugged. “Could’ve been anything - likely nothing good.” He paused, eyes glazing over in thought. “Still; gone now.”

“Torchwood One is done for after that,” Jack grinned. “Me and my team should get a bit more freedom now - and we’re gonna do it in your honour, Doc.”

The Doctor smirked, trying to come off as smug, but Rose knew he was actually chuffed.

“So you’re not gonna come with us then, Jack?”

“I’m sure the TARDIS has saved your room,” the Doctor added. “I quite fancy near future, say...London 2012 Olympics?”

He shook his head, “Nah, my team need me. Besides, I have two very good reasons for not coming with you.”

The Doctor raised a brow challengingly, “Oh really?”

Jack beamed cockily, “Oh yeah. One: I’m not willing to risk the TARDIS being in a strop with me because of the whole fixed point thing.”

“Jack, I’m sor-”

“You better be, Rosie, ‘cause two:” he raised a brow scandalously, “Jackie tells me you two are loud.”

They both blushed crimson.

“Oh! And I don’t know how many times I can take my offer to join being rudely rejected.”

He got hit with several pillows and chip wrappers.

[imapotatoalways]

My story ish- It’s your 21st birthday. The only recognition you receive are some texts from the few friends you have left from high school. At the end of senior year it was an averagely large group of people. Slowly, everyone’s necklaces started to heat up. Each friend, a different instance. Your one friend Alyssa found her soul made during graduation. After everyone threw their caps in the air, someone’s brother accidentally ran into her. A small sizzle, only she could hear, burned a tiny scar on her neck. Slowly she looked up into the golden eyes of her soulmate. That began the domino effect of losing friends. Every year someone else got a tiny scar on their neck were the silent sizzle burned a mark. When they found their significant other, they started to drift away from the group. Now you’re left with your oldest friends you’ve had since elementary school. You look down at your neck, your necklace cold as ice, per usual. A notification pops up on your phone. Probably just another happy birthday from a fake friend. Flipping over the phone, you get up to start your day. After an hour you finally check the list of notifications that scroll down your page. One stood out. Tyler. Your internet best friend since the 8th grade. It’s been a while since you last talked. Excitedly you open his text. Expecting a basic happy birthday text, your face changes. He’s in your city. A surprise birthday visit. You jump and scream with joy. Through all of your excitement, you don’t notice the little amount your necklace heated up. You immediately plan to meet at your favorite cafe after work. The end of the day comes and you can barely hold down your energy. Racing out of the office, you run towards the cafe. There are many couples sitting down, and it immediately hurts your mood. It’s 5pm so the place is busy. Constant flow of people pushing you around. This time you notice, a small jolt of heat warms up the odd shape hanging around your neck. At first you don’t know what it meant, then it dawned on you. Tyler appears in your vision and the necklace’s temperature keeps going up. You race towards him. The second you hug, you a small sizzle burns a mark on your chest. You peer into his eyes, then focus your attention on his necklace. There isn’t a chain around his neck. Tyler notices your puzzled look, then realizes why. “I was never born with one. I guess I’m meant to be alone forever.” But, how? And why did yours burn. Then it turned to ice, yet again. You try to brush off the thought. The only way it can burn you is if you touch them. It was pretty busy on the sidewalk where you met, but you can’t remember touching anyone at the same time as your hug. As you reach for your wallet to check the amount of cash, it’s gone. The empty space in your purse glares at you. This isn’t good. Luckily, you put a tracker in it. Tyler helps you run around town looking for it. As you follow the small dot on the map on your phone, the necklace heats up every step closer. Could the thief really be your soulmate? Finally you point to someone and Tyler punches the guy to the ground. You wail out in terror, and confusion struck his face. Both of them. You walk over and touch the man on the ground. Dead silent, a small sizzle was heard through his shirt.

[ofstormsandwolves]

Voice Mail

Five times Jackie Tyler left a message on Rose's phone, and one time she didn't.

Teen

Third section dialogue taken from the Big Finish 10th Doctor Adventures volume 2 Audio Trailer

Read on AO3 (account needed) | Whofic 

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

“Hi! You’ve reached Rose’s phone! I can’t speak right now-”

Jackie Tyler sighed, and braced herself to speak with her daughter’s answer phone rather than her daughter herself. As Rose’s cheerful message ended and the beep sounded, Jackie plastered on a strained smile and spoke.

“Hi, sweetheart. Just wanted to see how you are. I know you didn’t leave that long ago, only a couple of days. But it’s been quiet round here without you.” She paused. “Not had any more aliens in my kitchen, so I’ll take that as a good sign. An’ I hope that alien of yours is treatin’ you right. He is feeding you, isn’t he? Nothing alien? ‘Cause if he is, you can always come home. There’s always room for you here, love.” She paused. “Phone me later, sweetheart. Love you. Bye.”

As she ended the call, Jackie bit her lip. It had been just days since Rose had returned, after no contact for an entire year, and within twenty-four hours she’d been gone again. Vanished, once more, with that bloke with the leather jacket. The Doctor, Jackie knew he was called now. The Doctor. She wasn’t sure about him.

Rose seemed infatuated.

Well, she must be if she forgot to phone. In all her years, Rose had never forgot to contact Jackie if she was staying out late. Even if it was a quick text or a drunken phone call as she slurred out an “‘m stayin’ at Mickey’s, Mum. See ya tomorrow!” She had always let her know.

Even when she’d started dating Jimmy Stone, she’d called after gigs, half-giggling in a taxi back to Jimmy’s place, hurriedly ending the call when he got a bit too frisky and she a bit too giggly. There’d been a brief period of time, when she’d lived with Jimmy, when Rose and Jackie hadn’t been in contact. But that hadn’t been due to a lack of remembering, it had been due to the row.

She’d been far too young to move out, just sixteen, but Rose had been adamant. Of course, by seventeen Rose was talking to her again, and by eighteen Rose had moved back home. Jimmy hadn’t been as great as he’d promised, and had dumped Rose for someone else, left her in debt, moved on with his life.

Jackie had seen it coming, of course. Rose had told her over half-whispered phone conversations late at night about how Jimmy seemed distant, how there were secret texts and phone calls he didn’t think she knew about. How he was hardly ever at their flat anymore, and whenever he was he mostly ignored her.

But despite all that, despite Rose’s perilous teenage years, and the arguments, and the late nights Rose had spent clubbing with Shareen and Keisha, there had always been contact.

That was, of course, until the Doctor.

~0~0~

Jackie glanced at her mobile as it lay on the kitchen worktop. She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t.

The kettle had finished boiling, and she distracted herself for a minute or so as she made her tea. But as she returned the milk to the fridge, the phone once more caught her eye. She glanced towards the kitchen door, almost like a child worried at being caught by their mother- and wasn’t there irony there, Jackie realised- before snatching up the phone and thumbing through the contacts. The phone on the other end began to ring.

She balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she fished the teabag out of her mug. She was half-watching the clock out of the corner of her eye, knowing she shouldn’t panic, but unable to help it.

Ever since they’d used that tow truck to rip open the TARDIS, ever since Rose- and that damned blue box- had disappeared from her life, Jackie had been in a state of perpetual half-panic.

Had Rose truly been telling the truth about meeting Pete? It had taken Jackie some time to get her head around it, to accept that Rose wouldn’t make something like that up, but for her to be the person to hold his hand while she was dying? Jackie Tyler was beginning to suspect she didn’t know half of what Rose experienced travelling with the Doctor, and frankly, she didn’t think she wanted to know.

What sort of life was that for a nineteen year old? To meet her Dad and hold his hand while he died? To have to walk away from him, leave him, already knowing his fate, even before the ambulance arrived? To have to live with that, for the rest of her life, knowing how her Dad died, seeing her Dad die in front of her?

Couldn’t the Doctor have done something?

Rose always said he was impressive. If he was that impressive, couldn’t he have spared Rose that pain? Had she asked to see her father die? Surely not. Jackie was adamant at that. Not her little girl. Not Rose.

She didn’t want her daughter to have gone through that.

Surely the Doctor could have saved him?

“Hi, you’ve reached Rose. I can’t answer the phone right now, but- Doctor, stop it! Doctor!-”

Jackie rolled her eyes at the giggly message of her daughter’s voice mail, and instead began to leave a message.

“Hiya love, just ringing up to see how you are! And himself, I suppose. Don’t suppose you know when you’ll be back next? Not long till Christmas, you know, an’ I wanted to know how much food to get...” She trailed off, smile fading. There was no one to see it, anyway. “Anyway, just give me a ring when you’re free. Love you.” Almost as a last thought, she added: “Be safe.”

She hung up then, sagging against the kitchen counter, phone still in hand and a drawn expression on her face. She should have expected it, really. There’d been no word, not in the eight days since the TARDIS had vanished. No word from either the Doctor or Rose.

But they were both alright.

Weren’t they?

~0~0~

Jackie Tyler bit her lip, tapped her foot, stared out the window. The phone against her ear rang and rang and rang.

The grounds outside were deserted, the stretch of grass that was usually covered with children playing, teenagers smoking, people walking their dog, was entirely empty. The estate didn’t look great at the best of times, but now, when it was so devoid of human life, it looked downright terrifying.

The phone was still ringing. Oh, of course her daughter wouldn’t answer her phone. Of course not. If there was one thing that would distract Rose enough to not answer her phone it was that damn Time Lord. Even more so since he’d changed his face.

“Hello! You’ve reached Rose’s phone!”

Jackie frowned at the voice. Instead of her daughter’s, it was the Doctor’s. Cheerful and exuberant, she could practically hear the grin in his voice.

“She can’t answer the phone right now, but leave a message after the beep and she’ll probably ring you back. We-ell, I say probably. Maybe. She’ll maybe ring you back. At some point-”

She rolled her eyes. Only the Doctor could babble in an answer phone message. But then there was the beep and she was hurrying to leave her message.

“Hello Rose, it’s your Mum,” Jackie announced, and she sounded cheerier than she felt. She surveyed the skies beyond her window a little warily as she spoke, fiddling with her necklace with her free hand. “Sorry to call. I know you’re busy fighting evil lobsters, or something, but when you get this, if you can pop round to Marge’s, in Norwich. You know, Karen’s mum. I’d really appreciate that. We’ve sort of been... We’ve sort of been invaded.” She took a deep breath at that, before once more forcing a cheery tone. “Alright, great! Love you! Speak soon. Bye!”

And as Jackie Tyler ended the call, she glanced worriedly through the window as the alien creatures swept across the Powell Estate.

~0~0~  

Once she’d returned to the flat, calmed down a little, and recovered from the absolute humiliation that Elton hadn’t been interested in her-

and why would he be, the little voice at the back of her mind said. Why would he be interested in you? Look at you. Of course he was only after the Doctor and Rose. Why would anyone show an interest in you?

-Jackie Tyler knew what she had to do. This man was after the Doctor. He’d had a photo of Rose in his pocket, Jackie had let him into the flat, he’d seen photos of Rose when she was little, postcards she’d brought back from trips with the Doctor, gifts from right across the universe. He wasn’t to be trusted, that much Jackie was sure of, and so she was absolutely certain that what she had to do was call the Doctor and Rose.

But oh god, what if he’d bugged the flat, like in one of those spy movies? What if he was like James Bond with all those weird little gadgets and hidden cameras and stuff? Did he have a bloke with a computer watching Jackie’s every move? Tapping her phone? Jackie blanched. He hadn’t put a camera in the bathroom, had he? Pervert.

A hurried search of the small bathroom revealed no hidden cameras or microphones, but Jackie did recover two old hair bobbles and some hair clips from down the back of the toilet. God knew how long they’d been there; Jackie was fairly certain they were Rose’s from when she was about fifteen.

But the bathroom checked and the fear of hidden cameras and microphones still fresh in her mind, Jackie Tyler made her way through her flat. Her room- and Rose’s room- seemed to be clean; as did the hallway cupboard (you could never be too careful; she’d seen James Bond. She’d seen the weird gadgets those people had). The kitchen, again, didn’t throw up anything suspicious, although Jackie eyed her washing machine warily. Had he bugged it? Was there a microphone? A tracker?

She couldn’t move the washing machine to check behind it, though, try as she might, so she decided to hope for the best and assume Elton hadn’t bugged the washing machine. When, finally, she’d pulled every cushion off the sofa and chair too, Jackie finally began to accept that maybe Elton wasn’t a spy.

And then she took in the carnage. The flat was a mess. Things tossed haphazardly everywhere. The mantelpiece cleared of photos and trinkets to check the backs of frames for cameras and microphones, the sofa and chair shoved out of their usual spots to check beneath them. Things from the hallway cupboard in piles up the hallway.

Jackie let out a shuddering breath and sank into the armchair. Before she really knew what she was doing, the phone was in her hand, grabbed from where she’d left it before Elton had gone for takeaway, and she was dialling Rose’s number.

“Hello! You’ve reached Rose’s phone! She can’t answer the phone right now, but leave a message after the beep and she’ll probably ring you back-”

When the Doctor’s silly message had finally ended, Jackie drew in a shuddering breath.

“Hiya, sweetheart. I know I only spoke to you a while ago, but I need to speak to you about something. Well,” she took a breath. “I need to speak to the Doctor. You’re not safe, Rose. You an’ him. I’ve... I’ve had a bloke round. Been coming round for weeks. I thought... I thought he liked me. But he had a photo of you, love, and he was after the Doctor.”

She paused, took a moment to steady herself again.

“I saw him off. Told him where to go. But you and the Doctor need to know, because I don’t think he’s working alone. And... And I’m scared. For both of you.” Tears were streaming, unbidden, down her cheeks then. “I don’t know what he wants with either of you, but he was looking for you, and it can’t be good, or he’d have told me. Oh Rose! I’m so sorry! I let him in the flat, invited him round... I thought he liked me-”

And then Jackie’s hysterical message was cut off. She’d used up her time. The answer phone had stopped recording. She swallowed, ending the call and setting the phone down.

~0~0~

Jackie Tyler was pacing the nursery, bouncing her eighteen month old son in her arms as she tried to calm him. But whatever she tried, little Tony wouldn’t calm down. Maybe a different voice, Jackie decided, one that he wasn’t sick of hearing all day every day. She couldn’t phone Pete, he had meetings all day. Mickey was out in the field on an assignment with Jake. But there was always Rose. Tony adored his big sister, although he rarely got to see her.

“Shall we phone your sister?” Jackie asked, forcing an exaggerated smile at the blonde-haired boy in her arms.

The boy’s cries quietened a little, but not by much.

“Shall we phone Rose? Yeah? Shall we?”

Jackie knew that Rose was at work, most likely working once more on the Dimension Cannon project that no one expected to work. But it was Rose’s pet project, the one thing- save her family, though she’d been distancing herself from them more and more- keeping her sane while locked away in this parallel world. Even if she knew it couldn’t generate enough power to propel her through the Void, Rose still worked on it. Because it gave her hope. Hope that, someday, she might be able to return to the Doctor.

So Jackie pulled her mobile from her pocket, thumbing through the contacts and dialling her daughter’s number.

As expected, the call went to voice mail. But it didn’t matter. Rose’s voice echoed through the phone’s tiny speakers anyway, and Tony grinned and clapped in excitement.

“Hello, you’ve reached Rose Tyler’s phone. I can’t get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you.”

“Shall we leave your sister a message?” Jackie asked her son, sitting down in the rocking chair before her now-wriggling son could fall.

There was the obligatory bleep, and Jackie hastened to speak.

“Hiya, Rose. Just me and Tony calling. Tony was crying, and wanted to hear your voice. Anyway, it seems to have helped.”

Jackie paused, glanced at her son, who was reaching for the phone, bellowing “Rose!” at the top of his tiny lungs.

“When will you be round to see him?” Jackie asked before she could stop herself. “He misses you, you know. I know you’re working hard on that project of yours, but it’s not going to go anywhere if you take the afternoon off. You could come round and play with Tony in the garden.” She paused, sounded a little wistful. “I’d like to see you again, sweetheart. I miss you.”

She ended the call then, little Tony bellowing furiously and oblivious to his Mummy’s tears as he once more tried to reach for the phone. He finally managed to pull it from Jackie’s now-limp grip, bringing it to his face and bellowing, once more, “Rose!”

Jackie sighed, smoothing her son’s blonde hair back from his forehead.

“I know how you feel, sweetheart,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his brow.

~0~0~                                                                                                                

Jackie Tyler eyed her husband suspiciously as he watched her pace the kitchen. Tony had just been dropped off at nursery, having started four months ago in September. When Jackie had suggested taking their eldest out for a shopping trip, Pete had been oddly quiet, not telling her that it was a good idea, or that Rose had enough holiday time saved up to take a day out from Torchwood, but also not telling her that Rose was busy with the Cannon now it was up and running, or that he couldn’t spare her for the day.

And to top it off, Rose’s phone was ringing out.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you.” Jackie glared at him, phone still at her ear. It wasn’t a question, they both knew that. Jackie Tyler wasn’t stupid, especially when it came to her kids.

“Jacs,” Pete began cautiously, putting his hands out in a placating gesture.

Jackie’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s she done?”

At that, Pete frowned. “What?”

“Rose,” Jackie responded. “What’s she done? What’s happened? Why hasn’t she answered the phone? She’s not scheduled for a jump today, you only ever let her use the Cannon once every three days, ‘cause of that Void stuff. She only jumped two days ago, her next jump’s tomorrow. She’s not even meant to be in work.”

Pete said nothing. Rose’s mobile was still ringing.

“Pete,” Jackie continued, taking a step toward her husband. Her jaw was clenched, eyes blazing with something across between anger and fear.

Pete swallowed. “We think we found the TARDIS.”

Jackie stared at him.

“We found him, Jacs,” he continued softly, and his eyes were damp, she realised. “We found the Doctor.”

And Rose is gone.

The words hung between them in the tense air, not needing to be spoken aloud, not wanting to be heard.

“When?”

Jackie’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. Terrifyingly calm. Pete watched her carefully.

“First thing this morning,” he admitted.

Jackie nodded. In her ear, the answer phone across London in Rose’s little one-bed flat picked up. Her daughter’s voice rang through her ear like a cruel mockery, a sick and twisted joke.

“Hello, you’ve reached Rose. I’m not home right now, so just leave a message-”

Like hell she would.

Jackie ended the call with a furious stab of her thumb against the phone, before slamming it onto the breakfast table and sweeping from the room. Pete watched her go nervously, unsure what to say, what to do, if there was any way he could make it alright.

He didn’t think there was.

And then Jackie was back, standing in the kitchen doorway with her coat on and hands folded over her chest.

“Well come on, then,” Jackie snapped at him as Pete gaped. “What are you waiting for?”

Pete blinked. “Where are we going?”

She rolled her eyes. “To Torchwood. Whatever happens, I’m not letting Rose do this alone.”

“She said not to follow her,” Pete pointed out, although he gathered the car keys anyway. “She didn’t want me, or Mickey, or especially you following her.”

Jackie sniffed. “Tough,” she responded. “I’m her mother. It’s my job to make sure she’s alright.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Maybe I should go,” he began slowly. “You’re not trained-”

But Jackie scoffed and cut him off. “No chance,” she told him. “It’s your turn to do the nursery run.”

And with that, she swept from the house.

[acehotel]

Interview: Justin Strauss with Todd Terje

Oslo, Norway

Norwegian DJ, songwriter and brains behind Olsen Records, Todd Terje came to early dance floor fame with his orgiastic disco edits. For this episode of the Just/Talk series, Ace friend, legendary DJ and music producer Justin Strauss talked to Todd about early musical influences, the surprising turn in designing men’s underwear and why he can’t stop buying “non-playing” music.

Justin Strauss: This is my third trip to Oslo, and I’ve always been fascinated by how small this city is, and yet, there’s such a big music scene that has had an influence over dance music culture the last ten years or so. There’s you, (Hans-Peter) Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas, the Sunkissed Collective and a lot of other people doing great things in this relatively small city. Was there a time you felt that something was happening? 

Todd Terje: I don’t really have a good answer for that. I mean that’s the most typical question journalists ask, because they think there’s some kind of link. I don’t think there is, to be honest. You’re probably aware of that movie Northern Disco Light or something like that.

JS: I haven’t seen it. Have you? 

TT: No, but I hear it’s supposed to be good. That’s covering the Norwegian scene back to Belle Canto in the 80s, Röyksopp, Biosphere and Strangefruit, who had this early radio station that I was inspired by — but where did he come from? Where did Prins Thomas come from? They were in the same city. I think the answer is that inspiration came from the UK. We’ve been looking over to the UK for so long. We heard about the Idjut Boys. Now Dan is my neighbor. Dan Tyler from Idjut Boys is my neighbor, so he’s not so mythical anymore.

If anything, I would say that it comes from and inspired by UK dance styles and the ability to mix up genres like they do over there. I guess specifically who we looked at was Idjut Boys, Ashley Beedle and DJ Harvey — all the original UK “nu disco” guys.

I think that’s at least what inspired me, and of course Strangefruit here in Norway. If you ask me where his inspiration comes from, I have no idea.

JS: Were you a DJ before you started making your own music, or were you in bands? How did it start for you? Any early inspirations?

TT: My first inspiration was a Strangefruit CD from 1996. I can see if I actually have it — it’s rare now.

This shows the eclecticism that I was inspired by. It has Nuyorican Soul, Street Corner Symphony and Persuasion, which are the Harvey project, all in the same track, because he mixes all them together at the same time.

Gino Soccio “Dancer,” which for me sounded like the future at that time because I didn’t know that was a disco track.

JS: Really?

TT: Yeah, I was 16 or something. No, I was 15. 

JS: It still sounds amazing. 

TT: Yes, now it sounds retro, but with a futuristic vibe. Back then when I heard it, I was like, “Wow! Shit! This sounds incredible… Now this is music!” You know, because it sounded so different from everything else. 

JS: What were you listening to growing up, were you listening to non-dance music? Were there any bands that you were into, or did you start hearing dance music and light bulb went off in your head? 

TT: Yeah, this came from my sister. She’s three years older than me, so she was clubbing a lot earlier than me. I came from a tiny, tiny place where nothing really happens. There was no inspiration there to be found for me, except the radio station, the Strangefruit thing; but I hadn’t really discovered it yet. At the time, I was doing various things. I started playing piano when I was seven. I played the trombone when I was six. 

JS: You had music lessons at school? 

TT: Yes, and then I played the piano in a choir, actually, like a gospel choir. A lot of people do that when you come from nowhere. It seems to be a very good way to entertain people. I learned a lot of chords and voicing. I think I was 13 then. At the same time (I think I was 13), I started working with computers. I have been fond of computers since I was ten or something. Then I started programming a little bit. 

JS: Did you have your own computer back then?

TT: My mother had that. I just borrowed it. There was a program called, or program type, called a “tracker,” which is just a four-track matrix with a timeline running down. You could just have four tracks on at the same time, so if you wanted to have a kick drum, then you couldn’t have a snare drum with the track. You would have to have track number two as a snare drum. When I think about it now, it’s a bit like what Beatles did, recording and bouncing things down.

I learned very quickly to organize sounds in a mathematical manner, which is what music is all about. It’s all in sixteenths, and it’s all divided by or multiplied by two, or four, or whatever integer. 

JS: Were you DJing at the same time as this was happening?

TT: That came later. I didn’t start DJing until I was maybe 18, 19, or something. Maybe 17, actually. I think that was my first gig. We had a friend at the school ball when I was 15, I think. I played a track that I made. Actually, I sampled one of the drums from a track on the Strangefruit CD. 

JS: When did you become aware of the New York dance music scene? 

TT: Because of Larry Levan’s CD that Strut Records put out. Before then… Obviously, I knew about the big house names in New York like Masters At Work, but I didn’t probably know about Dance Mania or all the stuff that you need to know. I’d seen, of course, the funky house, Latin house music that was coming out at the time, on Strictly Rhythm Records.

It wasn’t until I bought that Larry Levan CD that I properly got into both disco and the New York house.  I just started digging in, putting the connections together.

JS: Because you seem very knowledgeable and sort of obsessive about a lot of that era and the music from that time. Seem to really resonate with what you do and what you’ve done. 

TT: Definitely. 

JS: Had you been to New York, or to the States at all at that point?

TT: Not at that point. I didn’t go to New York until the first gig I played with Emanuel Harris from Supreme Records, which was at the club Apt.

JS: That was a great place. So many great people played there over the years. It had a special vibe that is really missed in New York right now. 

TT: Yeah, I know. I didn’t really get it at the time. I came back later when Dixon played. 

JS: What were your first impressions of New York? Was it what you imagined it to be?

TT: I was, of course, very impressed. In the beginning, I was impressed by everything. Everything was exciting. I went record shopping for the most part. I had read Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and all those books.  I’d also learned a lot of information from Bill Brewster’s DJhistory.com, a message board from the UK. I got a lot of information in a very short time. I knew that most of that stuff, of course, was gone by the time I got there. So nothing came as a total surprise when I came to New York really.

JS: Speaking of the Internet, you became quite well known for doing edits. You put them up to share with people and they exploded. You gained a great reputation all over the world. Every DJ I knew or heard had one or more of your edits in their sets. Where you just making them for yourself to play in your DJ sets, or was there a plan in mind? 

TT: I feel I was lucky to be able to exploit the edits when it wasn’t uncool to do so.  Back then, I did that mainly to have something unique to play as a DJ, because I did play a lot of disco originals. That was the stuff that I was most inspired by, as I said, because of the Larry Levan compilations and the Disco Spectrum compilation on BBE Records. That was the kind of disco that I really liked, but of course it was difficult to mix it. It was difficult to bridge the gap between house and disco in a good enough way, so I started just editing. 

JS: You were also finding tracks that weren’t thought of as club records and making them club-friendly as well. Like the track by Double, “Woman of the World.” 

TT: That was sort of inspired by the Sarcastic mix by DJ Harvey. That’s probably one of those tracks that don’t really fit in a full-on dance music sense.

I wasn’t too experienced as a DJ back then, so I couldn’t fully exploit that music and play it in my DJ sets. It was inspiring for me to try to pick songs that didn’t have a massive 909 kick drum it. The Balearic thing, that was big for me to be able to pick songs that weren’t made for dance floors and just force it into being a dance floor track. Even if it wasn’t edited — most of the tracks that I played in my sets weren’t edited, of course. The tracks were just songs that I found that I thought were great. I just realized if you play it loud and with some kind of, I don’t know, aura and in a convincing way, you can get away with anything, I think; but that was just inspiring for me to just try to find stuff that wasn’t regular house music. 

JS: Some of them were released on vinyl by Supreme Records label, like the Chic “I Want Your Love” which was a massive hit here in New York. 

TT: Yes, and also with the DJ History guys, which I was usually booked very often with, because most were traveling and playing every weekend at that point. Traveling every weekend. For instance, I went to the Garden Festival in Croatia and I heard it at all the parties. 

JS: It was one of those records that got played at so many different kinds of clubs.

TT: Now it sounds like it’s bigger than it was. 

JS: No, it was pretty big. There were certain tracks that you would go and hear in whatever club you were in, and that was one of them. Are you still doing edits for yourself? 

TT: I’ve stopped DJing, so I don’t have that incentive to make edits, but it’s starting to itch a little bit.

JS: Do you miss DJing? And why did you stop? 

TT: I don’t miss big-room DJing, I don’t. I don’t even miss little room DJing. I don’t miss any kind of setting where you’re expected to play continuous dance music for two hours, like peak hour or two hours, and then you’re supposed to play this. None of that stuff inspires me anymore.

As soon as I stopped DJing, and I left all my big-room dance floor tunes and put them in the basement, I just started listening to albums again. I realized I actually did love music because I was afraid that I didn’t and had fallen out of love with listening to music. Now I’m consuming much more music than I did as a DJ. Of course, it’s a very different type, and now it’s coming back again, because when I started DJing during the DJ History times, I wanted to be a different kind of DJ; I wanted to be that guy who could play Arthur Russell in front of 10,000 people and make that work. Obviously, that’s not going to work… 

JS: I think you can. 

TT: Yes, but I didn’t want to do remixes of it. I didn’t want to change it in any way. You can’t play “Let’s Go Swimming” and automatically make that work. It has worked, of course. I have played it, and I’ve heard Prins Thomas play it, and it can work.

When you play a curveball like that, it’s a very rare moment in a DJ set. I would just like a DJ set to be 95 percent those tracks instead of being 1 percentage of those tracks. Instead of being the climax of a set, the whole DJ set should be just interesting music from start to finish. 

JS: I think if you have confidence in yourself as a DJ, you can play anything and make it work. 

TT: It’s not like I hate that sort of music. 

JS: That’s good to hear. 

TT: I just hate playing it myself. I mean when I go out someplace and hear Gerd Janson or Prins Thomas play it, I love it. I love listening to them play it. I would rather be dead than play that stuff myself.  But I love going out and feeling the energy from it, but it’s like I can’t say it with my own voice. I can’t enjoy it if it comes from me. 

JS: I know that one of your passions is vintage keyboards and audio gear.

TT: Yeah, very true. 

JS: Was that just part of the organic process when you started making music?

TT: No, when I started it was all “in the box.” I didn’t have anything. For instance, “Eurodans,” which was my first solo hit, well not hit, but it was a door opener for me. That was just Cubase and the internal synthesizers, like VST that came with the program. We had a default setting, and I moved the track. Some beats from the Change “A Lovers Holiday” track, some hi-hats from the DJ Harvey remix of Billy Paul’s “East,” which was an unlikely source for a hi-hat sample, and some sound effects by Idjut Boys and that was the whole track. Five or so sounds mashed into Cubase. It’s perfectly doable to make interesting music with just stock sounds and stolen sounds.

Then later when I started hearing about more professional people having fancy pre-amps or fancy microphones, fancy this and fancy everything, I started to slowly get small pieces of gear. Like first a proper sound card and a slightly fancy mic. My first synth that I bought was the ARP Odyssey, and that was fairly recently. That was maybe five years ago. From that moment on, I started buying just loads of gear. 

JS: Did you find the gear was inspiring you to make music? 

TT: It was actually this one, the ARP 2600, that inspired the “Inspector Norse.” By then, I’d learned a lot more. When I first had the ARP Odyssey, I didn’t really understand much. When I got the ARP 2600, I just learned subtracted synthesis in the same day, or the same week, or something like that, a very short timeframe. After that, I started buying synthesizers on a large scale. 

JS: You have quite a lot of outboard equipment in your studio here. 

TT: Now I have, yeah, but that’s sort of like when you make money in music, that’s where the money goes, there. You read magazines when you’re in the airport and like, “Oh, I need that. That’s going to help me get creative.” No, it’s not. It’s just going to empty your bank account.

JS: Do you find that, when you get a new synth, there’s a burst of creativity that comes along with it? 

TT: No, but all stuff will get me inspired — but not all stuff inspires me for a long time. I don’t get rid of stuff because I know that if I just sit down with any kind of gear, at some point I will force myself to use it and something always comes out in a session. If I sit down one hour with something, more or less, something always comes out of it. 

JS: When you finished the “Inspector Norse” track, did you think that it would have the effect it did on your career? 

TT: Not at all. When I made “Inspector Norse,” the rough sketch was made with the Jupiter IV and Lexicon delay. I had listened to Loui$’ “Pink Footpath” You know that track? It’s an Italo track from 1985. The B-side mix is very stripped down, very moody, and very sad in a way; but it’s got this energy.

I was just trying to recreate that, but of course it didn’t take long before I ditched that idea and started playing something else and I made a rough sketch. I had just the gotten the ARP 2600, so I just thought, “Okay. Why not just use that to recreate everything I played?” Because it was just four melodies and a bass line. That’s easy to do with that. 

JS: Were you still using samples, or is that just totally original? 

TT: I was using samples before that, but when I did “Inspector Norse” I decided to do everything with the ARP 2600, so everything comes from that, even the claps. It’s more like a dogma that I decided after I’d figured out how the music should be. Then it’s just a matter of, “Okay, I’ve locked down the bass and the chords and how it’s going to be. Now I just need to spice it up with all the sounds that I can find,” so all the ring modulation, and all the sound effects just…you just play around. 

JS: When the record blew up, was that a big surprise to you? 

TT: It blew up gradually, so of course I saw it coming. I remember the first U.S. tour that I did after I made it. That was before it came out. It came out in 2012. I think I toured in May 2011. I remember every time I played it in Atlanta, in Boston and all those places that I played… 

I just started testing it, and Gerd Janson — who I often times send music to — he would give me thumbs up almost daily, like, “this is the best track.” I started thinking it could do well, but I thought it was just going to be big with the DJs. I never aimed any higher than that. It’s great if the DJs like it, of course, but I never expected to be a mainstream artist, which I’m still not.             

JS: Did it crossover to the pop charts? 

TT: No, not the charts, but it crossed over to the extent that promoters in festivals would start to pay attention, and that was a new thing for me, of course. 

JS: You did a video for it that was pretty popular.

TT: Yeah, that helped a lot, I think. That was not my work, though. That was purely the genius of Kristoffer Borgli, the guy who made it. He just had this idea. I was really skeptical at first, because he didn’t sell the pitch in a very convincing way. It’s not really about anything. It’s just about a guy who has this Internet avatar called “Inspector Norse,” who makes drugs at home and lives in a suburb, being slightly disappointed in life. That was his pitch. Like, “Yeah? Are you sure?” He said he was sure and I said “Okay, well, whatever you think.”

JS: You weren’t directly involved with that? 

TT: No, not at all. 

JS: You run your own record label now, Olsen Records. You have full control over everything: the artwork, packaging, mixes… 

TT: Nowadays, yeah. 

JS: Yeah, everything’s got a very strong identity now. 

TT: Yeah, the visual images, of course, are by Bendik because he helps out a lot on that end. 

JS: Yeah, I think it’s super important. For me… I’m still… When I go into a record store, it’s just so nice, especially nowadays when you’re spending $15 to $20 on a 12-inch, that you have something that’s really attractive to go along with the actual music. 

TT: Yes. 

JS: After you have a huge hit like that, did you feel any pressure to follow it up with the next one? Was there the feeling of: there’s this expectation now and everyone’s looking to see what you’ll do next? 

TT: I felt that in the beginning. I don’t feel so much about that now. Obviously, I know that if I would’ve gotten another “Inspector Norse” that would have, of course, keep me floating in a better way than if I’m making an album with just the rest of the album material because “Inspector Norse” was quite different from the rest of the other tracks. I think it’s obvious that I’m going to make music that’s not just for the dance floor from now on because there were some tracks on the album that were pretty different. A lot of DJs will think that some of the music is difficult as well, but that’s the stuff that inspires me.

JS: Do you think about DJs when you’re making a track, or think about a dance floor anymore? 

TT: No. I’ve gotten worse at that because I stopped DJing. I guess earlier, it could be a good thing that I was also DJing because then I could test out tracks and see if I got the reaction that I wanted to have. As I said, I don’t really make music for DJs anymore. I used to before when I just did 12-inches, ‘cause that’s just the nature of the 12-inch is to have DJs play it. With the albums, it was very nice to not have to think about how it’s going to be used and just be free and make my album. Then again, if I just do interesting music without thinking about the dance floor, if I do that for a long while, I will want to get back to making just simple house again as well. I can’t really lose one or the other. I have to do both for the rest of my life, I guess. And just hope I don’t lose too many fans on the way because they will get… they do get confused, especially if it’s “Alfonso Muskeunder,” a track on the album which is in a 7/8 time signature. 

JS: Have you played it out? 

TT: Not as a DJ, though. I’ve played it out with a band, which makes much more sense. You see people move in a very surprising way to that song. 

JS: In what way did your life change after the success of “Inspector Norse” and the It’s Album Time LP?

TT: It changed things economically, I have to say. Maybe not that song alone, though, but the album did. The album made it much easier to go for festivals rather than clubs and, combined with me wanting to play fewer clubs, it was a good match. 

JS: You played Coachella. Did you feel like that was a turning point for you? 

TT: I think the biggest turning point for me was the Oya festival in Oslo in 2014. That was the first time we showed the whole band, and that was when everything just rocketed. Then Coachella came a few months after that. Actually, the following year, so the time after that, maybe.

JS: You had Bryan Ferry come out to play with you.

TT: He was also there in Oslo in August 2014. We did ���Johnny & Mary,” the track we made together.

JS: Is this new album that you’re working on, is it going to be the band album? Or is it a solo album? 

TT: No. It’s a solo album, but it’s going to be featuring various artists along the way, including the band. 

JS: Is there a full band album that will be made at some point? 

TT: Hopefully, but I think that depends on how my studio situation is going. Right now, you can’t really record a band in here, so I’ve been looking for a new studio for ages, it seems. I still haven’t found the right place, really, but of course would like to.  We’re pregnant with our next baby, so that of course means that I have to make some music quickly, solo. As soon as I get the right place, I think things are going to go pretty fast with a band project album. 

JS: The Olsen Records label has kind of led into Olsen branching out into some other areas like clothes, or underwear and socks. I’ve been seeing them in the shops around town here in Oslo. How did that come about?

TT: It’s not like I’m going to do this now for now. It’s more like a side project. 

JS: Did someone approach you, or you just came up with the idea for it?

TT: It’s a collaboration with Eskimo Records in Belgium. Their clothes brand is called Original Eskimo and they have been making briefs, which I’ve been buying myself the last five years, and I just liked them a lot. Then I saw that they had stopped doing those briefs. I asked them… I knew that we had some mutual friends, so I just asked, “What’s happening with that old model?”

“Oh, we discontinued it.”

“What?”

Then I just had the idea to ask if I could collaborate. We both put our names on it and branded it as a collaboration. The graphics are designed by Bendik, but the shape is their classic brief. It’s just a side thing just for fun. I think it turned out really good. It looks really professional I think.

JS: It is only underwear, socks and T-shirts so far? 

TT: Yeah. Everything feels like it’s left-hand work, though, because I’m doing music. That’s what I do, and the merchandise was just like, “Yeah, whatever.” It just needs to be fun. Design-wise, I know we can always make something that is funny, but quality-wise, of course it requires a lot of attention if you want it to be really good. The socks, they were okay, but the underwear…it was really good so I was happy about that. T-shirts, of course, is just off-the-shelf stuff, so that’s easy.

JS: Any other new projects other than music?

TT: Yes, I just made 20 of these.

JS: Record weights? 

TT: Yeah, they were quite expensive to make, so we’re not going to continue with this line we did with Mastersounds. I think they are a bit too light. It needs to be heavier for the DJ’s.  We are going to make ones more inspired by the Audio-Technica ones. That’s going to take some time. We’re just calculating density. We know the density of steel and aluminum. We just need to find out what’s the best shape versus weight — harder than I thought.

JS: What do you think about the situation with vinyl when it comes to DJing these days?

TT: I don’t care, as you would imagine. Of course, it’s good for sales that more people are buying it, but that’s not DJs, DJs aren’t responsible for the sales. That’s regular people. DJ’s are playing less vinyl.

I don’t know many DJs who play vinyl. The only DJs who play vinyl now are people who probably got into it recently and wanted to be hip, because working DJs, they realize that clubs are in a terrible condition. Needles do not work. Feedback is not dealt with. When CDJ 2000s came out, they of course made our life shitloads easier. I don’t think many DJ’s are going to go back to that. The people who play vinyl now are people who are doing it at home because it still sucks to play vinyl in clubs unless it’s really, really well done. That’s rare, as you know.

JS: I still bring a bag with me pretty much wherever I go and I try and play it, and there are some clubs that really care and do it right, but yes those are rare. But you’ll still be making vinyl with Olsen Records?

TT: That’s mainly because of my love for vinyl.

JS: Do you still go record shopping?

TT: More now than ever. I don’t buy the same stuff that I did earlier. I used to just buy 12-inches that I could play, and now I almost exclusively buy non-playable music, which is the stuff that inspires me.