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Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer and producer Terry Draper got his start in the Toronto music scene
more than 30 years ago playing drums in various R & B bands including The Innocence Of Virgil Scott starting in 1966. Years of floundering in the Toronto
music scene led Draper to a life in Yorkville during the hippie revolution.
As drummer he found his options limited and a close friend gave him a guitar,
three chords to start with and told him to play it. After an early appearance by Led Zeppelin at Toronto's Rockpile and a chance meeting with Jimi
Hendrix in the late '60's, Draper realized that being a musician for a living was a definite must.
Draper would eventually hook up with highs school pal John Woloschuk to
form Whitemail with another Toronto area kid, Dee Long (Polychromatic Experience, Bloodstone). That band would mutate into Mudcow with Jamie Bridgman in 1971, but by the end of 1972 the group had split and the
members went their separate ways. Draper would get a day gig working in the 7" singles department at Sam The Record Man in downtown Toronto.
Meanwhile, Long and Woloschuk continued on as recording act Klaatu in January 1973 with producer/financer Terry Brown. A deal with GRT records allowed the duo to release several singles with various session drummers.
Long and Woloschuk soon realized that a permanent percussion was needed if they were going to record any further, and in late 1974, Draper made his debut with Klaatu on the single "California Jam".
The ups and downs of Klaatu's career were such that by August 1982, Woloschuk and Draper called it quits.
Draper wasn't idle for long and decided to keep active by doing a one-man lounge act for about a year. In 1984 he hooked up
with vocalist Jacqui Kroft as a duo called Nunu. They recorded several demos but failed to attract the attention of record labels. Draper decided to retire and started his own business as a roofing contractor.
However, in 1991 a proposed Klaatu reunion capitalizing on the upcoming 'Peaks' hits package that was intended to have
several brand new songs on it. This was not to be as the band was in a contractual battle with its new Canadian distributor,
BEI. Instead, Draper and old partner Dee Long set up shop in a Unionville recording studio, Second Sun, and began producing
and recording local acts such as Nasty Klass, Lonnie Glass, and a live Grant Fullerton Blues jam CD.
Meanwhile, Draper spearheaded the re-mastering of Klaatu's back catalogue for release on CD including the 'best of' disc "Peaks" in 1993.
A full blown revival began in 1995 as Permanent Press Record in the US was the first American label to issue "Magentalane"
anywhere other than Canada. Korea followed suit and the CD began climbing the charts from the active resuscitation of progressive music in the Pacific Rim.
"December Dream" went Top-10 and Draper was contemplating some solo shows there when he got word that a fan-based Klaatu mailing list on the Internet was interested in hearing any solo material he might have.
A children's cassette was issued called "Can You Pretend?" which was packaged with an activity kit designed by Klaatu
graphic artist Ted Jones. Meanwhile, Draper went through all his old demos and noodlings from his home studio in Oak Ridges, Ontario and gathered enough material for a full length album.
Through indie label Bullseye Records, Draper released 'Light Years Later' in February 1997. The disc was a mix of older and
newer tracks which featured "Winter In Peru" an actual Klaatu outtake, with the full band, that was left off the "Magentalane" album.
At a live showcase gig, which featured his band The Twilight Zone (with members of Moving Targetz, Sharon'SISTER, Punjabi
By Nature and Strawman), and afternoon Q & A session was arranged with Dee Long and graphic artist Ted Jones who for the benefit of American Klaatu fans who were in attendance.
Draper was a nervous wreck (he hadn't played his own material live since 1982) but his wish to attract media attention went
unnoticed and so a second gig was launched in April 1997 which was recorded for a limited edition live CDRom disc on Bullseye called "Live...Years Later: From The 'Cue To The 'Shoe".
Terry, ever the dreamer and recording fanatic, has since released his third CD, CIVIL WAR and has also kept his hands busy
helping in the re-releases of Klaatu's 3:47 E.S.T. and HOPE, as well as the upcoming PEAKS and KOMPLETE KLAATU compilations. Terry Draper's solo release, Aria 52, was released on Bullseye in 2003.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:For more info:
http://klaatu.org/
president@bullseyecanada.com
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