Rising Stars: Meet Terrance Pryor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Terrance Pryor.

Terrance, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I got my start in the music industry as a radio personality for my college’s radio station back in 2006. I also took over as music director for a year. This allowed me to edit music for airplay and curate music playlists for the evening and weekends. During my time doing radio, I started booking local shows for a few years. This started while I was trying to obtain music from local bands for my radio show. Aside from booking local bands, I also booked a handful of touring bands, including Set It Off, Title Fight, and Off With Their Heads. This lasted from 2007 to 2010.

In 2009, I began writing for a New Jersey-based music blog called Fake Walls (previously known as The NJ Underground). Matt (the founder) made a post on Absolutepunk (R.I.P.) about wanting writers for the site. I applied, and I quickly became the associate editor. Through the blog, I was able to interview a slew of bands and review a ton of albums and live performances.

My stint with Fake Walls led to me writing for Examiner in 2014, which turned into a writing gig for ticket company AXS. After five years doing freelance writing for AXS, I started my own blog MP3s and NPCs in June 2019. I originally wanted to name the site The Jersey Angel due to me being from New Jersey. Since it was primarily a music and gaming website, the names MP3s and NPCs sounded much better.

While I’m big into music, I also enjoy video games. I got the SNES bundle with Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars for Christmas in the early ’90s, and my love for medium hasn’t died since. Some of my favorite video games include Super Mario World, Persona 4, and Resident Evil 4. Recently, I’ve been into Vampire Survivors, Ring of Pain, and The Artful Escape.

I also began to slowly incorporate anime into the site later that year. I grew up on shows like Sailor Moon, Samurai Pizza Cats, and Dragon Ball Z. Some of my current favorite anime series include Bocchi The Rock!, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, and Luminous Witches.

I’m also a big convention person. My first convention was New York Comic Con 2012 (which I covered for Fake Walls), and I’ve been covering conventions ever since. Some of my favorite conventions I covered back in New Jersey and NYC were AnimeNEXT, Castle Point Anime Convention, and Anime NYC. I also managed to cover PAX East, Anime Expo, and PAX West.

I also had a complementary MP3s and NPCs podcast for a short while. In each episode, I discussed gaming news while playing new music from artists from around the world. It’s been on hiatus, but I’m looking to bring it back soon.

Around 2015, I started thinking about relocating to Los Angeles for some new scenery. In October 2019, I relocated with hopes of becoming a music supervisor. Growing up, I always had scenes playing in my head when I listened to music. This still happens to me today. The role of a music supervisor is finding the perfect song to blend well with whatever is on the screen.

I also produce music here and there. I’ve done some official remixes for a slew of electronic acts in Europe.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It depends on whatever I’m done. As a producer, it’s been a blast working with some great acts from overseas. It’s always a thrill to reimagine someone else’s song and have others vibe to it.

When it comes to being a music journalist, however, there’s always been a struggle. As a person of color, I’ve never honestly never felt I belonged in that part of the music industry. I primarily cover rock music, which means I’m usually the only black person at a rock concert. Recently, I attended a concert where someone I’ve never met before tried communicating with me via phone notes. They showed me their note, which said, “I’m surprised to see someone like you here.” Again, I was the only black person at the show. That killed my joy for the rest of the evening.

There have been various times where I felt like my opinions didn’t matter because I’m black. I rarely see people of color get on podcasts/get invited to guest write for sites to talk about genres such as metal and indie rock.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a music journalist originally from New Jersey. Genre-wise, I mainly write about rock music. Aside from music, I also cover anime, gaming, and conventions. Some of my biggest accomplishments have been appearing on episodes of AXS TV’s Emmy-nominated series Music’s Greatest Mysteries, having my website being partnered with Microsoft Start, and being part of the industry panel for the 2023 Heavy Music Awards.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as being content with doing what you love and being able to inspire others. Some acts feel successful, headlining shows in front of 700 people each night. There are plenty of artists that aren’t making millions on the road, but their influence on their respective genres is worth much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mp3sandnpcs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrancepryor/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrancePryor
• Other: https://www.msn.com/en-us/community/channel/cid-9415caacca22cf80