DJ Terry James — Artist • Curator • Founder, In The Groove LLC
For over 30 years, DJ Terry James has lived and breathed underground music—both as an artist and as a curator of unforgettable events.
He first stepped into the Detroit rave scene in 1993, drawn to the raw, hypnotic sounds of Detroit Techno and Chicago House. Behind the decks, Terry developed a signature style: driving rhythms, soulful grooves, and late-night journeys built for the dancefloor. As part of Underground Mafia, he became known for sets that blended the deep history of the Midwest underground with forward-thinking energy, keeping crowds locked in from start to finish.
In 2000, Terry moved to California and launched Eternal, a twice-yearly festival that ran for 10 years and became a cornerstone of the West Coast underground. Even as Eternal grew, Terry never stopped DJing—his sets carried the spirit of Detroit wherever he played, from California warehouses to cross-border nights in Tijuana, Mexico (2014–2017) and back to Detroit (2017–2019) before landing in the Tampa, Florida area (2019–present).
Today, as founder of In The Groove LLC, Terry continues to represent the music that shaped him—booking artists, building events, and keeping the underground alive—while staying true to his roots as a DJ who tells stories through sound.