Trillion

aka Jody Lloyd

Martyn Pepperell

12 Oct 2013

Jody Lloyd is a rapper, producer, DJ, instrumentalist, remix artist, poet and writer who performs and records hip-hop and electronica under the alias Trillion.

Raised in Christchurch, Lloyd is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Formerly a member of Christchurch hip-hop group Dark Tower, Lloyd started Trillion in 1996 as a duo with his sister Demarnia Lloyd of Dunedin band Cloudboy, before eventually taking ownership of the alias for solo work.

Outside of Dark Tower and Trillion, Lloyd has recorded and performed in Bazuki Joe, The Incredible Braking Wheel, The Eastern, Pataphysics and Throwing Shapes. He also works with Billy Wilson as New English. Over the years Lloyd has led two different Trillion live bands, first in Christchurch, second in Melbourne.

In 1998 Lloyd started She'll Be Right Records.

Lloyd taught himself how to DJ as a teenager. He learned the basics of studio production from engineer Mark Duff while recording the first Dark Tower EP between 1994 and 1995. Following this he taught himself keyboards and percussion by ear. In 1998 Lloyd started his own record label, She'll Be Right Records, through which he released music from Dark Tower, Trillion and numerous other local folk, alt-pop and hip-hop acts. In 2010 She'll Be Right Records officially closed down.

Over his career, Lloyd has released seven albums and four EPs as Trillion. He's also released one EP as The Incredible Braking Wheel, an album under his own name and several collaborative albums with other artists. Outside of this, he has also produced albums for Billy Wilson, Subsketch (Australia), Jim Christy (Canada), Phil Johns, Le Mot Café & St Lucy and Neoismist Press.

Lloyd also regularly works as a remix artist and creates soundtrack pieces for film, TV, adverts, theatre and contemporary dance performances.

In 1998, Lloyd moved to Auckland for five years. In 2008 he spent three months in Dunedin recording with The Incredible Braking Wheel. Since 2009 he has been based in Melbourne, Australia. Since forming Trillion, Lloyd has extensively toured New Zealand and Australia, either performing solo or with a backing band, on both the nightclub and festival circuits.

Between 2003 and 2009, Lloyd produced and engineered a series of local music documentaries for Radio New Zealand.

In 2003 he also published a series of pieces of poetry in issues 1, 2 and 3 of literary arts journal Catalyst. In 2011, Lloyd's poem 'The Recipe For A Perfect Nap' was featured in the Phantom Billstickers Poetry Posters series.