Kerri Chandler - Adapt or Die

Note: This interview was originally produced for pulseradio,com, published 22 Nov 2012

There’s a saying in business: adapt or die. But can the same be said for the music business? Kerri Chandler has been playing clubs for more than 20 years with his soulful and unique sets that never compromised his creative for commercial gain. Though it’s his irrepressible hunger for everything new –from technology to sounds – that saw him continually break new ground. He may have gone down in history as one of the originators of deep house, but this New York-born DJ is still on the way up. And he’s bringing the next generation of talent along with him: a new label, a new place in the Circoloco family, new countries and even new festivals. As he prepares to tour Australia, Kerri talks about his history of firsts, and what has shaped up to be a second, new era.

Pulse: You’re finally heading to Australia at the end of December: three cities and three gigs in two days, including the innagural ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ festival on New Year’s Day.  Are you looking forward to your first tour to Australia?

Kerri Chandler: “It’s my first time, yeah! I’ve always had offers to come but everything and the grandmother kept popping up and messing it up somehow. So, I can’t wait.”

Pulse: You’re a bit of a technology junkie and your past live sets have included everything from live instruments to laser shows to holograms. What do you have in store for the Aussies?

“It honestly depends on what they have on my technical rider. So it’s really on them. It can be everything from holograms and lasers like your saying, to keyboards to full bands. I mean, my guys give them everything, and they give them the choice of whatever they want to do. They just have to come back to me with it. I’m up for all of it.”

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Pulse: In the last 1-2 years, Australia has seen many international house DJs hitting its shores: Circoloco, Crosstown Rebels and Lee Burridge to name a few. Is Australia, and Asia, a market starting to pop up on the international radar?

“Australia, I have no idea how to even gage it at this point. But I’ve heard wonderful things about it. This is going to be my first experience. I’m really excited about it. One of my friends, Sarah Main, is from there and I keep hearing great things from her and she’s introduced me to a lot of people from there. So I keep hearin’ there’s a scene there and I’ve been waiting to go. A lot of my friends, especially the Circo guys, have been there to DJ and have come back sayin’, “Oh it’s amazing!” and this and that. I guess I’m the odd man out or somethin’. So it’s been a long time in the making.

As far as Asia goes, I’ve had a relationship with Asia for the last 20-somethin’ years; I’ve gone there twice a year without fail, religiously, and just every time I go there it’s life changing. It really is something spectacular for me and I kind of call Asia my home. So if Australia is anything like that...”

The word ‘Legend’ is one you’ve probably heard countless times to describe your place in the music industry. The house music landscape has changed significantly over the last 20 years yet you seem to be going stronger, and are more active, than ever today. Why do you think that is?

“I call it ‘Leg-End’ (laughs). I’m so excited about all of it! I’ve always looked to the future no matter what I’ve done. I’ve never in my head stayed in the now, I’m always looking for the next thing, the next thing to do, the next thing to add to what I’m doing. And I can’t say that’s exactly why I’m still around, but I wake up every day like it’ll to be the last time I’m going to DJ. That’s not saying I’m going to quit but if something happens to me. I’m giving my all to everything I do. I don’t do anything half way.”

What are you doing differently, or perhaps, what are you still doing the same?

“I’m just learning everything. I love learning new music. I love technology. I love being able to pretty much bring a small studio with me to a club and just make things up on the fly. I’ve always been that way. If I bring just records with me, or one particular thing, I always feel limited. If there’s something I know I can do more with I’ve always tried to. I’ve always tried to push what I can do in a club. Always. Like visuals, or lasers, or reel-to-reel tapes – anything I can do to just do something that bit more to make it feel like my studio, to me it just makes it better. I can remix on the fly. I can change it up. I also love bringing live musicians with me. Or I bring keyboards in with me sometimes. I love playing things over the top of other things. Whatever the club lets me get away with, I’ll do. My favourite thing to do is build stuff in the club. One time I made all this touch screen stuff up way before it even come out. On my album, Computer Games (2007), I had these touchscreen surfaces where I walk in the middle of the room and touch things like they’re holograms. It’s all over Youtube. And that was way before Ipad touch screens.”

There’s a saying in business, “Adapt or die”. Do you think that same mantra can be applied to the music business?

“I think people have their niche for both. I think there are diehards that actually love the old style. They’re tried and true tested methods. I can’t call it nostalgic but you know, that’s because I’ve never been that way. I’ve always been curious, about everything. I’ve always wanted to know how everything works. I always want to know what I can add to make things better. But there’s nothing wrong with a couple of turntables and a mixer. It’s all about the music, and how it comes across. I’ve always tried to add something more in to the music, but there are people that mix like nobody’s business just with records! And that’s all you need. I’ve just always needed more, wanted more – more channels, more effects, more things to create with. That’s the other thing, I never want to show up to a club and not know something. I’m infamous for my soundchecks – they really are scary. I mean, there better be a good engineer who knows what’s going on or I’m rattling them! (laughs).”

You often forge the path for new songs or sounds. Is this something you do consciously?

“I always try and break things. If I really love a song, I don’t care where it’s coming from or who it’s from. Sometimes there’s certain melodies that get stuck in my head, and some people get it, but I’ll keep playing it to death until like, wow, there it is, you finally get it, good, and then I’ll move on. I love that kind of stuff. It’s my life. Honestly, I’m not joking when I say this is our family business. I took it up from my Dad and my uncle, and now I’m just carrying it on. I’m just the crazy one that travels. There are about 8 of us in the family, cousins and uncles, who are DJs.”

You were such a pioneer of deep house in the ‘90s and made your mark by not comprising your sound for commercial gain. You’re now working with a lot of younger DJs and seeing what they can do. Who do you think will be the legends, or ‘leg-ends’, of tomorrow? Who is really doing things differently?

“(Laughs) Funny thing is I have so many people who I could just sit here and mention. I just try to help everybody I can. Even with the older guys. Like Dennis (Ferrer) …I helped Dennis out earlier on, or Jerome (Sydenham), or the Martinez Brothers, or anybody – I just love to see everybody do well. It’s just how it is. And if I can help out somebody I will. Like Karizma, or any of these new guys I’m working with now, like Voyeur. One of my other favourites is (Robert) Dietz, and Davide (Squillace). I gravitate towards people I really care about. So for me to try and name just a couple of people, it’s really difficult.”

Put it this way, is there any artist at the moment that is creating something that really excites you musically?

“Ok…Tony Lionni. He’s working on an album for me for Madhouse and I’m really excited about him. I really believe he has a serious future. And then there’s Troy Denari. He’s a singer, and I’ve never heard anybody sound like him. He does the most beautiful harmonies I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m working with these two right now to ensure they go to the next level. I’m putting my all in to both of them because I really believe in what they do. They deserve it.”

Is MadTech a key component of your desire to get behind talent you believe in?

“Yeah absolutely. To me, it’s about giving back what I had to learn all these years. When I started I got very, very lucky to meet some very interesting people early on. I got signed to a major label (Atlantic) and that’s what really jumpstarted my career. People started paying attention. But before that I had no idea who to talk to, who to go to or who to ask. Even when I started my label, I was really young and green about it. I had no idea how the business worked, and I just kept making records. I didn’t want anyone to ever take advantage of what I was doing, or of me or anything else. I had a lot of bumps and bruises early on, and I thought to myself, I would hate for anyone who is really talented to have to go through that stuff. So I wanted a springboard for people who didn’t have a clue about how to start. People who were talented, and who I believe in. So I started a label to bring in that next sound; the next generation of DJs, producers and songwriters. And that’s what I’m doing now. That’s what MadTech is. It’s an outlet for them to express themselves as developing artists.”

There’s so much amazing new talent out there, and it’s hard for them to get support these days from those bigger labels. They have a different agenda now. You have a very different approach though. How do you develop and support the talent you discover?

“I really feel sad that so many labels just don’t do that. They just have one artist or whatever that they try and make money out of. I like to sit there, and I don’t care how long it takes, I love breaking people and artists. It’s like, you don’t get it this time, ok, you’ll get it next time. Maybe you will understand them on the next album. When they do get it finally, they will go back through the back catalogue and be like, oh wait, this guy has been around for more than a minute, and I don’t know how I didn’t hear this before. And that’s what I love.”


Note: This interview was originally produced for pulseradio,com, published 22 Nov 2012