Kerri Chandler & Dennis Ferrer Interview.
Words: Toni Tambourine..
TT- Where are you guys both from originally?
KC – Well I’m originally from East Starnes New Jersey
DF – I’m originally from the Bronx
TT –So what would you say for both of you, were your biggest influences in genres of music before house music in terms of what you were both really into?
DF – My influences are varied, I grew up around a lot of different music, coming from the Bronx it was Hip Hop stuff, a lot of old soul, it was a bit of everything. Anything that I came in contact with, so it wasn’t anything in particular, when I grew up it was just a mixture of stuff that you would hear, from Latin, to crazy old soul and disco classics and just a really big mix
TT – What about you Kerri, is it the same sort of styles?
KC – Yeah same kind of thing, but I grew up around a lot of live stuff, I mean my dad used to have a lot of people call Into the club and play live over the top of stuff, flutes and drum machines and so I kind of did the same thing, and that’s how I saw it, so that’s how I started doing it.
TT – So you both knew you wanted to be in music when you grew up?
KC – Oh hell yeah!
TT – What did your parents want you to do? Did your parents want you involved in music too?
KC – My dad did, he just wanted me to do something good. I was always into electronics so I was always already onto something with that. My Grandfather though said to me ‘name me one DJ that is making some money’, and I couldn’t name one, so I just had it in my head to prove him wrong, I had to do something and show that a guy can make some money doing some DJ work and some production and stuff, because I don’t think he’ll ever believe it, and funny enough the way I convinced him was my first trip ever was to play Ministry of Sound, and I came back and I literally tossed a whole wad of notes maybe two or three thousand on to his bed and said here it is I made some money, so I can say I did it. He said if you keep that up you have my blessing!
TT – What about you Dennis, what do your folks say about you?
DF – My parents still aren’t happy with what I do!
TT – Oh really!
DF – Yeah my mums like, why didn’t you keep the computer job!
KC – Yeah that’s the one thing we have in common, if we weren’t musicians or DJ’s we’d both be serious computer nerds!
TT – Fantastic. It’s funny how things turn out though I guess. So how did you two hook up then inevitably?
KC- Oh that is funny!
DF- I kicked down the front door of his house!
KC – Dennis can explain it!
DF – Well I worked at Roben??? music for a while, and we sold a lot of gear, some keyboard gear, and every now and then he’d look at gear and we’d talk about what’s good to get, and he’d be like ‘yeah yeah’ whatever! So from there we started hooking up, and I had used to do a lot of electronic stuff a long time ago but I’d stopped doing it, and I saw that he was doing this house stuff. So one day he came along to this gig in Boston, and he was playing the heck out of that place, and everyone was chanting is name, and I was like who’s this Kerri guy, he sounds pretty cool and we’re going have to get down some time. So basically I just barged into his house! But it was more of a friendship thing than anything else, and one day I just moved in and never really moved out!
TT – So Kerri he just him under your wing I guess
KC – Yeah he just took over the living room so I just said forget it, and we just turned the other side of the house into a studio. A funny thing one time was around his birthday time I bought him this Allen and Heath, I can’t remember which one, and this thing is pretty nice just for the room, so we put some new monitors in and everything, and thought as he’s here lets have some fun and maybe we can really do some things. So we hooked the whole room up, and Dennis being normal Dennis, he just walks into the room sits down and puts his coat down, and he doesn’t even notice! So I said ‘Dennis do you notice anything different’, and he was like ‘no what, what’s going on’, and so I said ‘just look in front of you’, and he’s like ‘what’s this’, and I said ‘its yours man, happy birthday’, and he’s still like ‘what are you talking about’, and I just kept saying ‘its yours man its your birthday’, and about 20 minutes later he starts to get it. I think I even went and got a sandwich and came back before he got it!
TT – So is that where you make the majority of your productions then, is that where your studio is based?
KC – Well a few years back we always had this wonderful system whereby we always work together but work separate too, and so that’s the best partnership I ever had!
KC – Its true, its like we just bounce of each other, we just go to each others rooms, which was the coolest thing in the world to do, and he’d run into the room and say ‘ do you have a kick drum or something’, and I’d run into his room and say ‘give me some tambourine’, and it would be like that the whole time, and so one of us would have the room cranking and the other one would be wearing headphones or vice versa, or we’d have both doors closed and we’d have both rooms cranking. Even with the remixes its like we’d both get the track, and we’d both go to our rooms and see what we’d end up with at the end of the day, and it would turn into a lot of fun, and sometimes it would turn into some kind of battle. Each of us trying to out do each other.
TT – I guess it doesn’t work out quite like that now?
KC – Well kind of, I mean when we both DJ out together it’s a f*cking riot it really is, it’s like really crazy, and he’s crazy enough so I’m never letting him out do me for nothing, but it’s a lot of fun and the crowds they just go nuts because we do things that are just completely unorthodox.
TT – I read also that there was a rumour that you two used to be techno producers.
KC – Well not me!
DF – Hey me neither, never! That’s funny though! I’d say I’m proud of that.
TT – I was going to say are you proud of that?
DF – Well I’d say you get your influences from a variety of places. I learnt how to make tech records back then with Damien Wild, and they were very influential in learning that area of the music, as Kerri was for house with me. So a lot of the stuff I do some times is drawn from them.
TT – Do you think, that’s influenced you for your choices now of records that you put out on both your labels, I know your both involved in sfere recordings, and also Kerri you have another label of your own don’t you, is it mad house, or madness?
K.C – Yes, well what happened was an interesting story; I was in Miami one year and Donna approached me about doing a record with her and Dennis was just starting off and getting things together, and she just kind of laid out and asked if id like to do a record label and I knew I didn’t have time to do it technically and I thought it would be a great springboard for Dennis and I’m glad I turned out to be right, and I told him and said I cant really do it on my own but I think it would be a great idea for you to get your name out there and start up and you know you have an outlet, and that was really good, and after I left that area, I kind of just gave the whole thing to Dennis so he actually owns sfere alone now.
TT – ok, how would you describe yourselves honestly, would it be as dj’s or as producers?
K.C – oh god, I always thought that they had to go hand in hand, personally I mean its nothing like to going out to a club and playing your own stuff and testing it out there and then going back to the studio and tweak it some more, and that’s how I kind of use it back and forth due to reactions or how things sound sonically you know that kind of deal, I mean I don’t like either one more than the other, so to me I would say it has to be both
D.F – I think if you had asked me this question about 4 years ago, I would of said producing more, not anymore, you know he’s right……….. there’s a difference in the records I’m making today than I would of earlier, you need to be in an environment, you need to hear what’s going on so you can see the reaction of other records and what’s going on in the scene, and djing is an integral part of that, as a producer you need to know what’s going on.
DF – if you’re not going out every weekend as a customer you need to be…. Somewhere to see what the hell is going on.
How do you marry soulful music and very deep and dark beats together in your music?
KC – that’s a good one
TT – Dennis I tell you what a good example ‘he is’ which is on fire at the moment, you have a massive gospel bright vocal and then the dirtiest of bass lines, and its like two different styles that work together really well.
DF – its something I learned from KC once again, see it’s a funny thing, K is known as the dirty deep one, and I’ve always been known as the happy one, so I’ve always tried to take that and learn from KC, and say ok this is cute but somehow it needs to kind of rough, you kind of have to…. Things, you have to keep everyone happy, I’m making music for that sake, you have to keep everyone happy including yourself, so I just try to find a medium, a place where I’m comfortable, and think ok somebody like this could like it but somebody like that could like it.
KC – you know the catch is, and I always think this, its really good to have brutal friends, were so brutal to each other when it comes to this kind of stuff, its like holding your punches for everything, and what the hell turn that sh*t off, and its just been that way since the beginning and its just a wonderful thing. There is no ass kissing when it comes to commenting on music.
TT – I was going to say that kind of relates to your mixes, now you’ve just mixed the new soul heaven compilation, and you have both submitted a mix, I want you to both tell me what you’ve tried to do with that mix, how it sounds, and if you’re happy with them.
KC – lets see I play all the stuff I normally play out anyway and these are the same things, what’s really fun about a lot of them, they all came from very close friends of mine.
TT – so it’s true to say that the compilation is representative of your dj sound?
KC – oh definitely, I mean it gets a bit wilder than that, this ones more like ok if your listening to it you can do both, you can either jump around and act crazy or you can just listen to it as a background kind of thing as well, but I tend to be a bit more vocal, Dennis is more of a track person.
DF – that’s not true.
KC – well probably in the mix, in this mix anyway, Dennis can flip it completely around and be Mr Gospel, I don’t know it’s hard to say, it’s just a mis-context we actually did things to complement each other .
TT – Dennis do you want to go through what you think of your mix.
DF – I think he’s right, I play what the mix is, I basically play like that, I try not to be any different.
TT – so people buying it would get a good snapshot of Dennis Ferrer’s sound?
DF – that’s pretty representative quite honestly, I could have did a couple of more vocals but like Kerri said it was more of a ying and yang thing, he off set me I of set him.
KC – yes it’s like a balance.
TT – right so were saying that Kerri’s more kind of the vocally, soul mix and yours is a bit tougher?
DF – yes it depends where you’re coming from, you know some people hear my mix and are like ok its more tracky, more tougher, and maybe they think Kerri’s is deeper.
TT – Can you tell me about any special re edits, exclusives, anything you put on there that you should know about?
DF – well I did an exclusive thing that’s supposed to be on sfere, it’s called ‘drop it down’, which was like the old school roots …. Mix hip hop tapes, you know I had permission from Kenny dope to use holiday beats, its like a mash up, its like a jump off where I’m screaming my bloody head off.
DF – I just wanted to have some fun you know and I think a lot of our music today is just way to serious.
TT – What about you Kerri anything on there that’s exclusive or that you messed with like a re edit or a remix you want to talk about?
KC – yeah there’s one I put on there was called ‘brand new sun’ this is an ongoing joke between me and Dennis talking about the sun coming up and its kind of like there’s nothing better than when your playing out in the sun somewhere u know .
TT – What are you guys passionate about outside of music?
KC – I know Dennis likes fishing, I’m a skateboard head and I fly kites.
KC – yeah I’ve been using long boards and just things that……I’m crazy.
TT – that’s good, its just shows you do something outside of music.
KC – yeah I always think you need to have a break between …..and when you come back to what you like to do it just helps a lot but Dennis, oh my god Dennis is so into what he does, he can be in the studio for days like an unshaven man, its like oh my god have you looked at yourself, but that’s dedication he’s not leaving he calls it his little prison.
TT – he must have something that he loves though surely even though he’s locked up in his studio, like trainers, sneakers, clothes, girls, cars, films?
DF – look man ill tell you one thing it’s honestly if I’m not into tune I just don’t know what I’m doing with myself.
KC – yeah I get a phone call like every 2 or 3 days, oh god, oh god, I’m like Dennis get some air, get some food, its like a scientist in the lab that cant come out till he finds the cure, and then he thinks if I buy this one new piece of gear its going to make it work better, he sits there for days.