Something Deeper: Kerri Chandler

House legend speaks to Clash backstage at FOUND Festival...

It can interesting to watch famous people in public, to see how they interact with the world around them. After all, if you’ve stood at the forefront of popular culture for a decade or two then you’re bound to have built up a few defensive layers, those invisible walls that help you navigate the tides and tributaries of fame.

Kerri Chandler, however, has no such hang ups. Stood backstage at FOUND Festival he’s remarkably at ease with his surroundings. Fans rush past, shouting his name, asking for photographs and the occasional autograph – he’s only happy to oblige, with a smile and a handshake for anyone who walks past. “I'm happy to meet everyone!” he smiles. “I'm just me. I treat everybody how they treat me. I've never even thought of myself as some kind of star, that's never been my vibe. I've always wanted to have fun. I've flown all this way, I want to enjoy the music, just like everybody else is.”

It’s a cliché but true: music really is his life. Helping to broaden the lexicon of house music, Kerri Chandler lives and breathes music – at one point during our conversation he flips out his phone, opens his calendar and points to month after month of live bookings, DJ sets, and more. “I can go through the whole list, it's kind of crazy,” he says. “Very, very busy… I have dates all the way up to November. They just keep going! This is how things are shaping up.”

Packing light, Kerri doesn’t tend to make music while on the road. “I can do edits and things, but that's about as far as I go,” he says. “When I'm home I kind of just concentrate on music, and then I go into my studio and that's the end of it.”

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I want to enjoy the music, just like everybody else is.

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Immersing himself in his New York base, Kerri Chandler literally turns his studio into a second home. Anyone is welcome, with the producer continually hooking up with fresh voices, with new talent. “Some people stick out to me,” he tells Clash. “It's energy. Some people I click with really fast, and things happen. Some people may take a longer time, drag out a bit… but if I believe in someone that's how I do it. I'm always trying to keep in touch with everybody.”

“It's always been the same thing for me: I want to bring the next generation in. I hear these people that are very talented coming in, and they're very young, and for me, I want to help them get started. That's what it is. I really believe in a lot of what they do. And it's the same for me, it keeps me energised, and I think: oh wow, this is the next level, so keep going.”

He’s certainly got the track record for it – far from resting on his laurels, Kerri’s label MadTech has sought out breaking material from the likes of Citizen, Kashii, Waze & Odyssey, and more. “I love it,” he beams. “The impromptu thing. The next generation coming in.”

Forever moving forward, Kerri Chandler immediately took up the invitation from FOUND to return to London, a city close to his heart. Always a bastion of house music, the capital even became a base for the New Jersey pioneer during a spell in the early 90s. “It's like home for me, honestly. The first time I came here was in 1990 and it's magic, for me. I just stayed, and then I kept coming back, and I made lots of friends. Every time I come back… all parts of the area, it feels like home.”

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It's a heartfelt music, you can feel the soul in it…

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During his career Kerri has witnessed firsthand the underground club culture of his youth become a global phenomenon, with house proving to be an international language. “It's something you can really feel,” he comments. “It's a heartfelt music, you can feel the soul in it from what's been done in the production, and how you even play it… people have their own personality when they mix it out. I hope it all conveys to what the people feel, as well. That's what makes it nice, that's what makes it beautiful.”

Despite inventing both house and techno, however, American audiences have only embraced electronic music on a massive scale via the EDM movement – something Kerri doesn’t feel threatened by. “Timing,” he states, “they have to learn what this stuff was before EDM. That's what it is. And they'll reach back and discover some of this stuff. That's what happens.”

Kerri, though, isn’t one to look back. “Everybody always asks me what my favourite time period was and I always say: I haven't had it yet, I'm still looking for it. And that's what keeps me going the way I do.”

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Kerri Chandler spoke to Clash backstage at FOUND Festival.

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