Born and raised in the western suburbs, Derrick
was into music from a young age, but during his teens Chicago's house scene
sucked him in for good. Before long Derrick became a strong presence in
Chicago's underground dance scene. "When I got my driver's license at 16 my
sneak ability was validated," he laughs. "I was a fierce bedroom jock for a long
time. After you mix for the love of it for six or seven years, you get it pretty
tight and you can take it on the road." Derrick got by working at dance-music
specialty stores like
Gramaphone and gigging at parties. LaterDerrick landed
regular DJ stints at Shelter, Foxy's, and Smart
Bar.
Though he doesn't spin much locally anymore, when
he does he attracts large crowds. Derrick's sets are rooted in house, but he
freely travels outside club tastes, seamlessly incorporating old-school disco,
soul, jazz, and whatever else catches his fancy. Most of the timeDerrick works
in Europe, where he's become a major celebrity among dance-music aficionados.
And the money's a hell of a lot better there. "It's hard not to laugh on the
occasions when you'll make 20 times what you make in Chicago on a Saturday
night, but there are also times
when you do it just for the fun, like at home. So many people come up to me and
say, 'Man, I had the worst day. My girlfriend left me, I locked my keys in my
car, but you turned me for two hours, and that made me able to get up in the
morning.' That's the best thing going."
In 1988 Derrick, fellow DJ Mark Farina, and friend
Chris Nazuka released an EP as the group Symbols & Instruments. The
record had a strong influence on the burgeoning ambient techno movement in
England. While it wasn't a commercial success, it established Derrick as an
international figure in the dance-music underground. Since then he's been
involved with a number of recording projects, firstly his solo project Sound
Patrol under whom he released his first album 'Sweetened -No Lemon' which exuded
a soulfulness and low-key grittiness that resonated beyond the infectious
grooves and made a departure from the machine-like quality of the dance music
fare of the time.
Since then the pioneering, innovative tracks and
consequent critical acclaim have marked Derrick out as one of the most
important players in dance music. Most notably through his more recent
releases on Classic. His first release was as Rednail with 'I Think of You',
followed by Nu Pschidt and Hope under his own name. Nü Pschidt combined
woven scatting with sleepy minimal beats on 'Dreaming Again'
and skilfully cast his own low, sexy drawl over his trademark Carter grooves to
form 'Boompty Boomp Theme', described by Seven
magazine as 'without doubt the slinkiest and downright funkiest
track I've heard for a long time.' Derrick's latest Classic
release 'Hope' is again causing a storm amongst DJs and press
alike and his Classic album is eagerly awaited and expected for release sometime
within the next year.
Derrick Carter is most definitely bringing the
Boompty Boomp back to the
dancefloor!