Kerri Chandler

One of the original creators of the deep house sound

Kerri ‘Kaoz 6:23’ Chandler is known as one of the original creators of the deep house sound. Mixing tradition with innovation, Kerri is firmly entrenched in the soulful roots of Jersey house whilst being one of the industry’s most forward-thinking artists.

Born September 28 1969, Kerri grew up in New Jersey during the days of the infamous Zanzibar club where resident DJ Tony Humphries played to adoring crowds. His father, also a DJ, heavily influenced Kerri and, from an early age, provided him with a solid knowledge base of the origins of the New York underground sound. At the tender age of 9 Kerri made his DJ debut at the 2001 venue in New Jersey.

Intrigued by the production elements of dance music, Kerri expanded to creating his own grooves on his one man label Express Records.  In 1991 Atlantic Records signed his debut single, ‘Superlover/Get It Off’, starting Kerri’s journey to greatness. Subsequent releases including the ‘Atmosphere EP’ on 157 Shelter Records and the seminal ‘Raw Grooves’ demonstrated Kerri's determination not to compromise his unique sound for commercial gain. A chance meeting in 1990 with Harlesden-based Mel Medalie of Champion Records led to a special partnership which saw Kerri open his own Madhouse Records imprint in 1991. Cuts like ‘A Basement, A Red Light And A Feelin’’ and the ‘Finger Printz EP’ were to follow, establishing Madhouse as a quality label. Kerri celebrated Madhouse’s tenth anniversary in 2001 with the release of his ‘10 Years Of Madhouse’ mix compilation.

In addition to extensive releases on Madhouse, Kerri released tracks on labels including Strictly Rhythm, Wave, South Africa’s Freetown imprint and King Street Sounds, for which he started the successful ‘Trionisphere’ series. 

In 1998 Kerri established yet another label, this time with friend and partner Dennis Ferrer. Sfere Recordings was created with the aim of exploring the varying sounds of soulful house including Brazilian, Gospel and Jazz influences. Sfere released a collection of high-quality 12” cuts including Third Generation’s ‘You Don’t Live Here Anymore’, the pair’s own ‘The Lost Tribes Of Ibadan’ volumes one and two and Kerri’s ‘Brooklyn (Where I Live)’.

Kerri prays before making a record, and injects his free spirit into his productions. With a solid education in garage grooves, Kerri takes vocals, rhythms and instruments and, with uncanny precision, pieces them together, delivering beautiful, uplifting tracks.
 
He has remixed the work of Ultra Nate, Anastacia and Byron Stingily to name a few and recent releases including ‘Bar a Thym/Sunshine & Twilight’ and ‘Sunset’ on Nitegrooves, ‘Return 2 Acid’ on Large, and ‘A Demo By 6:23’ have further reinforced Kerri’s reputation as a true master of house.