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Man-child from Chi-town >> Catching DJ Derrick Carter in his crib by KRISTA
"I'm really only 12 or 13 years old," he chuckles over the phone from his home in Chicago. "I"m enjoying that perpetual boyhood thing, the elfin stage." This revelation comes as a response to my asking him how old he is. "Old enough to know better," was his first reply. This man-child, who is arguably one of the best house DJs and producers in the world, is in his kitchen roasting peppers. An image that those of us familiar with his turntabling skills and auxiliary party pig lifestyle might hold in our minds. Derrick is making dinner for his boyfriend, and I can hear the bang and clank of kitchen utensils in the background. How domestic. "I'm a good cook," he tells me. I'm starting to wonder if there's anything Carter isn't good at. Certainly, every musical trend he's fooled around with has been successful for him. Speaking of which, what is this Peter Pan up to lately? "Right now I'm experimenting with everything that is musically contrary," he says. "I'm into doing opposites. Changing my standards. I like to practice being different." As you read this, Carter is working on a 12" for Montreal's Bombay label, which should be ready just in time for the big-deal Miami Music Conference in March. Aside from that, he's just taking it easy for a little while. Truth is, there aren't that many responsibilities in the life of a superstar DJ. Carter is only in Chicago for about three months of the year. The other nine or so, he's collecting airmiles and playing parties from Berlin to Bali. "There isn't too much that I have to worry about," he admits. "It's all just 'fly here, go there, meet people, hang out, whatever.' I have a pretty simple life." Carter has now moved over into his living room to open his mail. "Gotta love those FedEx cash advances," he gurgles as I hear him rip open a package. "Money's one thing that I have started to take more seriously. I'm trying to be less extravagant, because there's no such thing as a DJ pension." At Stereo for the launch of Miguel Graça's Watchalike EP, with Graça, MG, Nav, Mika and Patrick Dream, Friday, February 5, 2am, $20
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Derrick Carter is regressing. Not because of any illness or ailment... his regression is a conscious choice. He's willingly letting himself revert back to a child-like state.