Derrick Carter
One of the pinnacles of Chicago house music's '90s wave, Derrick Carter began DJ’ing at the age of nine, spinning disco records at family reunions. Born and raised in the western suburbs, Carter was into music from a young age, but during his teens Chicago's house scene sucked him in for good. Before long Carter became a strong presence in the city'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." He got by working at dance-music specialty stores like Gramaphone and gigging at parties. Later he 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. Most of the time he works in Europe, where he's become a minor celebrity among dance-music aficionados :
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“Its hard not to laugh on the occaisions when you’ll make 20 times what you make in Chicago on a Saturday night, but back home there are also times when you just do it for fun… 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 it around for two hours, and that made me able to get up in the morning’ That’s the best thing going.”
Derrick’s sets are rooted in house, but he freely travels outside club tastes, seamlessly incorporating old-school disco, soul, jazz and whatever catches his fancy.
His debut single "Love Me Right" appeared in 1987, just after he graduated from college. Another single ("Symbols and Instruments" as Mood) appeared in 1989, but the Chicago house scene faded soon after, leaving Carter and other artists with few to play for except themselves.
Thanks in part to Cajmere's and Felix Da Housecat's respective labels (Relief, Radikal Fear), Chicago house made a comeback during the mid-'90s and began to offer impressive newcomers in addition to the old guard. Carter, recording for the Organico label, returned with several singles, and an album as Sound Patrol. In 1995, he began working with a live band as the Sound Patrol Orchestra.
Several mix albums have appeared, including Cosmic Disco on MixMag and Pagan Offering on Pagan. Carter has also founded two labels (Blue Cucaracha and Classic) and remixed tracks from Chicago's own post-rock heroes Tortoise. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Since then pioneering, innovative tracks and consequent critical acclaim have repeatedly marked Derrick out as once of the most important players in Dance music.
Carter says that due to his growing notoriety his production talents have been requested by pop-oriented acts. But he prefers to remain underground. Although enthused about his own Blue Cucaracha label and a new UK-based imprint he runs called Classic, he's reluctant to offer much explanation of either label's MO-other than each releases records when the mood strikes him:
"I like to keep myself pretty invisible. You may think I'm somewhere, but I've already left."
Their Resident Advisor profile, in full and unedited.
Records out on Classic, Cajual Records, Slip n Slide, EMI Records, Prescription, Back to Basics Recordings, Vizual Records, System Recordings, Magnetic Recordings and Circus Recordings. — their own list on Resident Advisor
The nights
2026
- Sat 10 OctKnockdown Centerfirst time
- Fri 14 AugNowadaystheir 2nd night
- Sat 20 JunHouse of Yestheir 2nd night
- Thu 11 JunH0L0their 2nd night · H0L0 NYC, Metronome
- Fri 10 AprSignaltheir 2nd night · Signal NYC
2025 — 4 nights
- Sat 13 Dec 2025The Chocolate Factoryfirst time
- Fri 8 Aug 2025Nowadaysfirst time
- Sun 1 Jun 2025Signalfirst time · Golden Record NYC, Signal NYC
- Sat 1 Feb 2025SILOtheir 2nd night
2024 — 5 nights
- Sun 17 Nov 2024public recordsfirst time · Revival_nyc
- Fri 6 Sep 2024H0L0first time · ReSolute, Soul Clap
- Fri 28 Jun 2024TBA - Under the K BridgeLadyfag, The Bowery Presents
- Fri 10 May 2024SILOfirst time
- Fri 23 Feb 2024Kings Hall - Avant Gardnerfirst time · Avant Gardner, copacetic
2023 — 2 nights
- Sat 18 Nov 2023House of Yesfirst time
- Sat 23 Sep 2023Superior Ingredientsfirst time · MeanRed Productions
Their rooms
One tick a night, on the one axis this page has — Aug 2023, where the listings start, to Jan 2027, the last night anybody has announced. The shaded end has not happened yet.
- NowadaysAug 2025 – Aug 20262 nights
- House of YesNov 2023 – Jun 20262 nights
- H0L0Sep 2024 – Jun 20262 nights
- SignalJun 2025 – Apr 20262 nights
- SILOMay 2024 – Feb 20252 nights
Once each: Knockdown Center, The Chocolate Factory, public records, Kings Hall - Avant Gardner and Superior Ingredients. One of the 16 listings never named a room, and is not counted as one.
Who they play with
Counted from the bills themselves, over bills of twelve names or fewer. A pair's count includes a night that is announced and not yet played; where there is one, the row says when.
- Justin Cudmorepublic records ×1, Signal ×1 · Nov 2024 – Apr 20262 nights
- Mark FarinaH0L0 ×1, SILO ×1 · May 2024 – Sep 20242 nights
The nights, the rooms and the bills are the listings themselves. The biography, the labels and the photograph are Resident Advisor's. Nothing on this page was written for it.