Dance music singers should be seen and heard

Dance music singers should be seen and heard

25 May, 2009 | 5.00AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: kerri chandler, technology

Barbara Tucker, Michelle Weeks, Kenny Bobien and other famous house music vocalists appeared on stage at Britain’s Southport Weekender last weekend. They weren’t on the bill. They weren’t invited. They weren’t even real. But “if you weren’t paying attention, you would have sworn they were actually there in person,” says US DJ Kerri Chandler, who conjured up the apparitions in the middle of his set.

Kerri Chandler believes singers should be seen and heard. He feels so strongly about this, that he built a system that enables him to project singing and dancing 3D holograms of the vocalists behind the tracks in his collection, as he plays them in clubs. He hopes that by taking the spotlight away from the DJ booth and shining it onto the vocalists, their efforts and talent will be recognised.

“You never see vocalists in the clubs anymore,” says Kerri, who seems angry, perhaps even sad about their absence. “Nowadays, it’s all about the DJs and the producers, but the singers behind the records, the beautiful voices that gave house music its soul, deserve attention.”

House music, for all its merits, is impersonal. The music is about feeling, and its beats are above all else, designed to make your feet move. The human voice on the other hand, touches the heart. It reaches deep into the soul and caresses the very fiber of human conditioning. It awakens memories, emphasizes connection, and enlightens the spirit. There is no abstraction with the spoken word, only truth, from a fellow human being. Kerri Chandler understands this, and he wants you to get it too.

“The idea to use 3D holograms actually started out as a joke,” reveals Kerri. “One day, I thought ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I could split myself into two on stage?’. Then I thought, if I could split myself in two, maybe one Kerri could DJ and the other Kerri could play the bongos or the sax. Then I thought, ‘why not make a whole band?’. If I could do that, then I should probably include some friends, and that led me to bringing in the vocalists.”

Kerri Chandler spent “days and days” in New York filming some of the world’s most famous house music vocalists, recording them perform some of their most famous hits. Then he flew to Maryland and filmed some more. Altogether he captured 45 singers. The queen of house vocalists, Barbara Tucker, “was a huge help with organising the filming.”

Then Chandler started looking at the best visual projectors on the market, and discovered a special plexiglass screen that has a plug in that can make images 3D. “Basically, when you look through the screen it’s like having giant 3D glasses on,” says Kerri, who was gobsmacked to discover his videos appeared like lifelike holograms when played through the system. “I rendered all the videos to HD, and timecoded them to the original audio. I then worked with the guys from DJ software company PCDJ to ensure that the visuals would appear in sync with the tracks as I spun them.

I believe this is the first wave of next level visuals. Visuals up until this point, had been more of a distraction than a compliment in clubs, but the 3D vocalists worked perfectly with the music I played. It made sense.

“We had to get some special equipment for it all to work. The videos alone take up two terabytes. We had to get some SATA drives that communicate at 1.5 Gbit/s, which was needed to send the video feeds. You need that kind of power. We then had to rent a truck just to move the screen and all the gear. It was a lot of work.”

After a successful test run at a gig at Santo’s Party House in New York, Chandler plotted to take his holograms on the road for a performance at Britain’s largest house music festival, Southport Weekender. “Thank God, the guys in Britain managed to hire everything so we didn’t have to fly it all over,” says Kerri, laughing. Despite a magnitude of probable technical errors, the holograms did their job at Southport. The crowd was blown away. They had never seen anything like it. Afterwards, everyone was speaking about the vocalists, not about Chandler’s DJing.

“I have received so many emails from people who are totally shocked. No one had expected to see anything like that,” he says. “I believe this is the first wave of next level visuals. Visuals up until this point, had been more of a distraction than a compliment in clubs, but the 3D vocalists worked perfectly with the music I played. It made sense.”

For now, the visual revolution continues from the DJ booth led by Chandler, who admits that it’s “one giant experiment”. The next stage is to make the show a lot more portable, and he is currently investigating an illusionary technique from the 1890s called Pepper’s ghost, which uses plate glass and special lighting techniques, to make objects appear or disappear. “A company called Laird Plastics has been sending me all sorts of polycarbonate samples which we’re playing with right now. The dream is to be able to roll it up and carry it with me to every show,” says Kerri Chandler, the club magician and future martyr for house music vocalists.

Kerri Chandler’s greatest house music singers

Kerri Chandler wants the world to recognise the vocalists who gave house music its soul. He wants you to know who these people are.

Mia Tuttavilla – Dennis Ferrer ‘Touched The Sky’ (Defected/Nitegrooves)

Grace, love, passion and light. She’s a true artist, and someone that makes me think very deeply about everything.

SuSu Bobien – Danny Clark ‘Wonderous’ (Deep Dub) (Strictly Rhythm)

The power in her words and the conviction makes me feel like I wont have a problem in the world.

Monique Bingham – Quentin Harris ‘Poor People’ (Strictly Rhythm)

We had a thing. It made me want to really know who she was, and what made her tick.

Barbara Tucker – Barbara Tucker ‘Beautiful People’ (Strictly Rhythm)

The mother of all vocalists, A leader and someone we all love and cherish. I have never met anyone who knows their craft that well.

Sheila Ford – DJ Spen ‘Always’ (Code Red)

She has such a presence, and that song makes me choke up.

Biblical Jones – The Muthafunkaz ‘Galaxy’ (Code Red)

Watching Sheila and Biblical Jones do this song was incredible!

Marc Evans – Ron Hall, The MuthaFunkaz ‘The Way You Love Me’ (Defected)

What a voice! Marc is so damn smooth.

Flora Cruz – Flora Cruz ‘Let The Sun Shine Out’ (Need2Soul Music)

Flora is a sweetheart and you can’t help but sing along with her.

Darryl D’Bonneau – Lenny Fontana ‘Pow Pow Pow’ (Strictly Rhythm)

He can sing his ass off, that’s for sure.

Arnold Jarvis – Arnold Jarvis ‘Inspiration’ (Music For A Lifetime)

One of my dearest friends and I have seen people cry when he sings.

Michelle Weeks – Michelle Weeks ‘Gotta Keep Trying’ (Basement Boys Records)

She will make you get the hell out of your rut in less than a half hour.

Cassio Ware – Cassio Ware ‘Paradise’ (Playhouse)

He has to many fun songs that it was hard for me to pick one. I love how bold he is. He’s a very cool brother.

Kenny Bobien – Kenny Bobien ‘You Gave Me Love’ (Basement Boys Records)

He has a way of making you want to keep hearing his songs over and over, and no one can sing them like Kenny can.

Dawn Tallman – Dawn Tallman ‘Save A Place On The Dance Floor For Me’ (West End Records)

Dawn is the bomb, I love the way she can set it off. She make you feel so at home with any song she does.

Eddie Nicolas

He’s a one man party.

Jada

This woman is a star! I wish the world could see her perform, what a beautiful woman.

James D Train

This man is the reason I even started listening to dance music, I feel very honored to have him as a friend.

Una

She is one of the most wonderful people I have met and has a heart of gold.

Wayne & Marcelle

The party has started!

Krystine Walker

I think she gonna be the next Martha Wash if she gets the right folks behind her.

Duce Martinez

He’s gonna blow up the spot watch…

Christopher McCray

He has a hell of a way to make you dance and should have been in stand up, like for real. He is the funniest person I know.

Queen Aaminah

She is way ahead of her time and has the best flow I have ever heard, mad skills!

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