As one-half of
Sfere
Recordings along with house legend Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer’s name
has
rapidly built momentum over the past five years amongst house music
aficionados. Ferrer's soulful and afro-house influenced productions
have
appeared on leading house music labels stateside and in Europe.
With a
discography of original productions that extend from respected labels
such as
Sfere, Ibadan, Large, and King Street to Basic Recordings, Madhouse and
Chillifunk, Ferrer is poised at the very top of the game. He is
also
widely accepted as one of the leading remixers of this generation of
deep house
producers and has lent additional production to multiple works on
Distant,
Defected, Papa, King Street, Large and Slip n Slide labels to name a
few. Hits of the past include afro-house biggies “Funu”
(Basic
Recordings), “Ko Ko” (Ibadan), “Reach 4
Freedom”
(Kingstreet) and “Dem People Go” (Kingstreet) to soulful numbers such
as
“Wonderful People” (Metaphor), “Joy to the World” (Sfere) and his
classic Soul
Collective series on Large Records. Currently buzzing from the
Ferrer
catalogue: his exquisite production of “It’s A Beautiful
Life”, a
remix of S.U.M.O’s “Stay”, and the sublime “Sandcastles”
(co-produced
with Ibadan’s Jerome Sydenham), reworkings of D’Jaimin’s “Oule
Oule”
(Slip N’ Slide) and Dubtribe System’s “Nothing Is Impossible”
(Defected).
Ferrer’s interest in
production and dance first led him into the world of early 90’s
electronic
music. After a number of years working with the critically acclaimed
Synewave
label from New York, he connected
with Kerri
Chandler who re-introduced him to the soul and funk of music from his
youth via
House. Ferrer’s love of such artists as T-Connection, DJ Rodgers, early
Herbie
Hancock, early Cameo and Confunkshun finally found ways to surface in
his
music. Chandler instantly recognized Ferrer’s talent for
production and
business sense and together they formed Sfere Recordings in 1998 (Sfere
being a
name derived from Chandler’s Shelter / Ibadan classic “Atmosphere”
combined with
Ferrer’s old techno alias “Aurasphere”). The label was
devised with
the ambitions of exploring many different aspects of soulful house
including
Brazilian, Gospel and Jazz sounds. The emphasis at Sfere is clearly,
however,
focused on songs since both partners believe in the timelessness of a
great
song.
Ferrer’s DJ career runs in
tangent with his increased visibility as a producer and his creative
reach
covers five continents. December 2003
saw his return to South Africa for a Heineken sponsored series of
events
alongside UK DJ powerhouse, Pete Tong. He has traveled to
multiple
European markets and played with regularity in many of the major venues
in
countries such as the UK (MOS, Soul Heaven, Back To Basics,
Ultragroove, Angel
Deelite, Neighbourhood), France (Cheers, Sunslice Festival,
L’Ambassade, La
Noche Festival, Queen), Scandinavia (Hultsfred Festival, Jeriko),
Benulux
(Pizzaz!), Russia (Propaganda), Greece (Balux), Italy (Red Zone), Japan
(Module) and S. E. Asia (Club Ohm and Rouge). In
North
America he has crossed the continent with performances in NYC, San
Diego, San
Francisco, Chicago, Miami, LA, Toronto and Montreal