The last time we interviewed Chicago-based producer, DJ, and Oktave boss Jeff Derringer was in September of 2016. A lot has happened in the world, and with Jeff personally, since that time. He played fantastic gigs at Bassiani in Georgia and Berghain in Berlin, and we even had the pleasure of hosting him in Los Angeles for one of our WORK events.
This past summer, however, Jeff was forced to take a break from performing to fight a relapse of cancer. This meant undergoing major surgery to remove the tumor and lymph nodes in his neck, as well as post-surgery chemo and Proton Theraphy. When he announced the unfortunate news on social media, Jeff made a promise to himself, “I’ve beaten this dreadful disease once before and I fully intend on doing so again.” Needless to say, he fought hard and kept his word following several harsh months that required him to take a step back from touring and his involvement with Chicago’s techno scene as a Smartbar resident and head of Oktave.
The great news is that Jeff is back behind the booth and ready to tour once more. Not only that, but he took what was undoubtedly an unfortunate situation and made the most of it, using the down-time at his disposal to produce music and launch Oktave Records, a goal of his that he had had for quite some time now. The label debuted with Jeff’s very own Control EP, featuring three originals from the man himself, and also kicked off a podcast mix series that has so far hosted quality techno the likes of Iori, Altstadt Echo and Annie Hall.
In light of all of this we decided that it was time to sit down with Jeff newly and go through everything that has happened in the second half of 2017, as well as to look ahead to the future that is now surely ahead of him!
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