Label focus – Deep4Life Recordings

A tour through the catalogue of Deep4Life Recordings

Founded in October 1998 by artist and writer Chris Gray, Deep4Life is an impressive imprint that carries a certain pedigree throughout its well honed catalogue. A sleeping giant from the city of Chicago, the label put a firm emphasis on purveying ‘music that heals the soul and fills the heart’.

Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, Gray was first introduced to the music when a recording from WKKC 89.3 FM (Kennedy-King College’s radio station on the south side of Chicago) fell into his possession during the spring of 1986, courtesy of a cousin. An introductory moment that would spark a passion in him to become a new disciple of underground ambience over time. In the years that followed, Gray became an avid collector of mixtapes, which inspired him to start The Deephouse Projekt in 1990, where he explored the roots of house music and its perpetual migrations.

A few years later, he made the decision to relocate to Chicago after earning his degree in broadcast news from Mississippi State University in 1992. A chance move he decided on to follow a new dream as his hobby took over. However, he quickly learned that politics were present in many facets of Chicago life, and unfortunately the house scene was not exempt.

Undeterred, he got his head down and founded the Deep4Life imprint a few years later – thanks to the support of Chicago’s legendary Gramaphone Records. Which he selected as a hometown partner because, as he puts it, ‘they’re family, they have been supportive of house music since the start’.

As the label grew, Deep4Life birthed a rich seam of releases that helped inject a certain magic into the musical landscape during the late 90s and onwards into the 00s, that few other imprints have managed to equal. Also giving a platform to Gray’s own projects under various guises such as Moonchildren, Da Jakka, Damaged Sole, Hiemmel, and Moonjaaz – he explored different sonic personalities within the label’s ecosystem. Equally uncovering the talents of DaRand Land, John Dahlback and Ricardo Dias across a finely tuned catalogue of 20 (or so) releases of blissful spacey grooves.

In honour of the fine musical legacy that Gray laid down from 1999 to 2014, here’s a set of selections from across the Deep4Life catalogue we hope you’ll enjoy: