Chez Damier
Chicago-born, Detroit-trained: Chez Damier helped open the Music Institute, worked at KMS and co-founded Prescription with Ron Trent in 1993.
- Chicago-born DJ and producer, active in Detroit from the late 1980s.
- Co-founder of the Music Institute club; label manager and artist at Kevin Saunderson’s KMS.
- Co-founded Prescription and Balance Recordings with Ron Trent in 1993.
Chez Damier sits where Detroit and Chicago meet. He helped run the Detroit club where techno found an early home, managed a label for one of its founders, then went back to Chicago and, with Ron Trent, made deep house records that collectors later had to dig for.
The Music Institute and KMS
Damier grew up in Chicago. In the late 1980s, in Detroit, he co-founded the Music Institute with Alton Miller and George Baker — a club credited with helping shape Detroit techno. He also managed and recorded for KMS, Kevin Saunderson’s label.
Among his KMS releases is “Can U Feel It” (1992), a four-track record with a club vocal mix, a dub, an M.K. dub and “A 2 1/2 Step”, bringing together Damier, MK and Derrick May on the various mixes.
Prescription and Balance
Around 1993 Damier moved back to Chicago and teamed up with Ron Trent. They recorded together as Chez & Trent for KMS — “Untitled” came out on the label in 1994 — and in 1993 they founded two labels: Prescription, mainly for their own tracks, and Balance Recordings, for other artists. Damier later recalled that when their time at KMS ended, the pair took over Kevin Saunderson’s studio, and that is how Prescription began.
Singles such as “Morning Factory”, “Sometimes I Feel Like”, “The Choice” and “Be My” came out through the mid-1990s. Trent described the aim as “to raise the fidelity for music coming out of Chicago”.
Split, silence and return
The partnership ended over musical differences. Damier looked after Balance for a while, then stepped away from music around the turn of the millennium; a few releases in 2004 and occasional DJ dates hinted at a comeback. He came back in earnest in 2009, working with the German labels Mojuba and Yore, and set up Balance Alliance to showcase mainly new European talent. He also helped write The Gathering’s 2010 club track “In My System”, and in 2012 recorded RA.305 for Resident Advisor’s podcast series. In early 2017 Amsterdam’s Rush Hour gathered the Prescription catalogue in a six-vinyl box set, Prescription: Word, Sound & Power; the label’s Antal recalled digging through Dutch bargain bins to find copies.
In the mix
Keep digging with Alton Miller, his partner at the Music Institute, Kevin Saunderson’s “Big Fun” by Inner City, and the Chicago songwriting of Jamie Principle.
FAQ
Who is Chez Damier?
A Chicago-born house DJ and producer who worked in Detroit from the late 1980s, then co-founded Prescription Records with Ron Trent in Chicago in 1993.
What is Prescription Records?
The Chicago deep house label Chez Damier and Ron Trent founded in 1993, mostly for their own tracks. Rush Hour collected its records in the box set Prescription: Word, Sound & Power.
What did Chez Damier release on KMS?
Among others “Can U Feel It” (1992), with a dub by MK and the track “A 2 1/2 Step”, and the Chez & Trent records made with Ron Trent, such as “Untitled”.
