Jeremiah Seraphine has been at the forefront of Chicago’s vibrant music scene for more than 10 years, both as a Producer/DJ and a promoter. He co-founded 3 Degrees Global, the Safe House and Revolutionary Music. He organized the 2007 Afrique Rhythm Fest, a two-day outdoor music festival, collaborating with the City of Chicago to bring performers from as far as Nigeria, Mali, Zimbabwe and Trinidad. He co-wrote, Forever, a house music hit that stayed on the Billboard Club Play Chart for more than 16 weeks. He is a writer who has worked as a contributing editor for 5 Magazine, a Chicago based house music magazine. He is also an acclaimed DJ who has performed in most major U.S. cities, England, Scotland, and Belgium under his given name and various aliases.
Jeremiah was introduced to underground house music in the early 90s at a basement on Chicago’s west side. His electronic music education continued after moving to Gainesville, Florida to attend college. There he was introduced to a members-only nightclub called Simons where DJs from around the world were flown in to play for one of the world’s most receptive crowds. It was at Simon’s where Jeremiah became friends with one of his earliest DJ influences, DJ Chang.
In 1996, Jeremiah moved back to Chicago to finish his B.A. at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During this time he began organizing loft parties with a fellow student Sanjay Meta. It was at these parties that Jeremiah first worked with DJs Heather, Lil John, and Jevon Jackson among others.
In 1997, Jeremiah founded a party crew called Deep Funkshunz with two friends from high school, Dan Ryan and Julian Clark, and another friend from UIC, Priti Gandhi. Deep Funkshunz organized a number of very successful loft and warehouse parties throughout Chicago and launched a Thursday night bash near the UIC campus at Café Penelope called the Mood Room.
Thursday’s at the Mood Room were the beginnings of what would eventually become 3 Degrees Global. Every Thursday after the Mood Room, the crew would go to Shelter or Karma. It was at Karma late one Thursday night that Jeremiah and the Deep Funkshunz crew met DJ Monna and the Mad Thinker. Soon Monna and the Mad Thinker were regulars at the Mood Room.
In 1998 Deep Funkshunz rented a house on north Wood Street and converted the interior into an underground speakeasy that was dubbed the Deep House. For nearly a year the Deep House, near the corner of Wood and Webster, was the premier after hours spot in Chicago.
In 1999 Julian Clark and Jeremiah were contacted by an old high school friend who owned part of a bar in downtown Chicago called Sidecar. The only night available was a Wednesday night. Jeremiah, Julian, DJ Monna, the Mad Thinker, and Dell Dyson decided to work together on the night. Jeremiah came up with the name and concept of 3 Degrees in order to promote the Wednesday night party. The concept quickly turned into a phenomenon that grew exponentially. Within three years 3 Degrees had more than 5000 members and a monthly residency in San Francisco. When the crowd out grew the venue, the weekly party was moved to Zentra, one of Chicago’s largest nightclubs.
While working under the 3 Degrees brand, Jeremiah was able to DJ along side some of the biggest talents in house music including Frankie Knuckles, Miguel Migs, Derrick Carter, Colette, Mark Grant, Lisa Shaw, Ron Carroll, Ron Trent, E-Man, and Traxx to name a few. Additionally, Jeremiah traveled to San Francisco on a monthly basis and went to WMC in South Beach nearly every year where he made close friendships with house music aficionados from around the world.
In 2001 Jeremiah began working on original productions in the studio. During every trip to San Francisco he’d work with Eliga Mayhew, one of the owners on Panhandle Records. In Chicago, he worked with Bryan Ford, Monna, and Kevin Ford as the Lake Street Project as well as with Bryan Ford alone as Seraphine & B. Ford. These collaborations yielded a number of releases and remixes on labels such as Whitebeard, Four Play Music, and Forever Soul.
In 2004 Jeremiah left 3 Degrees to launch his own label, Revolutionary Music with production partner Bryan Ford. Months after launching the label Revolutionary Music collaborated with a talented art director named Andy Mason to convert a loft space in downtown Chicago into a underground night spot called the Safe House.
The now legendary Safe House parties showcased DJs and musicians from around the world over an astounding 3 year run as an invitation-only underground night spot. At the Safe House Jeremiah DJed along side artists as diverse as Total Eclipse of the Executioners, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Baldwin Brothers, DJ Harri (Glasgow), Fred Everything (Montreal), Tarek (Rio de Janeiro), DJ Afro of Los Amigos Invisibles (Caracas), and many more.
In 2007 after the closing of the Safe House Jeremiah was hired to organize the Afrique Rhythm Fest on the behalf of Afrique Newsmagazine. Jeremiah coordinated and managed the free two-day outdoor music festival, which was held on the campus of Truman College. He worked with Mayor Richard Daley’s office, Alderman Shiller’s office, the Chicago World Music Festival, the City of Chicago’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the African Business Association to showcase musicians such as Lekan Babalola, Louis Mhlanga, Balla Kouyate, Lenky Don, DJ Le Spam, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Mr. A.L.I. and others. Jeremiah also performed at the festival.
In 2008 Revolutionary Music signed a marketing and distribution deal with the EsNtion label group that guarantees that the music will reach the far corners of the globe.
Currently, Jeremiah DJs and produces music under various guises, organizes underground parties and nightclub events and looks for the next opportunity to push the envelope.
