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Christopher Lawrence
When did you start going to parties?
I guess when I was fifteen years old They werent raves back then but they were all night parties and it was all electronic music, stuff like New Order, Depeche Mode, Front 242, stuff like that. It was almost the same as what raves are now. Theyd start at midnight and go til 7:00 a.m. and everyone was partying really hard and there were lasers, they would do them in one-off venues. They were almost like the precursors to the raves. In fact, the music that was played there kind of mutated into acid house and eventually into what we know today as traditional rave music. So, yeah, thats how it started.
When did you buy your first set of turntables?
I always had collected that kind of music but I really started collecting acid house in 1990 and thats when I started buying that music and got my turntables.
When did you start DJing professionally?
First paid gig was in 1991. We got $50 between three of us. Thats the first party I ever did where I got paid. I had been doing house parties and free parties at Golden Gate park and stuff but this was the first time I had played at a club. There were three of us and this guy said, Look, you guys are pretty good. Well give you $50 to play at this club. And we thought, Oh my God, were getting paid! It was, like, $15 each at the end of the night but thats when it started, 1991.
Your mum was very supportive when you were debating if you should attempt a career as a dj. Do you think you would have taken the chance if she hadnt encouraged you?
I would have done it anyway but its nice to have the support of your family. Everyone, actually, was really supportive; my father more so when I became successful because he knew Id no longer be calling him up, asking him for assistance.
Your wife also plays a very big role in your career. Is she your manager?
Yeah. She was my booking agent for three years as well and shes the best booking agent I ever had. I was the only one on her roster, it was great. And now, still, she updates my website, she oversees the labels that I do and my current booking agent. I rely on her one hundred percent.
You have a new cd coming out, Exposure IV. What does the title mean?
Exposure IV is the fourth cd in a series put out by Hook Recordings in the UK System Recordings in New York has just put it out (in North America) and its out now.
I was surprised to find out you already had a new album on the way since its only been about a year since Around the World came out. Does Exposure IV complete Around the Worlds journey or is it a new perspective?
Every time I do a new cd I try to capture a two hour set in 72 minutes. So, I guess you could say that each successive cd is a snapshot in time of where Im at in my life and in my career and in the music that Im playing. So, Exposure IV captures the moment right now.
How do you go about selecting the tracks youll put on each cd?
Ive got a lot of friends who make music so Ill contact all of them and Ill say, Look, Im going to put out a new cd. Give me what youve got. So Ill get hundreds of cds with music on them, new records, plus I’ll go through the current records that Im playing that I like the most and then its just a process of elimination, of just playing all those records over and over again and listening to them, picking out the ones that I think best represent my sound as well as the ones that I think would translate well to cd. Theres certain records that Ill play out live that are fantastic but on a cd they dont translate as well, theres just something about them, that if youre going to be listening to it over and over, it just doesnt work. And its a process. Ill burn cds for myself and listen to them and see how they work until Ive picked out the records that work best together, best represent the sound, and sound good when listening to it whole, on a cd I actually really dont like making compilation cds. Its the most agonizing thing for me, Id much rather play live. When youre playing live youre looking out at an audience, youve got feedback going on in the moment. When youre doing a compilation cd youre by yourself, looking at a wall. It is just much more difficult.
As well, in 2003 you have another cd coming out which features all self-produced tracks.
Its coming out late spring, early summer. Its actually already done but were just waiting because I dont want to put the album out right next to the compilation. But its done and ready to go.
When youre in the studio do you try to create the perfect track?
Yeah, thats exactly what I try to do. Actually, I go in and I listen over and over to my favourite tracks of the time and then try to make something that incorporates those sounds but, hopefully, does it in the way I would most want it to be. It doesnt always work. Ive got a lot of tracks that have never come out and will never see the light of day because theyre so crap, but, there are always the good ones and those are the ones that you hang on to and get on the album.
You have a song featured on the Space-Ibiza 2002 cd. Were you a regular at Ibiza this past summer?
You know I actually didnt make it. The date that I was planning to do got cancelled so then I was rescheduled but when I was rescheduled I was already booked over here so it just never happened this year. It was a bit of a mistake on my agents and Ibizas booking agent.
Did you blame it on your wife?
NO! My wife had nothing to do with it. Its never her fault.
This question may now be inapplicable, but, is your style of music received well in Ibiza?
When Ive played there in the past its been received really well. I think mainly because the deep progressive sound kind of dominated Europe and the UK and while that music is really good I think that the people on the dancefloor want a bit more energy so I think that when US DJs go there and play our underground, more powerful progressive and trance, the crowd goes insane for it, theyre starved for that kind of music. Ive been really well received. I was just in the UK three weeks ago and I was playing up at Gods Kitchen and then down in Brighton and Im already going back in February.
You just finished the Dual-Play tour, sponsored by Play Station 2. How do you feel about all the corporate sponsorship nowadays?
Ive actually come around to find that it can help the scene because, for example with Play Station, it allows Dan and I to tour together and do events that normally thered only be one of us because of the support of Play Station and, because they financially backed the tour and they were able to book two DJs instead of just one and it being a tour it gave it a lot more interest because theres two guys, Dan and I, on tour for two months. It was really fantastic because as the tour progressed the momentum grew and also, for me personally, (usually) Im travelling by myself for two or three days a week. Its great when youre at the party but when youre not at the party youre all alone. You spend the whole day by yourself, all the time And when I was on tour with Dan there was always someone else there. Like when something goes wrong at the airport theres someone there to go through with it and Dan was wonderful, we were laughing the whole time. It was like one big party. And hadnt it been for the corporate sponsorship we wouldnt have had that experience. I think that if its done properly it can also be beneficial to the audience. As I say, it would normally just be one of us but you get two. Two for one!
You have information on the RAVE Act on your website. If this act is made law it will have major ramifications on the party scene. I have yet to see any other DJ post such information. Why do you think few DJs have been proactive in the fight to defuse the RAVE Act?
You know, I have no answer for that. Theyre basically cowards If the DJs dont set the precedent and let people know then the apathy that runs rampant within our scene is going to kill our scene. I dont think that people realize that this Act is very detrimental. It can have huge ramifications over time, not just for us but for other styles of music. Theyre targeting electronic music initially but who’s to stop them from going after hip hop or other types of music afterwards, which they will do. And I think, traditionally, electronic music has been apolitical,, which to a certain extent has helped us survive all these years because other movements like the punk movement or the hippies, in those genres of music, in the sixties and seventies, because they were so political they drew heavy attention from the media, from the government, and it also caused rifts within those scenes, you know, because the politics. Electronic music has traditionally been apolitical, meaning there were no general politics involved. We just did our own thing and it was only about the music. That was fine until now but now people have to take action, we have to participate. We cant just let this happen. Its unfortunate that other DJs are not stepping forward because at the end of the day theyre the ones that arent going to have a place to play and my message is get out there and vote. I know that Im in Canada but I hope that people across the border hear and read about what is going on because its important and whose to say that its not going to happen in Canada.
Why does trance have such a bad reputation?
I dont know. You could say the same thing about any type of music but theres good trance and bad trance. I think about two years ago that really epic, cheesy trance got a lot of attention. Ive never played that, none of my friends ever played that but the fact is that theres a lot of cheesy people out there that were listening to that and because it was in the name of trance there was a bit of a negative connotation to it but you could say that about any type of music. Theres good and bad, its just up to the individual to find the good stuff.
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