Christopher Lawrence – Guest Reviewer @ Trackitdown
Christopher Lawrence is a true pioneer. This year electronic music culture has experienced a renaissance in North America, and we’re proud to speak to one of its founding fathers.
For 20 years or more, Christopher has probably spent more time in airports than at home as he and fellow heroes like DJ Dan and Badboy Bill shuttled across the USA and beyond teaching the States about dance music.
Recently he’s become synonymous with trance music and we’re proud to present his new compilation album on Pharmacy Records to you. But before you check that out, read this and learn!
Where are you right now and what have you been up to over the last 7 days?
Right now I am in my studio putting the final touches to this month’s Rush Hour radio show. Last night my wife, Sara, and I played a great club in Los Angeles as Mr & Mrs Smith, my DJ side project. Last Saturday I played an amazing event in Washington DC called Fall Massive that was truly massive. In between all of that, I have been going through new music and prepping the next release on Pharmacy Music.
Is there anything you know now as a music industry professional that you wish you knew back at the start?
Yes…that it is not all about parties! There is a lot of work involved, from touring to producing to social networking to radio shows to labels and everything else in between. I guess that is why it is called “the music industry.” There are never enough hours in the day but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
You are one of the pioneers of the North American rave scene. Tell us all about those early days, how did you get into the scene and what were the parties like in the ‘wild west’!?
It truly was the ‘wild west’! Back in the mid nineties there were massive raves every weekend with ten to twenty thousand people. Everyone dressed up in crazy outfits and partied hard. In those days the focus wasn’t so much on the DJ as a performer on stage. The DJ would be on the ground floor in amongst the crowd. We were spinning vinyl on turntables which were usually sitting on card tables. The tables would get bumped and the needle would skip, or someone would trip over the power cord and the all the lights and music would go off. It was insane times!
USA is famously undertaking a renaissance period for dance music right now. How has that come about and what does it mean for the scene?
Right now is a fantastic time for dance music in the States. Dance music never had the commercial success here that it did in the UK and Europe. It has been a very slow and steady climb but now it is exploding. Geographically the US is quite large and it just took a while for dance music to conquer Rock & Roll and R & B but that is all changing now. This is the healthiest the scene has ever been. It’s also the most commercial that it’s ever been.
What is EDM!? In the UK we see these three letters all the time when folk speak about the North American dance music scene. Can you explain for the fans here?
EDM is an abbreviation for Electronic Dance Music. The term was coined in the American music press about ten years ago. It was a blanket term encompassing all music that to the old school music journalists was anything made electronically as opposed to traditional guitars, bass, drums of rock music. I actually don’t mind the abbreviation EDM as it sounds a little tougher than ‘dance music’.
You’re a massive fan of the cult Burning Man festival event in the Nevada desert. Why is an event like this so special and have you got any crazy stories you can share to illustrate?
It’s hard to pinpoint a crazy story or moment because the entire week is non stop craziness. Burning Man is the most amazing experience I have ever had. It is like Las Vegas meets Disneyland on acid for adults. A desert filled with neon lights, metal and fire where rules don’t apply. My favourite thing to do at Burning Man is to eat shrooms and ride around on my bike at night watching the massive art cars zigzag across the desert and find insane art installations that people have created in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere you look there are things on fire, people in crazy costumes and the best sound stages you’ve ever seen and heard. Words are inadequate to describe it.
The CL team spend a lot of time of the year living in Melbourne Australia. Are there similarities between the USA and Australian scenes and do you still have to commute back for gigs in America while you’re there?
Melbourne is a great city, a lot like Toronto. In fact, I would say that Australia is much more similar to Canada than America culturally and politically. Problem is that the commute between Australia and the rest of the world is absolutely horrible, though. In the end, it just wasn’t working out. I spent more time in the air than on the ground so the family and I recently packed up and moved back to Los Angeles after three years in Melbourne.
Pharmacy Records is your latest label project and you’ve just mixed the first compilation album that is available to download from Trackitdown.net. Can you please tell us about the label project and the type of music we’ll find in the mix?
Pharmacy Music is an outlet for my own productions but more importantly it is a label created to promote the new breed, as well as established producers, that are creating the new sound of underground trance. Pharmacy Music has some quality producers like John 00 Fleming, Jonathan Allyn, Sean J Morris and Reaky. I think our last press release summed it up pretty well.. You won’t find any rainbows or unicorns here. This is solid pumping trance designed for the dance floor. We don’t care about superstar DJs and we don’t make cheesy music videos but we will rock you so hard that your teeth will chatter! Our motto is “You’ll never be embarrassed to admit that you like our trance”.
With such amazing experience in the dance music scene, can you give us your opinion on trends we might see next year?
I predict there will be a subtle backlash against commercial dance music in the clubs. You can already see it happening with artists like Skrillex becoming so popular. I see a trend with people looking for an edgier, more underground experience than the glitzy bottle service nightclubs offer. That is not to say that the commercial clubs will disappear, that will never happen, but rather there will be a resurgence in the dark, sweaty, heads down, music driven nights which largely disappeared when the scene became more commercialized.
Finally, we have to say you and your team are some of the most positive people in the world of dance music! How do you keep so upbeat with all the late nights and all the other nonsense that comes with being music industry professionals!?
At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the fact that we love what we do. People get into this scene for a lot of different reasons but it’s the ones that are in it for the love of the music that are the ones that last.
At the end of the day, I think it comes down to the fact that we love what we do. People get into this scene for a lot of different reasons but it’s the ones that are in it for the love of the music that are the ones that last.
Some of the biggest tracks for me this year
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Sean J Morris is one of my favourite producers at the moment and ‘Driver’ is an absolute monster of a track. In just a few short years he has risen to the top of the production heap. I have played this in every set since I got it and will undoubtedly play it into the New Year. It was one of the biggest tracks of the night at Creamfields Buenos Aires.
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Label: Pharmacy Music
Genre: Trance (Uplifting)
Release Date: 2011-11-28
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Remixer: Paul Jacobson
Label: Shute
Genre: House / Electro (Progressive)
Release Date: 2011-09-28
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Tracks from outside of my DJ set that I love
Label: Ram Records (SRD)
Genre: Drum and Bass (Electro, Jump Up)
Release Date: 2010-11-08
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
I love chill music. In the early West Coast rave days, there was always a chill room where you could go when things got a little too crazy on the main floor or when you were coming down in the early morning. You can still hear good chill on the playa at Burning Man. Aesis Alien’s ‘Wisdom Gate’, is a perfect example of trippy chill music.
Label: Straight Up! (LE)
Genre: House / Electro (Electro)
Release Date: 2011-11-14
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Classics tracks that have inspired me
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
| MP3 320kbs | $ 2.37 |
| WAV | $ 2.78 |
Hardfloor was a game changer for dance music. In 1991 they took trance from progressive and melodic to tough and nasty with their signature 303 acid line and snare roll build ups. Yeke Yeke was the track that blew the roof of dance music. We have Hardfloor to thank for Hard Dance.
https://www.trackitdown.net/news/show/104855.html
