Christopher Lawrence will be mixing at The Yost Oct. 18
World-renown DJ and producer, Christopher Lawrence, will be mixing it up at The Yost Theater on Fri, Oct. 18 with a fun-filled, dance-crazed set of handpicked trance.
“I love the vibe of the theater and there’s such a cool stage. Every time I play there people go off. I think people go out to party. It’s a really good venue.”
Lawrence plays “really good banging underground music” and doesn’t like the term EDM.
“Unfortunately everything is electronic dance music. But a lot of people go, ‘oh, EDM,’ and they imagine a certain sounding music that’s become really generic and homogenized. It’s not what I play.”
“If you come to the Yost Theater, you’re going to hear music you’ve probably never heard before. And it’s going to be dance music but amazing records and you’ll go, ‘oh my god, what is this stuff?”
Christopher Lawrence behind the decks in Chicago.
“It’s different from what everyone else plays ‘cause I still play an underground sound. That’s where I came from and that’s where my heart is. It’s music that when people hear it they go, ‘wow, I haven’t heard these tracks. This isn’t the same ten tracks I hear on the radio.’ Or, ‘these aren’t the same ten tracks I heard the DJ play last night’.”
Lawrence began mixing his favorite songs in San Francisco back in the ‘90s before moving south to Orange County. He used to have a show on a pirate radio station and they used to do free parties at Golden Gate Park, the beach, or they would break into warehouses.
“I really liked the underground and indie rock, new wave, and punk music,” Lawrence recalled. “But then something happened when I got introduced to Acid House. It changed my life. I said, ‘this is it. I want to be a part of this. And there weren’t many dj’s back in 1990. I’d go to the stores and find the music I liked and collected it. My friends said, ‘you have to start djing ‘cause you’re the only one with these records’. That’s how it started.”
Lawrence considers himself as a conduit for music more than being a performer, searching out and discovering music and then bringing it to the clubs.
“I see myself as it’s my job to go out and find good music and to bring that music to the party,” Lawrence said. “And when I play music that I thought was really amazing, and then see a crowd go off and appreciate the music the same way I do, that’s the most satisfying thing in the world. There’s no experience like that.”
Although Lawrence has been on numerous stages for many years, he still gets nervous.
“I thought over the years that would go away. It hasn’t, because every night is unique. Every time you step out on the stage, it’s a new night and new people have come to hear you. They’re coming out to have an amazing night and it’s up to you to facilitate that. I get nervous every time.”
Nonetheless, he doesn’t drink or party to settle his nerves before stepping out on to a stage.
“I love to party. I like to party maybe too much. And that’s why I don’t drink or do drugs before I play because that could lead to disaster.”
Pharmacy Music is Lawrence’s own label and he will be releasing his next artist album in 2014. The single, “Libra,” just came out and can be heard at The Yost. He also likes to put out new artists on his label, encouraging new djs to find their own unique sound and to listen to as much music as possible.
“Listen to as many different djs that you can. Find the sound that you like and not just the flavor of the month. Because it’s really easy and especially new dj’s today, fall into the trap of going ‘oh these are the most popular djs right now, and these guys are all playing a certain sound. I’m going to play those same tracks.’ Nobody wants to hear a new dj play the same tracks,” Lawrence said.