Christopher Lawrence: Raving and ranting

DJ/producer Christopher Lawrence thrives despite anti-techno politics

By Mike Prevatt

It's amazing what can happen in five years. Just ask Los Angeles producer/DJ Christopher Lawrence, who rose to prominence during the American electronic music scene's pre- and post-millennial growth spurt. At first, he's quick to say how impressed he is by how the nightclub market has changed over the past five years, creating a national outlet for electronic music and allowing ravers to graduate from outdoor parties in the desert to the more comfortable confines of smaller, indoor venues.

But with regard to the overall electronic scene in the States, he's all but mourning it. "The rest is all negative," he says. "The current administration has really done their best to create a negative image for electronic music. I really hope that Bush and all his buddies leave by the back door come November."

Lawrence, like most Southern California DJs, artistically came of age while discovering the region's flourishing rave scene in the '90s. Even though Los Angeles had its fair share of techno-oriented nightclubs, thousands of electronic music admirers would flock to desert locales an hour or more from the city to relish an atmosphere no club could re-create.

It was during the mid-'90s that Lawrence really began to develop his sound: a melodic--sometimes uplifting, sometimes forlorn--interpretation of 4/4 rhythm-based techno. While the style, later dubbed trance, was already a hit in places like England, India and Spain, Lawrence became one of the subgenre's early pioneers in America, his harder-edged approach different from the more anthemic European tradition. It was a natural progression for him, seeing how he always had an ear for deeper, emotive music.

"I like my music to be, I guess, serious, even melancholy, but always with that hint of hope," says Lawrence. "I think that's why people who like me like the music I play. I think a lot of people have that feeling of being not connected or detached, and we're all looking for that hope...and that's what I hope reflects in the music I play."

This is evidenced on his recently released debut artist album, All or Nothing, which also serves as his de facto greatest hits record given that some of the tracks--like "Renegade" and "Rush Hour"--have been previously released as singles and on his many DJ mixes. In fact, All or Nothing was originally a best-of collection for his U.K. label, Hook Recordings, before the imprint went under.

"That's when I decided I can do better than that," says Lawrence. "I could include singles that were my most popular hits...now I owned all the masters. I'd take this opportunity to make an album that was better than just a collection of singles. I decided I'd go back into the studio and make a proper album...which then took another year and a half."

Lawrence was already touring heavily before the album's release, and his schedule has filled even more now that it has been released. Twenty percent of his international gigs are venues and cities he's never played before, and this summer--like most of his summers--sees him as a fixture at the massive European music festivals, which he enjoys playing for various reasons. But the one that sticks out most for him is how European authorities generally support such cultural events as the ones he plays for, which almost seems idealistic given the same scene in George W. Bush's America.

"When your city and federal government are backing these festivals because they know this is something for young people to do," says Lawrence, "and that they need these things, and when you have an event like this where you've got security and the government is involved, and they can have their medical tents set up and the police can walk freely in the venue, and they've got information about drug use at these events--I think the community and the government look at it as an opportunity to reach the young people and not make enemies of them, where in America we just don't like our kids! And it's really sad."