UNITED WE DANCE
Apr 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Chris Gill
“DJs are international now,” says Christopher Lawrence. “I'd like to end the UK versus U.S. rivalry that the press has made up. There is no competition. A good DJ is a good DJ just like a good record is a good record. DJs from a certain country or region may bring a special style that's influenced by wherever they're from, but, overall, dance music is a worldwide movement. We're all uniting.”
For years, the dance-music press has fanned the flames of an imaginary rivalry between the U.S. and UK progressive-house and trance scenes. When England's superstar DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and John Digweed started gigging frequently in the United States, the press portrayed it as a new British invasion. Writers remarked that British DJs were coming to these shores to educate Americans like missionaries trying to convert savages.
But the fact is, the American “savages” were already saved. American DJs such as Lawrence, Deep Dish, Sandra Collins and Taylor were already playing trance and progressive-house sets at clubs and massive raves all over the country long before the Brits set their sights on America. Those who created the rivalry often failed to mention that many American artists, most notably BT, helped progressive dance-music styles achieve popularity in Europe in the first place.
Perhaps it was that when dance music emerged from the underground to the mainstream in Europe, trance and progressive house were the dominant styles there. American house and techno DJs weren't subject to similar scrutiny as American trance and progressive-house DJs because of the deep and undeniable roots of house and techno in American soil. Unlike house and techno, progressive house and trance were less of an American export and more of a concurrent global development. In fact, progressive house and trance may be some of the first truly international musical styles.
Judging by the increasing worldwide popularity of Lawrence and relative newcomer D:Fuse, the state of trance is indeed united. Recently, Lawrence headlined the God's Kitchen tour in Australia and New Zealand, was inducted into British superclub Cream's Superstar DJ Hall of Fame and was voted one of the top 50 DJs in the world by the readers of DJ magazine. He's also played gigs in China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Peru. D:Fuse has headlined in the United Kingdom at God's Kitchen, Creation and Slinky as well as at gigs in Scotland, Switzerland and Mexico and has been hailed as a “name to look out for” by Britain's Ministry magazine.
Sharing an enthusiastic love for the music, Austin, Texas, native D:Fuse and Los Angeles resident Christopher Lawrence exemplify the diversity of today's progressive-house scene. In acknowledgement of this unity, Lawrence named his latest Moonshine mix CD Around the World (2002), and D:Fuse titled his debut V2 Records release People (2002). Remix brought D:Fuse and Lawrence together to discuss this global phenomenon from an American perspective.
You have both done well on an international level. What distinguishes American DJs?
Christopher Lawrence: American DJs are used to playing larger one-off events, whereas the scene in the UK and Europe is more club-dominated. When you play at large venues where there are 2,000 to 20,000 people, your music takes on a different character than what you'd play in a more intimate club. To keep that number of people interested, you've got to play a tougher, more up-front sound. That shaped the development of our progressive trance sound. When we travel, we bring along a sound that is quite distinct.
D:Fuse: I've done a lot of gigs in the UK, and I see DJs playing it safe over there because they have built-in crowds. In the UK, crowds seem to be ready to go off the second they walk in the door. In the U.S., you really have to work hard to keep a floor and to get people to dance. That makes you play a lot more aggressive tunes. It makes me pinpoint the vibe quicker because I have to. You're going to see a lot more DJs from the U.S. become real players in the world market because we're out there working the crowd all the time.
Lawrence: There is such diversity here. North America is huge; England is the size of California. You can play a few gigs there in a weekend, and everybody in the country has heard you, so they know what to expect. In America, you can play a different city every night for 50 weeks and still not lap yourself. Each region has its own style. In the South, you have a breaks influence; New York is more house-oriented. As a DJ in America, you have to adapt and feel the floor. You can't just walk in and play your set. We can take that knowledge wherever we go.
Is there a difference between American and European producers?
D:Fuse: The UK guys just have it. When it comes to progressive music, I find myself playing a lot more imports than U.S. records. The engineers over there are so ahead of the game. It's probably because the scene over there is more established — people have grown up on electronic music. European producers are making money, and labels there have really good distribution, so they're selling a lot of records.
Lawrence: Electronic music is part of the main culture in Europe. Tracks go into the charts over there and get radio play. Producers over there work in professional studios, while most electronic music here is produced in home studios. There's something to be said about recording in a studio with a $200,000 mixer instead of working at home on a $2,000 mixer. But American artists are equally creative.
What is it going to take to kick the American scene up to the next level?
Lawrence: MTV support would be the best. Regular programming devoted to electronic music would help tremendously. There's definitely an audience for it. Hundreds of thousands of people go out to hear this music every weekend. You have fantastic producers. American promoters put on some of the best events in the world. We have some of the best DJs in the world, but culturally it's still underground.
D:Fuse: In the UK, you have Radio 1 — you've got Pete Tong every Friday night, and you can hear so much amazing music. It's so wired in all the time. Over here, XM Satellite just launched a dance-music station called The Move, which is nationwide. The U.S. needs an entire station devoted to dance music. There are a lot of great independent stations and shows, but if XM takes off, it could really give the scene a shot in the arm.
What can DJs or producers do to help the dance-music scene evolve?
D:Fuse: Dance music needs to become a live phenomenon. DJ culture is cool, but sometimes I wonder if people are losing interest. I'd like to see a lot more live, on-the-fly production while people are spinning records. I'm bringing a Roland HandSonic to my shows now. I just tap along with some of the tracks, and the crowd really reacts to it. I could see incorporating even more live production into sets.
Lawrence: I always like what Metallica did. They just went for the full orchestra! So I'm working on a symphony, and I'm going to have an orchestra come along with me!
You're going to see more music with energy on the dance floor. That deep progressive sound kind of killed it. It's great for background music, but it doesn't work on the dance floor. People are going out to have a good time. The deep progressive sound was a natural progression because everybody, myself included, got a bit frustrated with that over-the-top, commercial, cheesy trance sound that came around two years ago. Everybody thought that was really bad, so they distanced themselves from it. The music had to go somewhere, so it went deeper, but it went to the extreme. It's coming back around, and you're hearing interesting sounds and melodies again.
D:Fuse: Every music has its place. A lot of DJs got the wrong impression and thought that they had to run as far away from trance as they could. As a result, a lot of them lost the plot and forgot what the floor might want to hear. Deep progressive is cool — I touch on it in every set that I play, but I don't play four hours of it. We're going to see a lot more musical songs with melodies creeping back in. I want every song to take you on a journey and have a beginning, middle and end, not just lay flat and lead into another record. I don't want to make any apologies for any record that I play.
TRANCE CHAMPION
Christopher Lawrence's personal best
When describing Christopher Lawrence, dance-music magazines have called him everything from “progressive-house pioneer” to “superstar DJ.” Even mainstream publications such as Spin magazine and the Los Angeles Times have praised his talents.
Lawrence has earned his stellar reputation as one of America's leading DJs through years of endless touring, producing stunning tracks and releasing ambitious mix CDs. And 2002 is already shaping up to be his busiest year ever. He did a remix of Mile High's “Night Fever,” originally a collaboration between his wife, Sara, and Moonshine Music's Dave Audé. His latest mix CD for Moonshine, Around the World, was released in February, but before that album even hit the store shelves, Lawrence was in London putting the finishing touches on his debut artist album at Hook Recordings studios with Chris Cowie. Lawrence's new single “Mind Eraser” shows where his new album is heading, but he says that the record will be much more than a collection of dance-floor-oriented singles.
“I have a lot of different material for the album,” Lawrence says. “Over the years, I've done a few things that weren't dance floor tracks or that I was holding back for the album. I don't want to have my album sound like a mix CD, because I've already done that. I want this to sound like an album.”
For years, Lawrence has been known as America's ambassador of trance, but lately he's become an international sensation who is distinguished more for his work than his nationality. He's won legions of devoted fans for treating crowds with respect and consistently delivering powerful, energetic sets. His success is proof that nice guys do indeed finish first.
How did you compile material for Around the World?
Mixing CDs is the hardest thing I've done in my DJ career. When you play at an event, you get inspiration from the crowd, lights and huge sound system. When you make a CD, it's just you, your studio and a room full of records. It's gut wrenching because it's going to be put down for all time.
I'll go through the records I've been playing and pick out the highlights. I try to avoid really obvious songs because I want my CD to have its own individuality. If you look at my CD tracks, you probably won't recognize any titles. I don't want it to be like Trance Anthems 2000. I pick out the strongest tracks; then, I contact everybody I know that's making music and have them submit everything that they've been working on. Most is stuff that isn't even out yet. I must have received over 200 CD-Rs. It was a process of narrowing things down. But just because a track sounds good doesn't mean it's going to fit well with the rest of the songs. I'll narrow everything down to about 20 tracks. I'll go through those and play them over and over in different orders and in different ways. Out of that, I'll find 11 or 12 tracks that form a cohesive bond. That's my winning team.
Did you edit any of the tracks?
I do some editing because sometimes a breakdown may work on the dance floor but breaks up the flow on a CD. Sometimes, the beginning of a track will have a really good groove, but it's only 30 seconds long, and I want to mix it for a bit longer because it really complements the track preceding it. But, ultimately, it's all mixed live. I just have to mix because I'm a DJ. I'll burn the edited tracks to CDs and do the mix from start to finish in one pass. I feel that something is lost in a CD that is mixed only using [Digidesign] Pro Tools. You don't get the tension that is there when the tracks are mixed live. Maybe it's not as flawless, but I like the energy that you get. I've tried mixing in Pro Tools, but it just didn't have the feel that I wanted, so I went back to mixing live.
Have you experimented with new technologies like N2IT Development's FinalScratch?
From the minute I first used it, I fell in love with it. It was so easy, and there is virtually no latency. You can lift the needle, move it to any place on the record, and it is the same as if you were moving it on the original record. I immediately ordered my own FinalScratch Pro. It's the next step. DJs playing two records is great, but more can be done. Instead of editing tracks and burning them on CD, now I can edit the track, play it through FinalScratch, and if there is something I don't like about my edited version, I can sit on the plane, make changes and play it out that night. It has so much potential.
Around the World includes your remix of Mile High's “Night Fever.” Have you been working on any new remixes or productions?
I'm going to London for three weeks to do a handful of gigs, but in between those gigs, I'll be in the studio to complete my own full-length album. It would be nice to sit at my studio at home and spend a month working on music whenever the mood struck me, but the reality is that I might be home for two days. I'll go in the studio, start fiddling around with something and come up with an idea that I'm comfortable with, but then I'll go on the road and come back a few weeks later and hate the song. I'll start over, but then I'll never get to complete anything. It's been really frustrating. It will be great to have three weeks straight in the Hook studios.
Is your home studio computer-based?
It is, but I have an old Atari running [Steinberg] Cubase — not Cubase VST; there are no plug-ins. I have a Mackie 32-channel mixing desk and some outboard gear. I also have a laptop with Pro Tools and [Propellerhead] Reason, which allows me to make music while I'm traveling. I used to feel like I was wasting time when I was in airports and on planes. Now I can't wait to get on the road, because I have all these options. With Reason, you have a whole studio on the computer.
How are you using Reason?
It's a sketch pad. As much as I like what you can do with it, I prefer using my hardware synths. So many times, I'll think of a rhythm line after I've been at the club. Normally, I would try to write it out on paper because I can sort of read music, but with Reason, I can just go to the drum box and program it.
What is your main source for drum sounds?
A [Roland] 909. I keep using it for the hi-hats. It seems to work best.
And your favorite synths?
My Yamaha TG-500 has nice, clean, pure sounds. I like the old Roland gear; the Jupiters and SH-101s are brilliant. I also have a Roland S-750 sampler. There is something about that sampler's character — it has a punch and a grittiness that can cut through anything.
To what do you record your Cubase sequences?
I run two channels from the mixer straight to a DAT re-corder. It's pretty old-school. The timing on the Atari is solid. It was made specifically for music. It has MIDI inputs and outputs built right into it. The system software is set up to handle MIDI.
How do you do remixes?
I get all the separate parts of a song. Then I'll find the pieces I like the best, sample them, edit them and put the remix together from that. I usually use my own kick drum and change the bass line, but I prefer to keep original sounds to retain the song's character. I find remixing almost more pleasurable than doing original tracks, because you can pick and choose what you want to remix.
What direction is your album going to take?
When I was younger, I would go to the record store and buy an album by Depeche Mode, New Order or whoever. The albums had songs that were energetic and some that were ambient — a lot of diversity. The songs represented the spectrum of emotions and feelings. That's what I want to have on this album. We've already done a couple of tracks that are more downtempo breakbeat. It's music that touches me on a different level. Hopefully, other people will respond well to it. I don't want it to sound like when I'm playing in a club. This is my opportunity to make that album that I used to listen to when I was younger.
How did you first get involved with music?
I wanted to play the drums in grade school, and I auditioned for band in the fourth grade. Unfortunately, the year that I started out, all the percussion spots were filled by sixth graders. The only choices left were the flute, trombone and tuba. As it turned out, I was actually quite good at the flute. It was difficult because it wasn't the most masculine instrument. I thought I'd play the flute for a year or two so I could get my foot in the door and switch to the drums, but I started to enjoy playing it. I was the best in my school, so the music teacher wouldn't allow me to switch. I played flute all the way up to high school.
I've found that those six years I spent playing flute have really helped me now when I do electronic music. I can't play the piano — I wish I could — but at least I know how to read music, and I have experience playing in bands. With computer editing, you can play a part over and over until you get it right. I'm sure that guys like Emerson, Lake and Palmer are rolling over in disgust. Being able to have a whole studio on a computer has revolutionized music. It allows somebody who lives in a remote area who wouldn't have access to other band members or equipment to create music. People who have creative ideas can get them out quickly. That helps everybody.
HOUSE CHALLENGER
D:Fuse goes for the Gold
Two years ago, D:Fuse was a relatively obscure DJ from Texas who had released the Psychotrance 2000 mix compilation on Moonshine. But thanks to the support of Paul Oakenfold, his release of two more stunning DJ mix compilations and a lot of hard work, D:Fuse has become one of the hottest rising stars in the entire industry. With the 2002 release of People, his major-label debut for V2 Records, and an artist album in the works, D:Fuse is poised to become one of the biggest superstar DJs America has ever produced.
D:Fuse, whose real name is Dustin Fuselier, became a DJ in the mid-'90s when he became frustrated playing in bands. His skills as a drummer helped him adapt to the decks, and he soon put those skills to work producing his own tracks and doing remixes. Moonshine signed him in 1999, and D:Fuse collaborated with Shane Howard as Expansion to record the 12-inch singles “Feel” and “Listen” and then worked with Joy (Ken Hankins) on the singles “U Got It” and “She Rides.” In 2001, D:Fuse established his own name with his DJ-mix CD Progressive Mix Session 1.0 and the single “Bodyshock,” both on Moonshine. By the end of that year, he had landed one of the biggest major-label deals a DJ has ever signed. V2 already has big plans for D:Fuse. In addition to People, the label is releasing a collection of his production work, and he is preparing to record his debut artist album.
With a voice that combines a Texas twang and a California surfer accent with a New Yorker's rapid-fire delivery, D:Fuse possesses an all-American personality that makes him approachable, friendly and familiar. Even though D:Fuse's star is rising rapidly, he remains down-to-earth.
What has it been like to make the jump to a major label?
The biggest difference is that I got to do a double CD. Moonshine was a great label, and I always loved working with them, but I wanted to do a double CD. I felt like I really got to spread my wings and do something that I'm very proud of.
Did you have separate moods in mind for each CD?
I wanted one CD to be really chill and deeper and the other to be like you'd hear me play out in a club. I chose records that had songs with a lot of unique melody and music. A couple tracks on the first CD have live guitar. I focused on solid bass lines on both CDs. I also wanted it to be housey-sounding. I wanted it to be a hybrid — something that the househeads would dig as well as the tranceheads. I wanted people to have arguments like “This is house. No, it's progressive. No, this is trance.” And everyone would be right.
How did you narrow down your final choices?
I came up with about 40 to 50 records during my first pick, and I narrowed it down to 26. It was tough even with the luxury of a double CD. I could have done three. There is so much great music out there. Another thing I'm doing to get music out there is broadcasts on XM radio every two weeks. There are a lot of really solid records that aren't good for the dance floor for some reason or another. I'm playing all kinds of different records that I've had in my crates that never get to see a turntable.
Did you edit any of the tracks?
It's a live mix, but we did have some track changes later. On CD 2, we had to take out two songs and do a Pro Tools edit. I thought that something was missing from the final cut, so rather than going back and doing the whole thing live again, we just edited it. Moda did the Pro Tools work, so he was able to add loops and fills to the tracks to make them a little bit different. I also did a vocal overdub on CD 1 on “Spirit Chaser.” I liked the vocal, but I wanted to put my own over the top of the one that was already there.
You have collaborated on tracks with a lot of different producers.
I'm going to do my full-length album with Mark Horwood in the UK. We've written two tracks, “Be Free” and “Deep Seduction.” They are more house-based with a progressive flavor. Mark is an excellent engineer, but he's also a jazz piano player. Musically, I can go further working with him. I just finished two tracks with Joy in Los Angeles, which have more of an X-Press 2 sound — progressive funk with tribal percussion. Expansion is going to release a new remix of “Wash” that I did with Joy. I also did a remix of Scanners' “Prayer” with Claude 9 in Austin.
I'm not a big gearhead. I do play keyboards and drums and do vocals as well as write music, but I enjoy collaborating with other artists and engineers. It's exciting to go into the studio with someone new without any preconceived notions. We'll just lay down a kick drum and bass line and start layering things. I really enjoy working on the arrangements. You can make or break a song in the way you place things.
You were a drummer before a DJ, correct?
I was beating on my mom's Tupperware when I was a baby. I got my first drum set when I was 12, and I practiced every day for two hours for the next 10 years. I was a real freak about it. I'd put on albums by U2, Billy Joel, Styx or Rush and play along with them. I formed my own industrial band, Culture Industry, in college. That's when I got into songwriting and singing, although back then, it was more screaming. For three years straight, we were gigging a lot, so I have a lot of experience with how music works in a live setting. That's made a big difference.
Why did you make the transition to DJ?
I got sick of the live-music scene. I couldn't find musicians who could keep their head on straight for more than two seconds. Nobody had the work ethic that I have. I'm really a workhorse, and I expect that from everybody else. A lot of musicians are incredibly lazy people. That got frustrating. The band was losing focus. I was depressed with the whole thing, so I started clubbing around 1995 because I didn't know what to do with my life. If it wasn't going to be music, I didn't know what it was going to be. I found escape and a whole new sense of spirituality in clubbing. I saw how positive the music was. I bought a pair of turntables and learned how to mix. I saw how much of an instrument it was and how much of a musician you had to be to work the turntables well. I was hooked.
Now that you're bringing the Roland HandSonic on the road with you, things seem to have come full circle.
It's an awesome instrument. I just play along with the records, adding live percussion here and there. People really dig it. I can play rhythms as I think of them. I also just purchased a very nice set of Roland V-Drums, and I've been practicing like crazy. I really want to do live shows. There's an energy and interaction between the other band members and the crowd that you just can't get when you're using turntables. I'm never going to stop spinning, but I'm looking forward to doing things where I might be DJing and then step onto the drums and do a live set for an hour.
What sounds do you use on the HandSonic?
I use the conga a lot as well as the bongos, timbales and triangle. The nuances and feel are just like a real drum. It's hard to re-create the nuances of a bongo on two piano keys on a synth. The HandSonic makes the music sound more organic.
Do you have a home studio, or do you just use your collaborators' setups?
My studio at home is basically a couple of decks, a CD mixer and the V-Drums. Everybody I work with is using [Emagic] Logic Audio, which is excellent. There's all these great plug-ins, and you don't have to worry about MIDI'ing things up. You can manipulate things so easily. If you want to add a delay, play it in reverse, throw on some chorus or distortion, you can do it instantly. From there, they have all the usual synths: Korg Trinities and Tritons, the Access Virus or Nord Lead.
What synths are your favorites?
I really like the Roland SH-101. It has a warmth that I cannot get anywhere else. I use the Juno-106 quite a bit, too. I tend to like a lot warmer sounds — something that's not going to be dark and trancey. In the UK, we just wrote a track where we used a Hammond organ with a little bit of distortion on it.
Having played all over the United States, do you notice any differences between cities?
The music seems to be really connecting everybody. The scene is getting more educated. I don't go to that many places anymore where there is that feeling people are getting into electronic music for the first time. Now you have cities where people are a lot more seasoned. It's a challenge because once the crowd gets over the fascination of a beat being there, they look deeper. People know what is good and bad now. You have to stay on your toes.
They also expect better-sounding records.
I think the next step is full-length albums. It is so hard to write a record that stands out these days. If we're getting this good at writing single tracks, we need to focus on full-length albums. I have a lot of live musicians lined up — saxophone players, violinists, bassists — that I have found in Chichester, England. There's a wealth of good talent there. I'm going to lock myself up in that little town and see what we come up with. I'm going to use a lot of live loops and make an album that is real organic, from solid house tracks to ambient to funky downtempo trip-hop, all with a jazzy, soulful flavor. I want it to have a progressive feel, but I don't want to hold back. It remains to be seen if we can do it.
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