This man needs no introduction to Australia. He’s rocked the spot on many, many occasions all over this continent of ours. Big parties, small parties, it doesn’t matter! Chris brings with him over fifteen years of DJing experience to wherever he plays, and anyone who has seen the man in action would attest to the fact that he takes the art of DJing to a whole new level. I caught up with Chris prior to his latest Australian tour to get the rundown on his past, and a glimpse into his future!
So Chris you’ve been involved in this musical journey for a good decade and a half. How long do you see yourself doing it?
Well, I’ve been DJing now for 15 years… hopefully I’ll be DJing for the rest of my life! Having said that, it’s been very hectic the last few years, so it’s definitely not going to be on such a full on level as it is now, but I can’t see myself hanging up the old headphones just yet!
You’re initial foray into music began with the punk scene in the eighties. Do you still find influences from this music that help – and crossover – into your dance tunes of today?
Yes, the energy of punk, and the rebellious and non-commercial DIY nature of it infect the music I make, and definitely make an impact on my DJing style. The attitude of punk changed my life…
You’ve worked with a whole host of people on a plethora of productions over the years. Is there a favourite of all your collaborations and tunes to date?
I really enjoyed making the Ha-lo stuff with D.A.V.E. The Drummer. We did two albums and quite a few twelve inch releases but none of it really broke through as it was a bit more funky. Although it’s quite old now, it still stands up today… of course stuff like London Acid City with Lawrie Immersion, and a whole range of the acid techno stuff with various people was great fun to make too!
Can you tell us what you have on the go production-wise at the moment?
I’m halfway through remixing One Night in Hackney with D.A.V.E. the Drummer, and also halfway through a new Stay Up Forever with hard techno Frenchman Jeff Amadeus. It’s an interesting collaboration as he doesn’t usually make acid! We’ve done one side and it sounds great.
Stay up Forever was founded in 1993, so 13 years ago now. You must be extremely pleased that the label has survived and thrived, where many others have disappeared completely?
Of course! It’s a project which still excites me, and it’ll take a lot to stop the label. If it got to the point that no-one bought them, I think we’d still release records on SUF!
Can you tell us about your other labels, Maximum Minimum, Yolk and Double 7? What was the inspiration for creating these labels, and how are they all doing these days?
Maximum Minimum is going strong… it’s kind of more experimental, but ravey, at least on one side of every release. Not acid, but still quite tough and with plenty of analogue synth action! Yolk has a bit more of a clubby sound to it, a bit more bounce, while Double 7 was a breaks label which I ran with Ben Balafonic, which we had to stop unfortunately as he started working in Dreadzone, and I became busy with the S.U.F. collective… we did some great releases but we just didn’t have the time to run it.
You’ve played in Australia many times in the past. Can you give us your thoughts on the dance scene out here? Do you have afavourite place to play?
I love Australia! The scene is always positive, but because of the size of the population I’ve noticed it’s quite difficult for smaller, more specialist music genres like techno to thrive. The big parties combine a little of everything which is brilliant, like Adventjah, and the rave scene is strong especially in Melbourne and Adelaide, so there’s a good crowd even for the harder rave parties like Pharmacy. But it’s also good to play a specialist techno party like Swarm in Sydney, and Virus and 909 in Melbourne… I love it all, and support it all!
What can we expect from your upcoming Australian tour?
I’ve got some good hard techno, some wicked new acid techno… I’ll see how the crowd is and take it from there!
Is there anything you’d like to mention that hasn’t been covered?
Keep on ‘avin it! Good effort in the World Cup. You were cheated by the Italians!
Chris Liberator tours Australia this month:
Fri Jul 7 – Pharmacy, Melbourne
Sat Jul 8 – Swarm, Sydney
