Having stated he’d relocate to Australia for quite a few years now, it seems that noted American trance DJ and producer Christopher Lawrence has finally made good on his word, with news surfacing that he has now set up shop in Melbourne. Having been based in Los Angeles for the past fourteen years, in recent times Lawrence was outspoken and critical towards many of the US government’s foreign policies and had made his intentions of moving to Australia with his family widely known.
“DJs tend to move abroad a lot. I had been thinking about moving overseas for a while and my wife is Australian, so it was a natural choice,” Lawrence remarked. “I have traveled the world and Melbourne is a fantastic city. It is very cosmopolitan. Every time I tell a DJ I’ve moved to Australia, they say it’s their favorite country to visit.”
Lawrence isn’t Melbourne’s only resident who’s world renowned dance scene, with Carl Cox also famously spending up to 3 months of each year at his property on the outskirts of the city. Like Cox, Lawrence will maintain a base outside of Australia for touring, with Los Angeles to remain his ‘home away from home’ in the US. “One thing is for sure,” Christopher laughs. “I’ll be racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles.”
To celebrate the move, Christopher passed on this live recording of his set at the legendary Burning Man Festival in the USA from September, 2007.
Christopher Lawrence returned from Burning Man festival in Nevada, describing it as the “greatest experience of my life”. Burning Man is a week long arts based festival in the Nevada desert where 50,000+ people come together in a temporary community called Black Rock City. There are no rules, no money, no commercial enterprise – just the freedom to express yourself.
You can find anything you need in this temporary city which pulsates 24/7. There are 50,000 people riding bikes around the desert, mutant neon art cars, massive art installations, theme camps, amazing costumes, free bars, nightclubs, circuses, roller rinks, spiritual temples, a post office, even a temporary airport… you name it!
The Opulent Temple is a San Francisco based self funded collective of Burning Man enthusiasts who build a large scale art and sound camp complete with flame throwers, massive visuals screens and top shelf sound which booms across the open desert. DJs play for free.
Christopher Lawrence played the Opulent Temple stage on Saturday September 1st to a massive crowd who gathered following the official Burning of the Man. Other artists who have played the Opulent Temple stage include Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Lee Coombs, Gabriel & Dresden, Sandra Collins, DJ Dan and Rabbit in the Moon to name a few.
Christopher says “I would give up ten Winter Music Conferences for one Burning Man. If you miss out on going to Burning Man, you will miss out on one of life’s greatest experiences. Hopefully I’ll see you there in 2008”.
Tracklisting:
Shawn Astrom – Vibrations (Redanka Mix) – Boz Boz
FM Radio Gods – Elastoplast – Cold Groove
Audio Junkies – Something 4 Your Mind – Electric Candy
Ricky Fobis- Nobody(DJ Res aka Igor S Remix) – In Charge
Moldan & Isma-Ae – Five Five Zero – Hope
Nenes & Pascal Feliz – Platinum – High Contrast
Mark Norman – Blikken Machine – Magik Muzik
Growling Machines – Round & Round (Astrix Remix) – Spun
Save the Robot – XI Filter
Christopher Lawrence & Nicholas Bennison – Untitiled – Pharmacy
