Chris Lake

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Posted on July 1st 2009 by Owen Thomas

Who: Chris Lake
Where: Sizzle Nightclub
When: May 21st 2009
Written by: Owen Thomas

 

He made the world pay attention when his 2005 smash hit "Changes" blew up literally in every country in the world. Since then he's had a quality level of production that only a few dance music producers have achieved. In 2008 we heard him banging out hits like "Carry Me Away", "Word", "Only One", "Start Again" and most recent "If You Knew". Chris has also had a hand full of #1 hits on www.beatport.com, which has become the measuring scale for the "who's who" in the global dance music scene.

He also owns & operates "Rising Music", the world class dance music record label which has released tracks from Deadmau5, Micky Slim, the Dutch master Rene Ames, dj Jelo, and new upcoming artists like Max Vangelli, Rehab & Hardwell and the Italian Alex fain & Lys

Reigning from London, England Chris Lake has recently embarked on his North American album release tour. Starting in Miami at one of the biggest North American music festivals, the Winter Music Conference, he's played every major club & city including Circa in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton...and you can add Sizzle in Hamilton to that list.

The new album is titled "Crazy" and slated for release on May 5th 2009, through Nervous Records. The album is well rounded & a reflection of Chris's musical taste. "Don't expect 12 tracks of "changes" He says. "There's quite a bit of variety on there." Although mostly a solo effort, we'll be hearing from his famed collaboration partners Sebatien Leger & Nastala.

How did the show at Circa in Toronto go?
It was cool, cool! But I had a terrible day. It was ridiculous. The plane took off (from Chicago) then ended up turning back 'round to land, cause there was something wrong with the plane. I was absolutely shitting myself. I'm not the best of fliers anyways, so the plane turning around freaked the shit out of me. Then 2 planes cancelled after that...then they lost my bags. It wasn't the greatest of days lol. But I survived.

You mentioned in 2007 your album was coming out in summer of 2008. How come the delay of almost a year?
I had a few problems with how I was actually going to release it. I thought I sit on a load of tracks until the right opportunity came along and obviously that did with Michael at Nervous Records. Everything's fallen into place now. I've included some older tracks on there that have been poplar in the club for quite a while and some new stuff. I'm just glad to get it out now haha!

 

Last summer we heard a string of hits. Where these intended to be on the album?
Yeah, some of them were. Like I said, we had a bit of problems and the breaks had to be put on the album. I'm still doing the exact same and have a lot more original releases that haven't seen the light of day and aren't on the album. They'll all be coming later on in the summer. Yeah, so there's lots of material to come! I haven't been sleeping (laughs). I absolutely love being in the studio. What's great is the kitchens really close. You know? Just making music and eat.

 

"Robots is one of the tougher records on the album. Dirty Filthy haha!"


With you vocal collaborations with Nastala, has the approach been different to your instrumental tracks?
We completely collaborate with it. It starts right from the beginning with her in the studio. She's an amazing talent as well. I love working with her, cause things always happen. It's very rarely we go in the studio together and something good doesn't come out at the end of it. She's definitely one to watch.

We've heard some gems from your label, Rising Music. What can we expect to hear over the summer months?
We've got some amazing singles coming out from Lys. He's been working really hard in the studio. I actually just did a collaboration with him, which is probably gonna be one of the next releases. We've got a new track by..umm...actually, I'm not sure I should tell you about that one hahaha! A new track by a new artist. Very very cool called "Body Pop". I've also got a new track by  new group called "Sour Grapes" from Sweden. Very very cool. It's working brilliant in the clubs. It's all coming out in the next 3-4 months and we can't wait to get this music out. It's smooookingly hot.

Seb, your partner at Rising Music recently announce a new venture for you guys called "Rising Digital" and have already signed on extremely high profile artists like Steve Angello & The Swedish House Mafia.  Can you explain/elaborate on the new company?
Without boring people to tears, Seb cam onboard with Rising Music to do the digital marketing using social media and word of mouth sort of things. It's been really popular and has expanded my reach, as an artist, to people. I speak to thousands and thousands of people a day now just through social media sites. We had a lot of people get in contact (with us) wanting us to do it for other artists. So we created the company "Rising Digital". It's really coming together nicely and new clients should be announced soon!

How much has social media tools contributed to your success and is it important for artists to brand themselves in these mediums?
I think it's really important and I certainly hope it's gonna play a massive part in future success. It's the 21st century. People are beginning to realize the internet is the gateway to new fans. It's not through the record shop or popping into HMV anymore. Not many people have really embraced the proper channels of how to get their music out there. Most people, it extends to a Myspace with a Myspace player and very little else. There are so many other tools out there.

 

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