Cristoph | Mental Health As An International DJ | Modern Wisdom Podcast 111

1. 0:00 – 1:04

   Intro

   1. CRCristoph0:00

      It can get away from you, but it's not all as glamorous as everyone thinks it is. Do you know what I mean? A lot of people, and I don't even like the word, it's like they look at the fame side of things, and I don't like it because that's not what I do the job for. I don't class myself as famous. Never once thought I, I am and never ever will. I'm a daft lad from Newcastle who's been lucky enough to follow his dream and does a job that he wants to do. And I keep telling myself that because 99% of the population doesn't get to do that. Even at the start of the year, wasn't that I'd hit some sort of depression or anything like that, but I felt like I was losing my mind because I'd came back from tour and I just couldn't adjust back to normality. It wasn't like normal life, I just couldn't get round the jet lag. So you're talking three, four days with absolutely no sleep whatsoever. And I was going on, like, nighttime drives and, like this voice in my head started coming more and more and it was kind of like, "The only way you're gonna go to sleep is by smashing your car into that lorry across there," or things like that. And that's when I started to think, " ******* hell," like, "there's something wrong."

   2. CWChris Williamson1:03

      (wind blowing)

2. 1:04 – 2:16

   Cristoph

   1. CWChris Williamson1:04

      Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. I've managed to get hold of him. Christophe, welcome.

   2. CRCristoph1:09

      (laughs) Thanks, mate.

   3. CWChris Williamson1:10

      A pleasure to have you on. I've managed to grab you in between flying around.

   4. CRCristoph1:12

      You have indeed, sorry for the delay.

   5. CWChris Williamson1:14

      It's- (laughs)

   6. CRCristoph1:14

      I know we've been trying to get this sorted for, uh, a good while now.

   7. CWChris Williamson1:17

      Yes. (laughs) Forever. So where've you been recently? Where have I got you from?

   8. CRCristoph1:20

      Uh, America, uh, uh, for predominantly the whole of the summer, and then the last bit there was America, South America, and then straight from there, for my last show in Ibiza, which was, uh, one hell of a journey type of thing but ƒ%$#.

   9. CWChris Williamson1:33

      And we've just, so just before we've started, you've had to take a call to sort out India-

   10. CRCristoph1:38

       Yeah.

   11. CWChris Williamson1:38

       ... via Australia.

   12. CRCristoph1:39

       Yeah. I've, around the UK for the next few weeks, and then literally go from here to America, back here, to India, to New Zealand, to Australia, to Bali, to Australia, to back here, and then eventually come home.

   13. CWChris Williamson1:57

       (laughs)

   14. CRCristoph1:57

       Like, when I say here, I mean like the UK.

   15. CWChris Williamson1:59

       Yeah. (laughs)

   16. CRCristoph1:59

       Yeah, it's, uh, should be good. And I'll pretend my sister was away for Christmas, so she was kicking off as well.

   17. CWChris Williamson2:05

       Oh. (laughs) You wind everyone up?

   18. CRCristoph2:06

       I'm only joking. Yeah, aye. I'm just joking. I go back to America for, for New Year and stuff like that.

   19. CWChris Williamson2:11

       Yeah.

   20. CRCristoph2:11

       So I've got a bit of downtime in December, which I don't know if I want or not.

3. 2:16 – 4:34

   Slowing Down

   1. CWChris Williamson2:16

      I was gonna say, what does it feel like when you slow down now? 'Cause obviously like the whole dream, a lot of people, there'll be some DJs that are listening, some promoters, other people that know the party world and they see that DJ flying around the world playing their own tracks, you know, getting paid-

   2. CRCristoph2:31

      Yeah.

   3. CWChris Williamson2:31

      ... to, to travel and see all these different places. What does it feel like when you slow down now?

   4. CRCristoph2:36

      Um, to be honest with you, I, I, like my team always make me take time off, and I'm always kind of reluctant to do so. Then towards the end of, say, the six weeks that you've been on tour something, you n- begin to realize that you are running on fumes and it's just the adrenaline getting you through. And I mean, I always look at it this, you'll know yourself through promoting, people pay serious money for DJs.

   5. CWChris Williamson2:59

      Mm-hmm.

   6. CRCristoph2:59

      People pay serious money to get into clubs and to buy the drinks and things like that, especially in the likes of Ibiza and stuff. So if you were to turn up with what I would class as a face like a smacked arse, do you know what I mean? It's gonna, it, it goes out to the crowd and the crowd look back and think he's not fucking arsed about, he's not interested at all.

   7. CWChris Williamson3:19

      Mm.

   8. CRCristoph3:19

      When really it's just you're a bit tired or something.

   9. CWChris Williamson3:22

      (clears throat)

   10. CRCristoph3:22

       So I always try and be as upbeat as I can when I'm not really one of those DJs who stands there and gives it all the hands and the air.

   11. CWChris Williamson3:28

       You're not a dancer.

   12. CRCristoph3:29

       No, ƒ%$#ing shocking, mate. (laughs)

   13. CWChris Williamson3:29

       No, you're a groover, you're a groover, not a dancer.

   14. CRCristoph3:32

       Yeah. Yeah. So I, I, I try and just be there and interact with the promoters, the crowd afterwards and things like that. So as I see, you, you do realize that you are running on adrenaline and on fumes and stuff like that so you think, "Right, I'll get back." Then I get home and I can't sleep 'cause of the jet lag.

   15. CWChris Williamson3:49

       (laughs)

   16. CRCristoph3:49

       I'm really, really bad with it.

   17. CWChris Williamson3:51

       Are you?

   18. CRCristoph3:51

       Then I come down with like a flu because of all the, the, um, like the being on the planes with the air con and stuff like that, do you know what I mean?

   19. CWChris Williamson4:00

       Yeah, of course, of course.

   20. CRCristoph4:00

       It's like, it's really bad for it. So I always come down with some sort of flu, and I get through that. So the past week that's what I've been battling with. Now I'm still a little bit tired but I'm fucking bored out my mind-

   21. CWChris Williamson4:10

       (laughs)

   22. CRCristoph4:10

       ... and I, I'm like just trying to hold off from going in the studio. Now I'm just like, "Right, I'm definitely writing a track this week so I'll probably go in tomorrow or Friday-"

   23. CWChris Williamson4:18

       Mm-hmm.

   24. CRCristoph4:18

       "... get something done." And I just want to be back on the road again, just like, uh, you know what I mean? All my mates all loved up. I'm sat here single-

   25. CWChris Williamson4:25

       (laughs)

   26. CRCristoph4:25

       ... just twiddling my thumbs on a nighttime light, "ƒ%$#ing hell this is boring."

   27. CWChris Williamson4:28

       Desperately scrolling through Tinder. (laughs)

   28. CRCristoph4:30

       (laughs) I haven't got it yet but I'm really close.

   29. CWChris Williamson4:32

       Coming up next.

   30. CRCristoph4:33

       (laughs)

4. 4:34 – 5:37

   Flying

   1. CRCristoph4:34

   2. CWChris Williamson4:34

      Yeah. Didn't you used to really be bad with flying?

   3. CRCristoph4:37

      Yeah, mate, terrible. Terrible.

   4. CWChris Williamson4:38

      'Cause I remember when we went out to Ibiza and you were, I think it was about midday in maybe 2013, something like that, middle of the season, and you were sinking a couple of pints.

   5. CRCristoph4:48

      Yeah.

   6. CWChris Williamson4:48

      And I was like, "F- you're getting on it a little bit early." And your thing was, "No, this is just so I can kind of get on the plane-"

   7. CRCristoph4:53

      Yeah.

   8. CWChris Williamson4:53

      "... and not feel too uncomfortable."

   9. CRCristoph4:55

      Yeah. Yeah, and I think like the, the whole drinking beforehand used to really relax us, didn't it? You get to that point where you don't really care that much.

   10. CWChris Williamson5:02

       Mm-hmm.

   11. CRCristoph5:03

       Uh, now it's, it's a second nature. I mean, I still do panic when you're going, I don't know, across the Atlantic and you hit major turbulence and stuff like that. But it's, I don't know, I've got this voice in my head which keeps on telling me that the plane's going down and I'm arguing with... And I kind of bypass the whole turbulence thing 'cause I'm arguing with a voice in my head.

   12. CWChris Williamson5:22

       (laughs) Okay.

   13. CRCristoph5:23

       But yeah, I mean it's, I, I just realized that it is work. It's what I've got to do to-

   14. CWChris Williamson5:27

       Mm-hmm.

   15. CRCristoph5:27

       ... to climb the ladder and to reach the dreams which I've set myself type of thing. And I'm still not 100% comfortable with it, and I don't think many people are.

   16. CWChris Williamson5:35

       Mm.

   17. CRCristoph5:36

       It's just something that you have

5. 5:37 – 5:56

   Being unnatural

   1. CRCristoph5:37

      to do.

   2. CWChris Williamson5:37

      It's very unnatural-

   3. CRCristoph5:38

      Yeah.

   4. CWChris Williamson5:39

      ... like being, being in a plane-

   5. CRCristoph5:40

      Yeah.

   6. CWChris Williamson5:40

      ... at 35,000 feet in the air.

   7. CRCristoph5:41

      Yeah. My doctor tells me that all the time.

   8. CWChris Williamson5:43

      Yeah.

   9. CRCristoph5:43

      Like all the time, he's just like, "It's not normal for you to sit on planes for as much as you do, for as long as you do, as many times of the year as you do."

   10. CWChris Williamson5:51

       Yeah.

   11. CRCristoph5:51

       You know what I mean? The pressure on you and things like that. But ƒ%$# that's it, mate. It's work.

   12. CWChris Williamson5:55

       I

6. 5:56 – 6:39

   Origin story

   1. CWChris Williamson5:56

      get it.

   2. CRCristoph5:56

      So, uh, by way of starting a little bit of an origin story for you, I think...

   3. CWChris Williamson6:02

      One of the things that I've quite selfishly probably enjoyed about being able to see the trajectory of your career is I got to spend a lot of time with you like 10 years ago-

   4. CRCristoph6:10

      Yeah.

   5. CWChris Williamson6:10

      ... when we were both partying in Newcastle.

   6. CRCristoph6:12

      Yeah.

   7. CWChris Williamson6:12

      And we, we were playing gigs together. And you've played for some of my ve- uh, events, uh, just as, you know, little normal local gigs. And then I've seen that trajectory as it's climbed up and climbed up and how you've got to the place that you are now-

   8. CRCristoph6:26

      Yeah.

   9. CWChris Williamson6:26

      ... where you're supporting Eric Prydz on New Year's Eve and-

   10. CRCristoph6:29

       Yeah.

   11. CWChris Williamson6:29

       ... releasing tracks on his, on his record label. When ten years ago, you would be talking about him with the same kind of starry-eyed fanboy-ness that everybody

7. 6:39 – 7:25

   Fan bonus

   1. CWChris Williamson6:39

      else does.

   2. CRCristoph6:39

      Yes.

   3. CWChris Williamson6:40

      And seeing that trajectory, seeing you go from being a DJ of which I know hundreds-

   4. CRCristoph6:47

      Yeah.

   5. CWChris Williamson6:47

      ... to being those of which I know like maybe two, maybe you and Patrick Topping?

   6. CRCristoph6:51

      Yeah.

   7. CWChris Williamson6:52

      Are pr- the only two guys who are even really close to that kind of, like, uh-

   8. CRCristoph6:56

      Oh, there's a few coming up in Newcastle, mate. There's some good ones. I mean, Richie's doing well.

   9. CWChris Williamson7:00

      Mm-hmm.

   10. CRCristoph7:01

       Uh-

   11. CWChris Williamson7:01

       I don't know him, though.

   12. CRCristoph7:01

       Yeah, all right, fair enough.

   13. CWChris Williamson7:02

       Yeah.

   14. CRCristoph7:03

       Yeah.

   15. CWChris Williamson7:03

       Jackie, Jackie Morris-

   16. CRCristoph7:04

       Jackie, yeah.

   17. CWChris Williamson7:04

       ... is starting to get there as well, yeah?

   18. CRCristoph7:04

       Jackie's doing well, yeah, yeah. He is, yeah.

   19. CWChris Williamson7:06

       It's a hot spot, isn't it, for DJ talent in the North East?

   20. CRCristoph7:08

       It is, mate. Honestly, you get, like, a lot of people are starting to see, like, what's in the water up in the North East.

   21. CWChris Williamson7:12

       (laughs)

   22. CRCristoph7:13

       And I'll just say, I'll say the North East because there's only two from actually Newcastle. And even though the rest of them are just like-

   23. CWChris Williamson7:19

       Got like a-

   24. CRCristoph7:19

       ... "Oh, yeah."

   25. CWChris Williamson7:19

       ... Sunderland and-

   26. CRCristoph7:20

       Yeah.

   27. CWChris Williamson7:20

       ... Gateshead.

   28. CRCristoph7:20

       And all them are like, "Oh, we're from Newcastle." I'm like, "No, you're fucking not."

   29. CWChris Williamson7:23

       Stop branding yourself as something you're

8. 7:25 – 9:13

   Define your career

   1. CWChris Williamson7:25

      not.

   2. CRCristoph7:25

      (laughs)

   3. CWChris Williamson7:25

      So can you just give us a little bit of a, how would you define your career? That'd be a good question.

   4. CRCristoph7:30

      Um, I don't, I don't really know. I, I mean, ever since I've been a young kid, I've, I've DJ'd. My dad was a DJ, my brother was a DJ, so it's kind of been in the family and it's all I've ever wanted to do. Um, but actually understanding the whole of the industry and how I would get there, I didn't really have a plan.

   5. CWChris Williamson7:49

      Mm-hmm.

   6. CRCristoph7:50

      Didn't understand it whatsoever. I mean, we would just sat around and I'd be like, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna be a DJ," that type of craic. Do you know what I mean? Everyone's like, "Oh, of course you are, mate."

   7. CWChris Williamson7:58

      Mm-hmm.

   8. CRCristoph7:59

      And then, uh, it actually took, sadly, like, one of my friends passing away. Uh, he just died out of the blue, had toothache. Do you know what I mean? And I think just basically he's took too many, um, like, painkillers in too short a period of time by accident.

   9. CWChris Williamson8:13

      Mm-hmm.

   10. CRCristoph8:14

       His body's just shut down type of thing.

   11. CWChris Williamson8:15

       Mm-hmm.

   12. CRCristoph8:16

       Uh, and that just gave me a massive kick up the arse. It's that whole cliché that could happen to anyone.

   13. CWChris Williamson8:21

       Mm-hmm.

   14. CRCristoph8:21

       Uh, and I was just, was just like, "Right, the only way I'm gonna kind of reach these goals which you wanna, which you set yourself in life type of thing, is by, like, learning to produce." Now, I can't play an instrument or anything like that. I just-

   15. CWChris Williamson8:36

       Still now?

   16. CRCristoph8:36

       Yeah.

   17. CWChris Williamson8:36

       Not even the trumpet?

   18. CRCristoph8:37

       No. I've s- just like considered learning the piano, 'cause I'm ob- I really do like pianos. But, uh, and you can obviously pass that on into the keyboard and sit there with your MIDI keyboard. But I find it easy just to draw in on Ableton on the piano roll what I wanna do. And so I'll just loop certain, like, one bars, two bars, four bars, whatever, and start writing my patterns and messing around. And fortunately, I know what kind of works on the dance floor because I've been in that many night clubs and I go out that much and stuff like that. And I know exactly what I wanna make for what time in the night and things like that. And just went

9. 9:13 – 11:01

   Your foundation

   1. CRCristoph9:13

      from there really, like-

   2. CWChris Williamson9:14

      So your foundation is a club DJ playing like high volume-

   3. CRCristoph9:18

      Yeah.

   4. CWChris Williamson9:19

      ... lot of nights, lot of like time and attention.

   5. CRCristoph9:21

      Yes.

   6. CWChris Williamson9:22

      That has created a good base?

   7. CRCristoph9:24

      Yeah. Without a doubt, yeah. Without a doubt. I mean, for DJ-ing alone, some of the, the nights that I used to, to, when I worked for you guys type of thing, I would be DJ-ing for six hours from 10:00 till 4:00, whatever like that, or five hours, 10:00 till 3:00 or 9:00 till 3:00, whatever it was. Um, and, and that has taught me a lot what I need to know, uh, reading a crowd, seeing what's going on, seeing what to play, doing y- your homework on i- i- and making yourself, like set sound different to anybody else out there. You know what I mean? Like, homing in on certain areas and things. I mean, Newcastle's been a city where predominantly it's been, when I've been around, it's been R&B, pop music, which has been the big sound.

   8. CWChris Williamson10:08

      Mm-hmm.

   9. CRCristoph10:08

      But there was a huge surge of house music, that funky house stuff which come through-

   10. CWChris Williamson10:14

       It's the funk and stuff like that.

   11. CRCristoph10:14

       Yeah. Like the Hed Kandi style and everything like that. And every DJ in town was playing that.

   12. CWChris Williamson10:19

       Stereo Sundays.

   13. CRCristoph10:20

       And at that moment in time, I was thinking, "Fucking hell. Like, there's big competition out there."

   14. CWChris Williamson10:24

       Mm-hmm.

   15. CRCristoph10:24

       Because at one point I was literally the only DJ in town who was playing house music. So then you've gotta kind of look at it and think, "Right, what's working? How can I get myself some promos? How can I make my set different to theirs and stuff like that?" So that's when you start looking at making like a, a bootleg, a mashup type of thing, uh, and going from there. But yeah, like the, I would, I would say without a doubt that the whole long set thing, working for five, six hours has really honed in on, uh, on the DJ-ing side of things and helped you, like helped me become a lot better at it type of thing-

   16. CWChris Williamson11:00

       Mm-hmm.

   17. CRCristoph11:00

       ... and reading a crowd

10. 11:01 – 14:15

    Reading a crowd

    1. CRCristoph11:01

       more.

    2. CWChris Williamson11:01

       Yeah. So there's a, a guy called James Smith who's a, a famous online PT now.

    3. CRCristoph11:06

       Yeah.

    4. CWChris Williamson11:07

       And he talks a lot about the fact that he cut his teeth doing like 10,000 hours of on-floor PT.

    5. CRCristoph11:12

       Right.

    6. CWChris Williamson11:12

       And he's now transitioned that and hi- his abilities that he's learned doing like the grunt work-

    7. CRCristoph11:17

       Yeah.

    8. CWChris Williamson11:17

       ... of just normal everyday stuff and now he's distilled that down. And it's kind of the same for yourself, right? Like-

    9. CRCristoph11:22

       Yeah, of course. Yeah.

    10. CWChris Williamson11:23

        ... I mean, if you can play to Tuk Tuk Palace on a Friday in the middle of December with 150 people in there-

    11. CRCristoph11:28

        (laughs)

    12. CWChris Williamson11:28

        ... like what's Creamfields' main stage?

    13. CRCristoph11:30

        (laughs) Yeah. You know?

    14. CWChris Williamson11:31

        You know, it's like-

    15. CRCristoph11:32

        That's some excuse made.

    16. CWChris Williamson11:33

        ... baptism of fire.

    17. CRCristoph11:33

        Yeah. (laughs) Right. It is.

    18. CWChris Williamson11:35

        So one of the things that you touched on there, which, uh, there's a few elements of your career that I absolutely love. And again, I've had this weird voyeuristic ability to see it so close up-

    19. CRCristoph11:45

        Yeah.

    20. CWChris Williamson11:45

        ... which is, which is rare. So I'm taking the opportunity to kind of-

    21. CRCristoph11:48

        (laughs)

    22. CWChris Williamson11:48

        ... to, to, uh, indulge myself a little bit. One of the things I really enjoyed, although it was a fucking nightmare for me at the time as a, as a promoter, is that you would never compromise your sets.

    23. CRCristoph11:57

        No.

    24. CWChris Williamson11:58

        And I don't want any DJs that are listening, if you don't play for me...... follow that way.

    25. CRCristoph12:04

        (laughs)

    26. CWChris Williamson12:04

        If you do play for me, do not fucking listen to him, please-

    27. CRCristoph12:07

        (laughs)

    28. CWChris Williamson12:07

        ... 'cause it's a nightmare. But one of my favorite stories of ours is when we played in Ibiza. So we took you out to Ibiza twice.

    29. CRCristoph12:15

        Yeah.

    30. CWChris Williamson12:15

        I think we actually gave your first ever gig in The Space. Do you remember? It was in the Terrace.
11. 14:15 – 16:19

    Thinking of the future

    1. CWChris Williamson14:15

       favorite story we got.

    2. CRCristoph14:15

       (laughs) Yeah. Me, like there's, it sounds stupid but there's always a reason for it. And I'm thinking of the future, I'm thinking of the bigger picture. Now them wanting to push it to, I don't know, say the BPM up to 132, I would've been at 122, 123. Do you know what I mean? So the jump up there, you got to remember that there's other DJs to come on who are the headliners of that club, who will be coming on from say 1:00, 2:00 in the morning. Now if them step into the booth and the kid who's on before them, this little unknown shit bag, is playing at 132, they're gonna be like, "What the fuck is going on here?"

    3. CWChris Williamson14:51

       Yeah.

    4. CRCristoph14:51

       Kick off, complain, and they're gonna come at you to tell you to slow it down. Do you know what I mean? And in my world those are the guys who I wanna meet. So if I was, if I've always like started on a bad foot with them and them remember me for the kid who was playing too fast and was playing a load of shit, instead of playing a warmup set for them, you're already gonna be someone who they don't really wanna associate with. Do you know what I mean? And it was a brand new world out there to me, what I was trying to get into. And I was just thinking, think about the, like the long run. This is just a, like a, a little warmup gig to a bunch of kids who are off the fucking head. Do you know what I mean? They're gonna remember you.

    5. CWChris Williamson15:29

       They're gonna remember you, yeah.

    6. CRCristoph15:29

       So I'm, I remember and the guy come across me at the bar and was just like, "Look, I'm sorry for saying..." I said, "Look, you've got a club to run but I've also got a career to start." And he bought me a shot and I said, "I guarantee I'll be back to headline your club." And I think it was maybe the l- year after, the year after that I done it with Defected, went back-

    7. CWChris Williamson15:45

       (laughs)

    8. CRCristoph15:45

       ... and he was still there. And I said, "I told you I'd be back." But I just like fully like believed that that's what I would do. Do you know what I mean? And it's kind of that, like the whole believing in yourself. And I knew that was like the big picture and I knew that was my aim and I knew what I was going to be doing. And I wouldn't jeopardize it by playing fucking Show Me Love or something like that, that-

    9. CWChris Williamson16:06

       Yeah.

    10. CRCristoph16:06

        It would've went off.

    11. CWChris Williamson16:07

        Yeah.

    12. CRCristoph16:07

        And I'm sure the kid who come on after us, that was his first song.

    13. CWChris Williamson16:10

        Yeah.

    14. CRCristoph16:10

        Like and the, the whole place went off and I... All right, I could've played that but at that, doing that could have also jeopardized whatever the whole plans were. Could've fucked

12. 16:19 – 20:35

    Leaving the privilege

    1. CRCristoph16:19

       it up.

    2. CWChris Williamson16:19

       Mm-hmm.

    3. CRCristoph16:19

       I think, uh, I think Nathan Williams actually played a Backstreet Boys remix at Deep House, uh, Big House Backstreet.

    4. CWChris Williamson16:25

       He did. (laughs) << Backstreet's back, all right >>

    5. CRCristoph16:28

       I think that's when I left him and went across the road to Privilege. (laughs)

    6. CWChris Williamson16:32

       << Dun, dun, dun, dun... >> Did you? Did you walk out? W- normally do you walk out of the booth? You walked out of the club.

    7. CRCristoph16:34

       Yeah. (laughs)

    8. CWChris Williamson16:34

       That's what happens when you play a Backstreet Boys remix, innit?

    9. CRCristoph16:36

       Yeah, (laughs) fucking hell.

    10. CWChris Williamson16:37

        But yeah, like so even going back like again, indulging myself further about some good memories. Do you remember when we went to Lane 7 for Michael's birthday and Pete Tong played your track on Radio One in the evening time-

    11. CRCristoph16:49

        Ah, yeah.

    12. CWChris Williamson16:49

        ... for the first time ever on radio in your old BM?

    13. CRCristoph16:51

        Yeah.

    14. CWChris Williamson16:52

        Man, like these sorts of things, like 'cause even then like was that, would that have been like maybe Pepsi or Big H or something like that? Would have that been even before that time, that sort of a track?

    15. CRCristoph17:00

        I don't... Was it not Guffers or something?

    16. CWChris Williamson17:02

        Guffers probably was Guffers.

    17. CRCristoph17:02

        Guffers or Shelter or something like that.

    18. CWChris Williamson17:04

        Yeah. So what are-

    19. CRCristoph17:04

        They were the ones that started getting on the radio.

    20. CWChris Williamson17:06

        Probably your first, first real big track.

    21. CRCristoph17:08

        Yeah.

    22. CWChris Williamson17:08

        But this still at that stage you were still f- like essentially like a local level DJ.

    23. CRCristoph17:14

        Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

    24. CWChris Williamson17:15

        So how do you get from being a guy who once has Pete Tong play a track on a Friday, when, how... What happens between that point and flying around literally spending your life on planes, playing the biggest gigs on the planet?

    25. CRCristoph17:30

        Your guess is as good as mine. (laughs) I think a lot of it is being in the right place at the right time. And I do th- I do think that, uh, I mean...

    26. CWChris Williamson17:39

        With the, with the right sound as well.

    27. CRCristoph17:40

        Yes. I mean, like my sound has changed a lot since those days. But it, I've always known what I was doing and I was always making more of this progressive melodic sound. And...... and it wasn't really getting anywhere because it's such a niche market. So I realized that, right, what I've got to do was kind of delve into the more techier stuff, which is really bubbling. It's getting all the big crowds and what everyone's starting to play. Maybe make a few hits in that to create a base following, and then start going slowly back to melodic side-

    28. CWChris Williamson18:12

        Moving back on.

    29. CRCristoph18:12

        ... and bringing them in. That was the whole kind of business plan type of thing that I had in my head.

    30. CWChris Williamson18:17

        It worked really well, because there was a-
13. 20:35 – 22:17

    How big of a fan are you

    1. CRCristoph20:35

       like, I-

    2. CWChris Williamson20:36

       What does it feel like? So 'cause, uh, I don't, I don't think that we can really convey to the listeners just how big of a fan you were-

    3. CRCristoph20:45

       Oh, yeah.

    4. CWChris Williamson20:45

       ... of Eric Prydz.

    5. CRCristoph20:46

       Still am, yeah.

    6. CWChris Williamson20:47

       Like wasn't it that, like, you tell me a story like after parties, your mates would take the piss out of you for talking about how fanboy you were about Eric?

    7. CRCristoph20:54

       Yeah, oh yeah, completely. And back at those parties, I started saying things to wind them up, like saying, "Oh yeah, I'll play with Eric Prydz," do you know what I mean? Like, just to get them to bite-

    8. CWChris Williamson21:03

       Mm-hmm.

    9. CRCristoph21:03

       ... when they were pissed, you know what I mean? Like, "You fucking shut up," and like, just like lad's banter type of thing. But yeah, mate, I remember once we were at a party and we sat there and I said, "Would anyone come to Creamfields?" And everyone was like, "Yeah, yeah." So I sat and bought four, uh, Creamfields tickets, said, "Right, you come to Creamfields tomorrow. Fucking we're going to watch Prydz, that's all we're doing." We're just driving down-

    10. CWChris Williamson21:23

        I remember that, you just saw him and then-

    11. CRCristoph21:25

        ... watching Prydz, yeah, watching Prydz.

    12. CWChris Williamson21:26

        ... that was it.

    13. CRCristoph21:26

        We just stood in his tent all day, watched Jeremy Olander, Joris Voorn, me heard Gene Coles.

    14. CWChris Williamson21:31

        Good lad.

    15. CRCristoph21:31

        Eric come on, finish, walk straight back to the car and drove straight back home. It was like the, the year that it got rained off on the Sunday, the whole campsite flooded, it was fucking pissing down then.

    16. CWChris Williamson21:41

        (laughs)

    17. CRCristoph21:41

        Freezing cold. We've got Ross Walton that drive, so he come down, had a few drinks and then-

    18. CWChris Williamson21:47

        Poor lad.

    19. CRCristoph21:47

        ... from about 5:00 or 6:00 in the night just stopped drinking-

    20. CWChris Williamson21:49

        Stopped drinking.

    21. CRCristoph21:49

        ... and just ate hot dogs all the way till it was like-

    22. CWChris Williamson21:51

        (laughs)

    23. CRCristoph21:51

        ... 11:00 at night and then we were like, "Right, we'll rough-

    24. CWChris Williamson21:54

        Bye Ross.

    25. CRCristoph21:54

        ... walk back home." Yeah, cheers mate. (laughs)

    26. CWChris Williamson21:56

        Time to drive back, hope you had a good night.

    27. CRCristoph21:57

        He's like, "Aye." But, uh, yeah, I mean, I would follow him everywhere, everywhere. Everywhere I could, I would go and see him, uh, and just constantly just lis- like listen to his music nonstop, like nonstop. Nothing else would ever, ever cross my ears.

    28. CWChris Williamson22:11

        Does it still now, so I mean, how long have you been working in collaboration with Eric now?

    29. CRCristoph22:15

        It's just over two years.

    30. CWChris Williamson22:16

        Okay.

14. 22:17 – 28:11

    When you get a text often

    1. CWChris Williamson22:18

       When you get a text off him, 'cause I think we were in, we were somewhere in Newcastle and you were like, I think he texted you.

    2. CRCristoph22:24

       Yeah.

    3. CWChris Williamson22:25

       What happens when you see the name Eric Prydz pop up on your phone? Do you still go like, "Fuck."

    4. CRCristoph22:30

       Yeah, you get like a, it's a weird butterfly feeling and at one point I think, "Fuck me, he's just gonna go. Right, I've had enough, you're off." (laughs)

    5. CWChris Williamson22:36

       Oh the joke's over, mate. Actually your music's shit, see you later on.

    6. CRCristoph22:39

       Yeah, yeah, pretty much so. And then no, those, it's just like, "Fucking hell, aye, like-"

    7. CWChris Williamson22:44

       Actually happening?

    8. CRCristoph22:45

       Yeah, he's turned into one of my good friends type of thing, on top of, like, working alongside him. Uh, so it's, more often than not, it's just stupid banter between us.

    9. CWChris Williamson22:56

       Ugh.

    10. CRCristoph22:57

        Yeah, 'cause like, I mean, we've been touring a hell of a lot together this summer.

    11. CWChris Williamson23:01

        Mm-hmm.

    12. CRCristoph23:01

        Uh, so he'll, like say for instance, we've just been up to Sweden, which was amazing to see him in his hometown with all his old friends-

    13. CWChris Williamson23:09

        Mm-hmm.

    14. CRCristoph23:09

        ... and everything like that and-

    15. CWChris Williamson23:10

        How big was the club?

    16. CRCristoph23:11

        Mate, we put, uh, we played this place called F12, and I'd, he's actually done a track called F12 and I've seen interviews with him and he says like, if any, if, the last club you would ever want to play. And he always says F12, so I was thinking this is going to be a fucking mint, this club.

    17. CWChris Williamson23:27

        Mm-hmm.

    18. CRCristoph23:27

        I expected it to be small, like underground, things like that. Mate, it's steps outside of a building, that's what it is, that's the club. It's the strangest fucking thing I've ever been in my life.

    19. CWChris Williamson23:39

        (laughs)

    20. CRCristoph23:39

        We had to come... So imagine like an old tr- like a government building.

    21. CWChris Williamson23:44

        Okay, yeah.

    22. CRCristoph23:44

        So we were inside, there's a bar inside and a little club downstairs, but the DJ booth in there is like at the end of the bar. So I'm trying to think of a club in town which used to, would have had that kind of same setup. Like it's just a pair of decks at the end of a bar.

    23. CWChris Williamson24:00

        (laughs)

    24. CRCristoph24:00

        So we were outside and literally honestly mate-There was a window there, and there's some stairs leading up, and you had to climb out. And you climbed out, and you were in between people's legs, who were dancing on a windowsill. You had to tap them out the way, climb out of there, edge along the windowsill, and jump into the DJ booth to play. And there was just two sets of stairs coming up, and two sets of sides, uh, stairs either side, and there was bars at the top of the end, and just-

    25. CWChris Williamson24:22

        How big is it?

    26. CRCristoph24:23

        Mate, I would have probably said, I thought it was about 200 people, right? But there were just like, nah, there was about 400 or 500 there-

    27. CWChris Williamson24:31

        (laughs)

    28. CRCristoph24:31

        But I was like, "Fu-" there must have been a canny few stood on that windowsill, 'cause I was-

    29. CWChris Williamson24:34

        (laughs) Looking inside, yeah.

    30. CRCristoph24:35

        Mate, oh, just people just standing there dancing on the stairs, it was strange.
15. 28:11 – 29:58

    Melodic sound

    1. CWChris Williamson28:11

       definitely a character- characterization of, of your music, I think.

    2. CRCristoph28:14

       Yeah.

    3. CWChris Williamson28:14

       Um, and certainly that more melodic sound, which you're right, there was, there was that period where you had a little bit more sort of driving stuff-

    4. CRCristoph28:22

       Yeah.

    5. CWChris Williamson28:22

       ... I guess you'd be able to say.

    6. CRCristoph28:24

       Mm-hmm.

    7. CWChris Williamson28:24

       Um, and ... But I knew there was always that bit in the back of your mind that was like you just wanted to get straight back into the, the melodies-

    8. CRCristoph28:31

       Yeah.

    9. CWChris Williamson28:31

       ... and, and those-

    10. CRCristoph28:31

        Yeah.

    11. CWChris Williamson28:31

        ... kind of like really ethereal, kind of epic-

    12. CRCristoph28:34

        Yeah.

    13. CWChris Williamson28:35

        ... like Hans Zimmer sounds.

    14. CRCristoph28:35

        Well, what I'm trying to do at this moment is bridge them together. So I've got the drive, and 'cause I find some progressive too floaty.

    15. CWChris Williamson28:43

        Yeah.

    16. CRCristoph28:44

        And it's just standing there and I know for a fact it's not what people are wanting at 2:00 in the morning. You know what I mean? It's just kinda like-

    17. CWChris Williamson28:51

        It's great for a pool party at 3:00 in the afternoon or something. (laughs)

    18. CRCristoph28:52

        Oh, yeah, exactly, like through the day and stuff like that, I love it.

    19. CWChris Williamson28:55

        Mm-hmm.

    20. CRCristoph28:55

        Drive around listening to it all the time if I haven't got Hot 80s or something like that on. (laughs)

    21. CWChris Williamson29:00

        Is that what you listen to? (laughs)

    22. CRCristoph29:00

        Mate, massive fan, mate. Love it.

    23. CWChris Williamson29:03

        (laughs) Oh, God.

    24. CRCristoph29:04

        But if I haven't got that on, you know, but ... Like when I'm in a club, I wanna hear something like pumping music.

    25. CWChris Williamson29:10

        Makes you move.

    26. CRCristoph29:10

        I like definitely, mate, heads down. And the, the melodic side of it is what k- like captures the emotion.

    27. CWChris Williamson29:17

        Mm-hmm.

    28. CRCristoph29:18

        So when people are stood there and the breakdown's all this euphoric thing, you know what I mean? That's what's ... And you'll start seeing them with their eyes closed and all, it's like that's what you're aiming to get. And that's why people leave and they remember those records type of thing. They're not gonna remember something which has just got a sub boom base, like a sub ... A base, like written in sub boom base or a sub base type of thing-

    29. CWChris Williamson29:40

        Yeah.

    30. CRCristoph29:40

        ... with a f- two-minute snare hold. Do you know what I mean? They're not gonna remember that.
16. 29:58 – 31:42

    Most emotional tracks

    1. CWChris Williamson29:58

       I suppose.

    2. CRCristoph29:59

       But it's-

    3. CWChris Williamson29:59

       It's just as well that you're not into, like, like, ska punk or something like that-

    4. CRCristoph30:03

       (laughs)

    5. CWChris Williamson30:03

       Or you'd be playing some really terrible music.

    6. CRCristoph30:05

       (laughs)

    7. CWChris Williamson30:06

       Um-Out of all of the tracks that you've seen played-

    8. CRCristoph30:09

       Mm-hmm.

    9. CWChris Williamson30:09

       ... live, what's the one that's made people get the most emotional, yours or someone else's?

    10. CRCristoph30:16

        Hmm.

    11. CWChris Williamson30:16

        Any memories that come to mind in particular of periods where people have fully lost their shit?

    12. CRCristoph30:22

        (exhales) I've t- I dropped, um, Spectra's remix of, uh, what's Mystery... Mystery Land, which is on Kevin & Perry.

    13. CWChris Williamson30:33

        (laughs)

    14. CRCristoph30:34

        And it's like an old trance track.

    15. CWChris Williamson30:35

        Mm-hmm.

    16. CRCristoph30:35

        It's stunning, mate, and this is like a proper techno version of it. And I've seen some people like, "Fuck," 'cause I think it just reme- reminds them of Kevin & Perry type of thing.

    17. CWChris Williamson30:44

        Yeah, okay, okay.

    18. CRCristoph30:44

        That's always the one which hits home. Um-

    19. CWChris Williamson30:48

        Opus must do-

    20. CRCristoph30:49

        Yeah.

    21. CWChris Williamson30:50

        ... do, do bits live.

    22. CRCristoph30:51

        I, it, it does, mate. It really does. You see some pe- I've seen someone actually get down and, and get engaged that Creamfields place. (laughs)

    23. CWChris Williamson30:57

        (laughs) Oh, my God.

    24. CRCristoph30:58

        Fucking serious, mate. I was like (laughs) , "D- I don't know if it's hit us that hard," like... (laughs)

    25. CWChris Williamson31:02

        (laughs)

    26. CRCristoph31:03

        But, uh- I, I, I- (exhales) I don't know, mate. Maceo does some, like, some crackers. Do you know what I mean? Like that, uh, Under the Sheets, that always gets people going when you just drop that last track of the, uh, uh, last track of the night.

    27. CWChris Williamson31:19

        Yeah.

    28. CRCristoph31:19

        But I think that's more aimed towards the couples, as if do they, like, get home, it's a-

    29. CWChris Williamson31:22

        (laughs)

    30. CRCristoph31:22

        ... like, just, like, sex in a track really, innit?
17. 31:42 – 34:55

    How much is a tour manager

    1. CRCristoph31:42

       because-

    2. CWChris Williamson31:43

       How much is a, how much is a tour manager a friend that's just there with you? Is that a significant part of the role-

    3. CRCristoph31:49

       Um-

    4. CWChris Williamson31:49

       ... just to be contact?

    5. CRCristoph31:49

       Yeah, I mean, the whole idea of a tour manager is someone who deals, uh, they'll deal with your flights, they'll deal with any complications with the flights, delays, um, like, cancellations, anything like that. They'll deal with the driver picking you up. They'll drive, like, they'll deal with all the hotels, like checking in, checking out, things like that. They'll deal with the promoters. So you are just fully in the music game. That's all you're just thinking of, about your set, what you're gonna play, and things like that. And even when you get to the club, your tour manager will go up to the decks and queue everything up with your USB. You don't tell them what track you're gonna start with. That's what I've seen them do type of thing. So that's what I'm guessing is their job, but it's not something I've really looked into. I've got a bunch of friends who wanna do it. Trusting them to do it is a completely-

    6. CWChris Williamson32:35

       Sounds like, sounds like a good-

    7. CRCristoph32:36

       ... different question.

    8. CWChris Williamson32:36

       I was gonna say, I know-

    9. CRCristoph32:37

       Um-

    10. CWChris Williamson32:37

        ... some of your friends, mate, and I, uh-

    11. CRCristoph32:39

        Exactly, I mean-

    12. CWChris Williamson32:39

        ... I don't know if they'd be there.

    13. CRCristoph32:41

        One of the whole issues is I don't know how much I would trust us two together. Do you know what I mean?

    14. CWChris Williamson32:47

        So by not having them-

    15. CRCristoph32:48

        It would just be, like, I, I'd be-

    16. CWChris Williamson32:49

        ... there, you're insulating yourself.

    17. CRCristoph32:50

        I would be employing, like, someone to come party with us. That's what I would essentially be doing, 'cause none of them are, like, massively clued up in the music world, which is fair enough. I don't expect them to be.

    18. CWChris Williamson33:01

        Mm-hmm.

    19. CRCristoph33:01

        It would be the company that I'm paying for.

    20. CWChris Williamson33:03

        Mm-hmm.

    21. CRCristoph33:03

        Now, that's, when you're asking how much, that is just something between you and them.

    22. CWChris Williamson33:07

        Mm-hmm.

    23. CRCristoph33:07

        I guess you can set up and give them a salary.

    24. CWChris Williamson33:10

        Mm-hmm.

    25. CRCristoph33:10

        And out of that, them have got to get their own travel.

    26. CWChris Williamson33:12

        Mm-hmm.

    27. CRCristoph33:13

        Or you give them certain amount per tour, and you just employ them per tours. I, I think there's a lot of different ways you can work with a tour manager. I've seen people just use them for certain areas of the world. Like Patrick's got Morgan, Morgan Bennett, uh, and I think he actually started off just, like, the long ones, the, the ones over in America. But by all accounts, I'm sure he's doing the lot of them with him now.

    28. CWChris Williamson33:35

        Mm-hmm.

    29. CRCristoph33:35

        You've got to be with someone who you get on with, because you're basically living in each other's pockets, apart from when you're in the hotel room. Now, that's another reason why I won't wanna sit in a hotel room on my own. It's like a real issue of going out and getting out. And if you've been partying and you've been drinking and you've got late nights, it becomes harder to leave the room, even if it's just to go to the gym or downstairs to the restaurant.

    30. CWChris Williamson33:56

        Why?
18. 34:55 – 37:37

    Solitude

    1. CRCristoph34:55

    2. CWChris Williamson34:55

       One thing I've been thinking of recently, so I spend a lot of time on my own as well.

    3. CRCristoph34:58

       Yeah.

    4. CWChris Williamson34:59

       Um, and I think that as humans, we desire conversation. We desire, not conversation, we desire a dialogue-

    5. CRCristoph35:07

       Yeah.

    6. CWChris Williamson35:07

       ... with, an, and interaction with other people, other things. Um, and one of the things that I've thought of recently is if you're not around other people, I think the dialogue begins to just continue inside of your own head.

    7. CRCristoph35:19

       Yeah, oh, yeah.

    8. CWChris Williamson35:20

       And I certainly feel when I spend too much time in solitude, that that, um, inner dialogue starts to turn up.

    9. CRCristoph35:29

       Yeah.

    10. CWChris Williamson35:29

        Like, the loudness starts to turn up a little bit.

    11. CRCristoph35:30

        Oh, yeah, completely, completely. I mean, I've, I've, I've always talked to myself, to be honest with you mate. (laughs)

    12. CWChris Williamson35:36

        Right.

    13. CRCristoph35:36

        Uh, but I know exactly what you mean. I live alone. I travel alone. So it is a lonely life out there, and I don't think people realize that side of it, 'cause they'll just look on, and they'll think, "Oh, he's flying around the world. He gets to see everywhere." You see nothing 'cause you're getting somewhere, and you'll get some food. You'll try and get an hour's sleep because you know you're gonna be DJing till 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. More than likely, you're going to have to party and DJ in there till 9:00, 10:00 in the morning. Then you think, "Shit, I've got a flight in an hour or two." So you've got to get back to the hotel.... pack your suitcase, straight on. So no sleep. You'll grab an hour on the flight, you'll get into somewhere, you'll meet the promoter, you'll organize your name, you'll get another hour in bed. You've got to get up, you sort your music, and then you're on to the next one. And when that's four, five days in a row, mate, it's hard to keep control of your- of your mind and your thoughts and stuff like that. And it's just, uh, it can get away from you. But it's not all as glamorous as everyone thinks it is. Do you know what I mean? But you- you, there'll be people out there who'll be like, "Well, you don't need to go to an after-party." My mom says that all the time, "You don't need to go there. You don't need to..." But when you're in there and the adrenaline's rushing and you've had such a good gig and you look out and so many people have bought a ticket to come and see you and they wanna meet you and they wanna come and party with you and they wanna get to know you, and you get interested inside of their lives and what it's like where you are, you know? Like in Argentina or Chile or Brazil or Colombia or whatever like that, it's a completely different way of life down there and it's- it is interesting to see how they're going. And down, especially down that side of the world, like music is their release from their life type of thing.

    14. CWChris Williamson37:11

        Mm-hmm.

    15. CRCristoph37:12

        You know what I mean? It's- it's- it, the abs- the- they come in their thousands to gigs and everything's sold out and they're just complet-, they're the maddest crowd in the world.

    16. CWChris Williamson37:21

        (laughs)

    17. CRCristoph37:21

        It's unbelievable down there. Honestly, like I keep on coming back and convincing myself that I'm gonna end up buying somewhere in Argentina and just having a house down there. But when you get there-

    18. CWChris Williamson37:31

        (laughs)

    19. CRCristoph37:31

        ... and you're playing in the winter down there, you're going, "Fucking hell, it's absolutely freezing down here."

    20. CWChris Williamson37:35

        (coughs) Well, you'd be used to it from being up here.

    21. CRCristoph37:36

        Yeah.

19. 37:37 – 38:16

    Avicii

    1. CRCristoph37:37

       Oh, aye.

    2. CWChris Williamson37:38

       So you- you've- you've touched on there the fact that DJing's maybe not as glamorous as- as everyone thinks.

    3. CRCristoph37:43

       Uh-huh.

    4. CWChris Williamson37:43

       It's mi- maybe not quite as rosy.

    5. CRCristoph37:45

       Mm-hmm.

    6. CWChris Williamson37:45

       Obviously, was it last year that we had Tim Berg, Avicii, pass away?

    7. CRCristoph37:49

       Yeah.

    8. CWChris Williamson37:49

       Or was it the year before?

    9. CRCristoph37:50

       Last year, wasn't it?

    10. CWChris Williamson37:51

        Yeah.

    11. CRCristoph37:51

        Yeah. I think it's been his one-year anniversary this year. Or was it his two? I don't know.

    12. CWChris Williamson37:55

        Uh, I think-

    13. CRCristoph37:55

        No. It was last year, I'm sure. 'Cause, um, like my tour manager, well, not tour manager, my itinerary guy, Renny's tour, uh, Eric's tour manager, Renny, he's worked with Tim in the past and I know Eric's, was good, was good friends with him and stuff like that, and I'm sure I rang them last s- last year it was, to see if they had seen type of thing.

    14. CWChris Williamson38:14

        Mm-hmm.

    15. CRCristoph38:15

        Um, so

20. 38:16 – 46:37

    Mental Health

    1. CRCristoph38:16

       yeah.

    2. CWChris Williamson38:17

       I think when people saw the Avicii, um, aftermath, one of the main things that came out was the same one as when Robin Williams passed away.

    3. CRCristoph38:27

       Yeah.

    4. CWChris Williamson38:27

       Which is you have someone who appears to have everything going on.

    5. CRCristoph38:31

       Mm-hmm.

    6. CWChris Williamson38:31

       They have their shit together, they have a life that most people dream of, et cetera, et cetera. But look, this is what can happen.

    7. CRCristoph38:38

       Mm-hmm.

    8. CWChris Williamson38:38

       And as tragic as it is, one thing that I do think is a- a positive that can be taken from those situations is that normal people who deal with levels of anxiety or depression or dark- dark days and- and dark thoughts, they get re-centered on the fact, "Well, hang on, if this guy who's a world-famous DJ, who's making millions, selling millions of records, known around the world, all this stuff, if he can feel depressed in his situation, in that life-"

    9. CRCristoph39:08

       Yeah.

    10. CWChris Williamson39:08

        "... like it makes you feel more justified-"

    11. CRCristoph39:10

        Yeah.

    12. CWChris Williamson39:10

        "... a little bit-"

    13. CRCristoph39:11

        Yeah.

    14. CWChris Williamson39:11

        "... in the way that you feel."

    15. CRCristoph39:12

        Yeah.

    16. CWChris Williamson39:12

        So do you think in- in the DJ community that depression and mental health is something that is, should be looked after a little bit more?

    17. CRCristoph39:20

        Yeah, completely. Yeah. I mean, um, I don't know that much on the matter and I've never watched the whole documentary, but by all accounts, Tim's manager was meant to be a bit of a- a pushy guy type.

    18. CWChris Williamson39:35

        I've never seen it.

    19. CRCristoph39:36

        No. Well, I mean, um, just what I've seen and stuff like that. So I can't really comment on that, but-

    20. CWChris Williamson39:41

        Okay.

    21. CRCristoph39:41

        ... I do think the whole mental health, and I do think it's now, like coming to, like the front of things. You see a lot of articles, I mean, DJ Mag, Mixmag have- have done a lot of spreads on- on the whole mental health issues within the industry. I know Luciano was really bad, Marilo was really bad. I mean, even at the start of the year, wasn't that I'd hit some sort of depression or anything like that, but I felt like I was losing my mind because I'd came back from tour and I just couldn't adjust back to normality. It wasn't like normal life, I just couldn't get round the jet lag, and I do suffer quite bad with it. So you're talking three, four days with absolutely no sleep whatsoever. And I remember (laughs) I was sat there watching, like the shopping channel, 'cause that's all that's on at 5:00 in the morning.

    22. CWChris Williamson40:30

        (laughs)

    23. CRCristoph40:30

        And so I'm sat there and there's just different things coming on and I'm sat there going, "The gel that I use on my hair is shit." Right?

    24. CWChris Williamson40:38

        (laughs)

    25. CRCristoph40:38

        So I'm like, "Right, okay." And I'm sat ordering things off eBay that are popping up, like different, like f- feather dusters and all that for the house, right?

    26. CWChris Williamson40:46

        (laughs)

    27. CRCristoph40:46

        And honestly, right, I go through it all. And I went out of the house because the, my gel was shit, right?

    28. CWChris Williamson40:54

        (laughs)

    29. CRCristoph40:54

        And I went to ASDA, this is at like 5:00 in the morning, sat on the floor in ASDA in the hair product aisle trying out every fucking... Honestly, mate, me hair was claggy as fuck, right?

    30. CWChris Williamson41:05

        (laughs)
21. 46:37 – 49:34

    Degenerating Relationships

    1. CRCristoph46:37

       I mean?

    2. CWChris Williamson46:38

       Well, even though other people might not be doing flights around the world and playing a DJ gig and then coming back to be on their own-

    3. CRCristoph46:45

       Yeah.

    4. CWChris Williamson46:45

       ... there's people who might live with a partner that the relationship's degenerating.

    5. CRCristoph46:51

       Yeah.

    6. CWChris Williamson46:51

       Or, they might be in a, you know, someone ... A, a young person who doesn't get on with their parents or has a dysfunctional household-

    7. CRCristoph46:57

       Yep.

    8. CWChris Williamson46:57

       ... or someone who does live on their own. The same mechanism that you're talking about-

    9. CRCristoph47:04

       Yeah.

    10. CWChris Williamson47:04

        ... which is impacting on DJs, which is maybe being catalyzed by higher highs and then some substances and other things as well. It's that same mechanism.

    11. CRCristoph47:13

        Yeah.

    12. CWChris Williamson47:13

        It's that same module in the back of our minds. Humans desire connection-

    13. CRCristoph47:17

        Yeah.

    14. CWChris Williamson47:18

        ... to have health, wealth, and happiness.

    15. CRCristoph47:19

        Yeah.

    16. CWChris Williamson47:19

        And without all of those things working in harmony, you end up with a dysfunctional human.

    17. CRCristoph47:25

        Oh, without a doubt, mate. And I think ... Like, I, I speak to a lot of people and they're all like ... You know, like, some of the lads and things like that, and they'll go like, "Oh, you've got a mint life and, and I'm in an unhappy job," and stuff like that. And I try and encourage them just like, "If you're unhappy in life, then leave it." Do you know what I mean? You can't put a price on happiness, so if you're ... Like, not leave life, like (laughs) leave your job type of thing or something like that, you know. Like, you've, you've got to figure out what it is bring- bringing you down, whether it's a relationship that you're in, your job, or whatever like that, the, the area that you're living in. Do you know what I mean? It can all be sorted if you just sit there and kind of figure out a plan of w- of what you're gonna do. But a lot of people just ... They don't ...... that don't want to, like, challenge it. I mean, uh, that's talking from experience from my friends type of thing. They just wanna ... And they'd rather sit back and, and accept what's going on. And I'm just like, "You're gonna look back and, and regret it." Do you know what I mean? "You really are." But I mean, there's nothing that can't be solved and I'm a true believer in that. Like, if they come and speak to me and things like that, you know, like, w- we can sit there and we can talk about it and we can get through everything that i- is causing an issue with them. Uh, a- and, you know, like, it ... A lot of it is just, like, the jobs, the lives, and things like that, but ...

    18. CWChris Williamson48:41

        (laughs)

    19. CRCristoph48:41

        I also tell them that what you're looking at when I'm posting things on Instagram, uh, Twitter, or whatever like that, is a load of fucking shit.

    20. CWChris Williamson48:50

        (laughs)

    21. CRCristoph48:50

        Do you know what I mean? It's to give off that you are living this amazing life and y- you're not. And I'll ... I, I'm, like, on the phone to yous all the time saying, "I'm bored out my mind in," like as I say, "Columbia or Orlando or LA" or something like that. Do you know what I mean? Waiting to be picked up, you know, I'm sat here on my own type of thing. It's not like, "Look at me, I'm playing in front of this amount of people," type of thing. That's just two hours of that one day type of thing. But they don't-

    22. CWChris Williamson49:15

        Never a selfie of you on your own in the hotel room-

    23. CRCristoph49:18

        You're not getting a se- (laughs)

    24. CWChris Williamson49:19

        ... in the dark, right? Yeah.

    25. CRCristoph49:19

        (laughs) You're not getting a selfie of me anywhere, mate.

    26. NANarrator49:20

        Yeah.

    27. CWChris Williamson49:20

        That's true.

    28. CRCristoph49:21

        (laughs) You're not going-

    29. CWChris Williamson49:21

        You're not a selfie guy, are you?

    30. CRCristoph49:22

        But, like, that's ... And I think that is ... It's a major thing with the whole of society, that they do believe that what these people are posting on social media is their actual life and it's not.
22. 49:34 – 52:30

    Social Media

    1. CWChris Williamson49:34

       is that there's an asymmetry between what we see of other people and what we know of ourselves.

    2. CRCristoph49:38

       Yeah.

    3. CWChris Williamson49:38

       Right? So I get to see the best of everybody else's life while I watch mine unfold-

    4. CRCristoph49:44

       Mm-hmm.

    5. CWChris Williamson49:45

       ... from a front row seat that gets to see all of my blunders.

    6. CRCristoph49:48

       Yeah.

    7. CWChris Williamson49:49

       All of them. The ... That time that you tried to chat up the waitress and you looked silly.

    8. CRCristoph49:54

       (laughs)

    9. CWChris Williamson49:54

       And that time that you, uh, like, didn't think that you looked very, like, cool when you stepped out of the door, or that time where you didn't feel very confident when whatever. Like, all of those things, everybody that is listening has a front row seat to. You watch it through your own eyes.

    10. CRCristoph50:10

        Yeah.

    11. CWChris Williamson50:10

        Whether you want to or not.

    12. CRCristoph50:11

        Yeah.

    13. CWChris Williamson50:12

        However, everybody else, you get this curated, very polished, very embellished-

    14. CRCristoph50:16

        Yes.

    15. CWChris Williamson50:16

        ... social media feed.

    16. CRCristoph50:17

        Uh-huh.

    17. CWChris Williamson50:17

        And the problem is that we forget that everybody else is just as idiotic and just as stupid and just as insecure as we are.

    18. CRCristoph50:29

        Yeah.

    19. CWChris Williamson50:30

        Everybody is. Everyone is ... Alain de Botton calls it, everybody is eternally flawed.

    20. CRCristoph50:34

        Yeah.

    21. CWChris Williamson50:35

        And that is human nature. It is a ... It is the beautiful part of human nature because it is the one thing that makes us all the same.

    22. CRCristoph50:45

        Yes.

    23. CWChris Williamson50:45

        It's the fact that all of us are fairly messed up in one way or another. We all have our demons that we need to bear. Some people have some that are really bad and some people, uh, you know, fortunately haven't. But everyone should be ... Everyone should be sympathetic and empathetic to the rest of humanity because we w- we're all carrying these sorts of curses, right?

    24. CRCristoph51:08

        Yeah, fully agree. Yeah.

    25. CWChris Williamson51:11

        I don't know. I think, I think it's interesting to hear the stories of someone who is in, who is in this world and from the outside looking in, obviously it's such a aspiration. This is what thousands, probably tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of DJs around the world.

    26. CRCristoph51:28

        Yeah.

    27. CWChris Williamson51:28

        That's what they want.

    28. CRCristoph51:29

        Yeah.

    29. CWChris Williamson51:29

        They want that life on the road.

    30. CRCristoph51:31

        Oh, yeah. Yeah. Of course.
23. 52:30 – 55:43

    Hard Work

    1. CRCristoph52:30

       I mean, people don't see that. People just honestly just see you playing in front of X amount of people, a track that you've released doing well or whatever like that. And it ... They look at that side of things, you know what I mean? And a lot of people, a- and I don't even like the word, it's like they look at like the fame side of things. Do you know what I mean? And I don't like it because this isn't what I ... Like, that's not what I do the job for. I don't class myself as famous. Never once thought I, I am and never ever will type of thing. I just ... I'm a daft lad from Newcastle who's been lucky enough to, to follow his dream and is living out his dream type of thing and does a job that he wants to do. And I keep telling myself that because 99% of the population doesn't get to do that. You know what I mean? They're stuck in a job that they don't wanna do.

    2. CWChris Williamson53:20

       Mm-hmm.

    3. CRCristoph53:20

       You know what I mean? And I- I've just been lucky enough to do what I want to do and it's just, it's allowing me to see the world, it's allowing me to do this. But the people who want to do that don't un- actually understand, like, the hard work that goes into it. Like my nephew, he's really talented when it comes to music and he's like, "Oh, I want to do this, I want to ..." And I said, "I'll teach you how to DJ, it's not a problem, mate." Do you know what I mean? But the, the, the part that you can't teach is, like, being strong to, to make sure you get up for the flight in the morning.

    4. CWChris Williamson53:52

       Mm-hmm.

    5. CRCristoph53:53

       To make sure you're not missing it. To make sure that you are hitting every single gig and smashing them type of thing.

    6. CWChris Williamson53:59

       Mm-hmm.

    7. CRCristoph53:59

       To make sure you are on point to everyone, you're not coming across as ignorant or arrogant or anything like that when really it is you're just a bit tired or you're a bit down or something like that because ...... you've been away from your family and friends for the past six weeks type of thing.

    8. CWChris Williamson54:14

       Mm-hmm.

    9. CRCristoph54:14

       And no one sees that side of it. And I don't think you can teach people that either. The only thing that you can actually do is probably take them on tour with you, which is just gonna cost money and-

    10. CWChris Williamson54:24

        Yeah.

    11. CRCristoph54:24

        ... I'm fucking greedy with money.

    12. CWChris Williamson54:25

        (laughs)

    13. CRCristoph54:25

        So I'm not being... (laughs)

    14. CWChris Williamson54:27

        Yeah. Do you think that there is a balanced way to do DJ tour life?

    15. CRCristoph54:33

        Yeah.

    16. CWChris Williamson54:33

        Do you think that-

    17. CRCristoph54:34

        Without a doubt.

    18. CWChris Williamson54:34

        ... there is?

    19. CRCristoph54:35

        Yeah, without a doubt.

    20. CWChris Williamson54:35

        So it's not a lost cause?

    21. CRCristoph54:36

        No.

    22. CWChris Williamson54:37

        Okay.

    23. CRCristoph54:37

        Not at all. Not at all. I mean, I know a lot of DJs, Patrick goes teetotal for a while, Camelphat go teetotal for a while, Eric goes teetotal for a while, um, Luciano does, Marilla, like they're all... And I think what you need is you needs maybes that one time where you just completely are, like, ran down into the ground.

    24. CWChris Williamson54:59

        Do you think that your hair products and broccoli story might be that?

    25. CRCristoph55:03

        Maybe, but it hasn't stopped-

    26. CWChris Williamson55:04

        If it gets worse than that-

    27. CRCristoph55:05

        Yeah. (laughs)

    28. CWChris Williamson55:05

        ... if it, if there's a lower low than sat in the middle of ASDA with broccoli and hair products-

    29. CRCristoph55:10

        (laughs)

    30. CWChris Williamson55:10

        ... I, I really, (laughs) I've a fear for you.
24. 55:43 – 1:05:22

    Being Sick

    1. CRCristoph55:43

       watch, like, there's, uh, anyone who's close to me, like, will understand what I'm saying, if you, if you could see my hand, I'm like that trying to put the USB in.

    2. CWChris Williamson55:51

       (laughs)

    3. CRCristoph55:52

       And then I'll stand there and I'll cough. Never ever get a cough, I don't smoke, never had a cigarette in me life. So, like, for me to have a cough or anything, I've gotta have to have a cold or a flu which is, uh, I only get them after tours type of thing. So I'm stood there and I start coughing mid-gig and things like that because I'm s- like, I'm nervous. And you'll see us looking around and, and, like, my ex-girlfriend was saying that she would always look and you could... She said, "I knew when you were getting nervous, I knew when you started to panic." Because you look around the crowd, and I look for someone who I know just to look back and give me some sort of, like, reassurance. And I was always looking for her. She said I used to be like, "He needs to see you." So there she was.

    4. CWChris Williamson56:31

       Waving.

    5. CRCristoph56:31

       She was, she was just a little daft like that-

    6. CWChris Williamson56:33

       (laughs)

    7. CRCristoph56:33

       ... like, waving about to see you type of thing. And she was right, yeah, you do need that. Um, and that, that's why I don't think I could ever stop fully drinking. But yeah, there is, there is that area where you can just do, just drink moderately.

    8. CWChris Williamson56:47

       There's a balance.

    9. CRCristoph56:47

       Yeah. Maybe have a month off and a, a few weeks on type of thing. Time off is perfect. It's perfect. I mean, nearly every DJ produces now, so they need that time off to write the music. In that time off, like, what I do is hammer the gym so I get in a routine. I find the gym is great for my mentality and it's great for the produ- uh, like, productivity type of thing. And, um, it just makes me, it just... I, I don't know, you know about w- a lot more than me, it releases all the endorphins and stuff like that.

    10. CWChris Williamson57:18

        Mm-hmm.

    11. CRCristoph57:18

        It just makes me feel really good about myself type of thing. Dragging yourself there is the hardest thing.

    12. CWChris Williamson57:23

        That makes sense, yeah.

    13. CRCristoph57:24

        I mean, at the start of this week, it's gonna be my first week in six weeks, and I was just like, "Ugh, I don't wanna go."

    14. CWChris Williamson57:28

        Mm-hmm.

    15. CRCristoph57:28

        But luckily enough, I, I train with one of my best mates, and so we go and he was like, "Just come along. Even if it's just for something light-"

    16. CWChris Williamson57:37

        Mm-hmm.

    17. CRCristoph57:37

        "... it'll get you back in the routine of it." And I'm just fully in the routine type of thing now. So when you're off, if you do that, you eat well, if you constantly eat shit, it's gonna bring you down type of thing, and you're still in that rut as such.

    18. CWChris Williamson57:50

        Mm-hmm.

    19. CRCristoph57:50

        And then you bring this, and you just be the healthiest version that you can be, and you go away on, uh, uh, like, on tour. And I mean, if I run myself into the ground, I run myself into the ground. Sven Vath's, like, by all accounts, I've never met Sven, but he's meant to, like, hammer it for 11 months, and then for one month or two months at the start of the year, he goes away to Switzerland to a retreat, sits on a drip-

    20. CWChris Williamson58:11

        He can get transfusion or something.

    21. CRCristoph58:12

        Yeah. Mm-hmm.

    22. CWChris Williamson58:12

        An entire blood transfusion.

    23. CRCristoph58:13

        Yeah.

    24. CWChris Williamson58:13

        And gets all his blood cleaned.

    25. CRCristoph58:15

        Yeah. I would say Solomon does it 'cause that bloke is a machine.

    26. CWChris Williamson58:18

        Is he a savage?

    27. CRCristoph58:19

        Mate.

    28. CWChris Williamson58:19

        Who's, who's the hardest part here in all the DJing?

    29. CRCristoph58:22

        Um... (laughs)

    30. CWChris Williamson58:24

        Other than Christophe?

Episode duration: 1:21:30