CLR Podcast | 041 | Christian Smith




AM/FM BY CHRIS LIEBING show

Summary: Christian Smith Born in Stockholm, the DJ/producer has spent the last decade working relentlessly to bring his amalgamation of funky house and tribal techno to a global platform. Although Swedish by birth, Christian spent much of his youth in Frankfurt, Germany, and this turn fate played an unexpected role in determining his musical tastes. Moving to New York in 1989, Christian discovered that, running parallel to its high profile house community, the city that never sleeps also had a thriving techno scene. After finishing high school in 1992, Christian moved to Washington DC to study international business at university and, in his spare time started DJing. He never dreamt DJing would become his career. Indeed, Christians earliest DJing experiences also played a definitive role in his future work, as he first met regular collaborator John Selway in 1993. Selway, who was playing the same rave circuit as Christian at this time was also working in New Yorks renowned Satellite Records store. By '97 he felt really inspired by DJing and the music that this prompted him to get working seriously with his label TRONIC. However, on completing his studies, Christian started to go to New York more frequently to collaborate with John Selway! 
Back in Stockholm later on, Smith noticed that the demand for his tightly mixed, three decks DJing had increased and was booked to play all over Europe and beyond. Tronic was one of the first tech-house labels, music that house and techno DJs could play; Christian calls his style housey techno. While there's no doubt that Christians distinctive work injected a much-needed sense of funk back into techno, he made it accessible to a wider audience. His DJing is of an exceptionally high standard; Smiths willingness to travel to literally every country in the globe has been another determining factor in his ascendance.
While Smiths releases ensured his bookings continued to soar, the Swedish DJ/producer identifies the release of his first major mix CD, Tronic Treatment as another turning point in his career. Weighing in at twenty eight tracks and recorded live in Australia on three decks, the smooth mix moves from funky house through to dubby, rolling tech-house, into pulsating techno. In fact, as things get faster, his selection becomes more varied. Christians profile was raised by the mix. His sense of diversity and unwillingness to adhere to one dimension is an ethic Christian believes is inherent in the worlds finest DJs. Christian was most inspired by Carl Cox and Laurent Garnier. Although both DJ’s are quite different what Christian saw in Carl was the ability to mix continuously between three turntables, and create that musical fusion. 1. Marascia & Dusty Kid – Wiwy (Edit 2) – Southern Fried 2. Reset Robot – NW1 – Unknown 3. Green Velvet – Destination Unkown (Wehbba’s Bootleg) – Unreleased 4. Christian Smith & Reset Robot – Air Miles (2000 and One & DJ Madskillz Remix) – 100% Pure 5. Psycatron – Directions (Matt Nordstrom & Orlando Vilegas Remix) – Tronic 6. Spektre & Matt Cooper - Cuernos Cubanos - Respekt 7. Pan-Pot – Confronted (Slam Remix) – Mobilee 8. Mescal Kid – Do You Want It – Sci-Tec 9. Christian Smith – Break It Down – Tronic 10. Volta & Salvatore Freda – Tiramisu (DJ Madskillz Remix) – 11. Wehbba – Brother – Tronic 12. Egbert – Vreugdevuur - Cocoon