Chris Lorenzo Bags a Beatport Number 1 with “California Dreamin'”

Hello Chris, congratulations on your first overall Beatport number one! Did you already have a chance to celebrate the news?

Hi guys, Thank you very much! I got an early morning call from Chris Lake, who treated me to a coffee and a breakfast burrito. More to come later, I’m sure.

Can you tell us a little bit about how “California Dreamin'” came to be? What made you want to do a cover of this classic song?

I was driving to my first DJ show since March 2020, and my girlfriend played the original California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & the Papas. I remembered I had some re-sung vocal stems from a studio session that I’ve held onto for more than a decade. Once I got back from the show, I dug out the vocals so I could make a very simple, but effective DJ tool. I just used drums, an 808, an acapella, and some FX. It was one of the quickest tunes I have ever turned around. With that in mind, I take no credit whatsoever for how well it works on the dance floor. I’m just happy to be able to put it out there for everyone else to enjoy.

There’s been quite some popularity recently in tech house tracks that are sampling or covering classic ’60s rock songs – the track that was previously Beatport’s number one was Ben Kim’s take on Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” for example. Why do you think that is?

Because they are timeless and memorable and, if I’m being completely honest, don’t require a lot of work to turn it into a number one as the main idea was executed flawlessly by the original artist. Like I mentioned earlier, I take no credit for how well this works. I’m just happy to be able to share it with everybody.

This is your second release on Chris Lake’s Black Book label and you also just released a track together with Night Bass boss AC Slater. Any more tracks that you have coming up?

Yes, my first was called “Ectomorph” which was released a few years back. I am waiting for the release date to be confirmed on my Skrillex and J Balvin “In De Getto” remix. I have a few remixes dropping before the end of the year, and I’m currently lining up a run of releases for my own label sixty6 music from myself and a great array of artists that I’m really into currently.

How have your DJ gigs been going this season? Can you see a difference to before the pandemic?

It’s not so much different now everything has started becoming more frequent. On a personal note, the hangovers seem to have gotten worse for some reason. Maybe I’m just showing my age.

Have you been more productive over the last year due to the lack of DJ opportunities?

I actually have not. I felt like pre-pandemic, I was slowly burning myself out anyway, so I used the time in lockdown to switch off and take a break away from the studio, hoping that I would return refreshed and have the same enthusiasm and hunger that I had when I was younger. I do believe it has worked, and I’m super excited to be sharing some new solo bits as well as new Anti Up and other collaborations I have in the pipeline.