DJ Times: How do you see the future of technology as it relates to the DJ?
Lawrence: I imagine there will be a time where you?ll just bring a small hard drive, like a small thumb drive. You?ll drop it into a mixer and you?ll have all your tracks loaded into the mixer and you?ll DJ like that! We?ll always want a pitch control, but that doesn?t necessarily have to be the tool that you use to line the tracks up. Technology will be there letting you warp your tracks.

DJ Times: How do you see the DJ?s future?
Lawrence: I think DJs will always be around because nobody wants to see an iPod up there. The reason you go to hear a particular DJ is to hear their sound. It?s a live experience. The DJ and crowd work off of each other to create the direction of the night. I don?t see the jukebox taking over the DJ. People will always wanna see a performance.

DJ Times: How has your sound changed over the years, and do you feel it?s important for a DJ to find a genre that he identifies with and stick to that sound for years, in order to build a reputation?
Lawrence: My sound?s matured, I like to believe! [Laughs] When I started out, everything was called ?techno,? whether it was breaks or techno or house. I used to play everything. It was a wonderful time, because you could play everything. The sound that I like became known as progressive-house/trance. That sound?s gone through many different phases, and throughout that, I?ve maintained an underground sound that?s got a constant feel through it and I just picked and grabbed what I wanted from different areas?to the point where, now, I?m more influenced by psy-trance. A year or two ago, I was more influenced by techno. I?ve never been a big fan of epic, commercial trance. As a DJ, you?re somewhat limited by what?s being made at any given time. There was a time when every producer and DJ was going for that big, commercial trance sound, and that?s when I was into techno. Then, hard-house was a big thing. Now, it?s the psy-trance and electro I?m into. You?d say those two sounds could not possibly go together, but DJs like Ferry Corsten have been a champion of that electro sound for a long time. Those electro sounds grab the audience in the beginning of my set, and I move from there wherever I wanna go.

DJ Times: You?re also the label chief of Pharmacy. Are there any aspiring young artists you?re particularly excited about right now?
Lawrence: Yeah, there are two guys I think are really good right now: One is Jay Selway. He?s in Washington, D.C., and he?s a young producer who?s doing really good tracks. Everything he makes, I?m playing. He?s done a lot of remixes for John ?00? Fleming?s label. John and I have a new track coming out called ?Beyond the Limit.? Jay remixed that. Another new artist is Magnus?he?s from Seattle and he?s got a really good sound and I expect big things from him. I?d like to say that [running a label] is a magnanimous thing to help new artists along, but it?s completely selfish, because I had a hard time finding new tracks. Over time, I?ve found all these great, new, unsigned tracks and I want them to exist and I want these guys to keep making music.

DJ Times: You played with Judge Jules at ?Judgement Sundays? at Eden in Ibiza, this past summer. How was that?
Lawrence: I?ve played there for Judge Jules for a few years now?it?s one of the best nights on the island. I played there last weekend, and people were absolutely going off! Jules has been consistent and run a good night for eight years. That party personifies Ibiza.

DJ Times: How do you feel about the health of the dance music scene here in the U.S., as compared to other parts of the world right now?
Lawrence: Surprisingly, the scene in the U.S. is healthy compared to other places. There?s always gonna be places like Holland, where it?s bigger than the U.S., and in the UK, dance is mainstream music. In the U.S., we?ll always be competing and playing R&B, hip-hop and rock music. That being said, we?ve still got a very healthy scene in San Francisco, Miami, L.A., Seattle, and New York City. There was a period of time where it was massive, but the federal government destroyed the rave scene and it took us a while to regroup. Now, I?m playing in the same cities, and even in secondary and tertiary markets. A lot of DJs and producers from other parts of the world are focusing on the U.S.