Bobina – TranceSound Festival 2011

For the last 6 years, Bobina (aka Moscow-based DJ, producer & label impresario Dmitry Almazov) has formed the tip of Russia’s electronic dance spear. His globe-circumnavigating DJ adventures have taken him around the planet numerous times, playing tent-pole events like Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem, Trance Energy, and the WMC. Through his label, World Club Music, Bobina has been the single greatest catalysing factor in the Federation-side careers of Armin, Tiësto & Above & Beyond, releasing their artist albums throughout her caucuses. On the production front he has released numerous singles, 3 critically acclaimed artist albums and along the way prompted Ferry Corsten to say that Bobina is: “one of the most talented music producers ever to come out of Russia”. Bobina is without question Russia’s first dance SuperTsar!

Bobina – The Producer: Taking his name from the Russian word for a reel-to-reel tape, Dmitry brought the artist Bobina to life in Moscow in 2003. Moving the act unstintingly towards album status, he released his freshman long-player, ‘Catchy’ in 2004. Bobina’s sound spread like wildfire across Dmitry’s home country, turning ‘Catchy’ into the country’s first No.1 electronic dance album. ‘Lazy World’, the first single taken from it was signed to Solarstone’s DeepBlue label in the UK and marked the first international step in Bobina’s career. In 2005 Dmitry followed this up with the vocal anthem ‘September Rain’ under the moniker Zenon. With A-list DJs Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyk, and Paul Oakenfold wasting no time in picking up on the track, it was signed to the NewState/Maelstrom Music group for a UK release. This deal ultimately paved the way for Dmitry to sign Bobina to the highly respected imprint. His 2006 follow-up album ‘Beautiful Friend’ posted week 1 sales in Russia of over 10,000 units and the video for the single of ‘Beautiful Friend’ made the Russian and the UK’s MTV network hotlists. After taking time out to begin establishing himself as a remixer (see below), in mid-2007 Bobina pushed forward with production on his third album, ‘Again’. ‘Lighthouse’, the first single taken from it enjoyed heavy airplay across Europe and earned Bobina the ‘Most Rotated Artist’ accolade at 2007’s RDMA’s (Russian Dance Music Awards). ‘Slow’, an electro-trance cover of the Kylie Minogue hit followed it in April 2008 and set the scene for the release of ‘Again’ the following month. Its arrival brought with it a new wave of Bobina fans and it rapidly eclipsed sales of the previous albums. Over 40,000 units were sold in the first 3 months of release, making it both Russia’s best & fastest selling electronic dance album to date. It has gone on to spawn the singles ‘Invisible Touch’, ‘Time & Tide’, ‘Lighthouse’ & ‘Honestly’. In September of 2009 the album for followed by ‘Again Remixed’. Featuring reworks of all the album’s tracks, it prompted both Top 10 DJ/producers like Ferry Corsten & Gareth Emery as well as underground heroes like Sean Tyas & First State to contribute tracks. In November both ‘Again’ and ‘Again Remixed’ were re-packaged to form a 2xCD set ‘Again – The Special Edition’ for the UK’s Maelstrom Records label. This made Bobina the first Russian electronic music artist to release an album outside their home country.

Bobina – The DJ: Spinning an evocative, floor-combusting combination of vocal & instrumental trance, he’s brought the Bobina sound to tent-pole events like The Winter Music Conference (2006), Trance Energy (2007) and Gatecrasher Summer Sound System (2008). He was one of only a few deck-practitioners to be hand-picked by Tiësto to support him on his ‘In Concert’ tour. In 2008 at the RDMA’s Bobina was recognized as The Audience’s Best DJ. In October of 2009 he took over Moscow’s legendary Gaudi Club for his first spotlight DJ concert. Bobina Extended saw him thrill a home city audience of over 3000 with a 4 hr set performance, making him the first DJ from the country to do so. Notably Bobina was also the first Russian DJ to appear in the DJ Mag Top 100 chart. In 2008 he debuted at no.28, only to shoot up inside the top 20 the following year (to the no.16 spot).

Bobina – The Label Owner: Bobina is owner of World Club Music; unquestionably Russia’s biggest electronic dance purveyor. W.C.M. has released artist albums (and been instrumental in the breaking in the Russian Federation) the work of Armin, Tiësto, Marco V, Infected Mushroom, Carl Cox, Markus Schulz, Gabriel & Dresden, Above & Beyond, Solarstone, Judge Jules, Astrix, Gui Borratto & TrentmØller amongst others.

Bobina – The Remixer: Aside from his original production work, Bobina has carefully honed his craft as a remixer. Following the release of ‘Beautiful Friend’ he locked himself into the studio for almost two straight years perfecting the art and working on remaps. He has subsequently remixed artists such as Oakenfold, Armin van Buuren, The Thrillseekers Supermode (Axwell & Steve Angello) and for world famous labels such as Ministry of Sound, Perfecto, Armada and Nebula. Most recently he reconfigured Morandi’s ‘Angels’ for Universal Music – the track went on to become Russia’s most successful single music release of 2008.

Russia Goes Clubbing – The Bobina Radio Show: Beaming out around the Russian Federation through the country’s leading DFM network, Russia Goes Clubbing is Bobina’s once-a-week, every-week snapshot of what is making the country’s cities boom. It is broadcast through stations in 50 of the biggest cities in Russia and has a listenership of a staggering 10 million dance fans. RGC also has a massively popular podcast edition which is downloaded by Bobina fans in all four corners of the globe.

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Christopher Lawrence – TranceSound Festival 2011

Voted the #4 DJ in the World by DJ Magazine’s prestigious ‘Top 100′ poll for 2006, Christopher Lawrence is recognized worldwide as one of the World’s top DJs and producers. Dubbed “A Superstar DJ” by the US’s URB and “One Of The Most Popular DJs On The Global Circuit” by DJ Magazine, Christopher Lawrence is one of the biggest, most respected and popular names in dance music today. Once an outsider in a world dominated by European and UK DJs, Christopher has risen to the top of the international dance music heap. He is now considered one of the key global players and America’s leading dance music export, playing his tough techno trance sets main stage at the world’s biggest festivals and superclubs.

Over the past few years, Christopher has received numerous awards and accolades. Winner of “Best American DJ” at the IDMA’s and named the #3 Trance DJ in the World by BPM Magazine’s ‘America’s Favorite DJ’ poll for 2006, Christopher is also a recent recipient of the “Best DJ” at both the Dancestar US Awards and Los Angeles Music Awards. Christopher has additionally been nominated in Dancestar UK Awards, DJ Awards, International Trance Awards, Global DJ Mix Awards and IDMA’s to name a few. Christopher has also graced the covers of countless magazines, newspapers and publications worldwide.

Described as the “Biggest DJ in the USA” by the BBC’s Radio 1, Christopher clocks up over a quarter of a million frequent flyer miles a year and a list of international events too long to mention. In the past year alone, Christopher has toured China, United Kingdom, Mexico, Ibiza, Australia, Taiwan, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Japan, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Colombia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Russia, El Salvador, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia, Panama, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Thailand, Guatemala, and Canada. One need look no further than the top international clubs and dance festivals to find Christopher’s name.

Meanwhile, back in the US, Christopher continues to be one of the countries most sought after DJs, headlining high profile events from San Francisco’s Love Fest and Sony’s ‘Playstation 2 Tour’ to Arnold Schwazzeneger’s ‘Terminator III’ party. He has played the famed Coachella festival more than any other DJ, and was also the only US DJ invited to headline all three of the inaugural Ministry Of Sound, Cream and Gatecrasher tours of America.

Described as “A Highly Respected Producer” by Mixmag, Christopher won a preliminary Grammy nomination in 2002. With a discography of groundbreaking tracks, Christopher’s notable releases ‘Attention’, ‘Scorcher’, ‘Shredder’, ‘Renegade’, ‘Rush Hour’, ‘Cruise Control’, ‘October’s Child’ and bootleg remixes such as ‘Batman Begins’ have been hammered by DJs from Paul van Dyk and Tiesto to Paul Oakenfold.

This past several years have been Christopher’s biggest to date on both the DJ and production front, following the release of two artist albums. His debut album ‘All Or Nothing’ and the follow up, ‘Un-Hooked’, a retrospective of Christopher’s work for Hook Recordings, both topped the iTunes dance charts and met with widespread chart and critical acclaim from the worlds toughest critics from Rolling Stone to the Washington Post. Christopher’s music has soundtracked everything from TV shows such as MTV’s ‘Real World’, to Matchbox Car DVDs to computer games including ‘Need for Speed 2′ � bringing an entirely new audience to Christopher.

Always pushing the limits, Christopher gained attention with the release of his new website, which was nominated in the “Best Music Website” category of both the SXSW and the Webby Awards, which are considered the Academy Awards of web design. Designed by the groundbreaking and award winning 2Advanced, Christopher’s website became a benchmark in the DJ. Check it out at Christopher Lawrence: DJ & Producer

In the late nineties, Christopher established himself as one of the US’s biggest selling DJs selling over a quarter of a million mix CDs following a string of record breaking releases including ‘Rise’, ‘Temptation’, ‘United States of Trance’ and ‘Around The World’.

After lengthy delays, Christopher’s label Pharmacy Electronic Music was officially launched in 2006 with Christopher’s most recent mix ‘Subculture’ being described by Jive Magazine as “The Best Trance Album of the Year!”, reiterating the fact that Christopher continues to be one of the World’s most evolving and respected DJs.

On the big screen, Christopher has appeared in ‘Midsummernight’s Rave’, as well the documentaries ‘Liquid Vinyl’, ‘Intellect’, ‘Put The Needle On The Record’, ‘World Party On Tour’ and ‘American Massive’ to name a few. A music video for Christopher’s single, Freefall, shot at California’s Electric Daisy Carnival has also been featured on television around the world.

In the world of international dance culture, there are DJs who are leaders and those who are followers. Christopher Lawrence is a true leader.

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