Written By Bianca Tavitian 

 

With almost 10 years of DJing experience, Christopher Malone a.k.a. Lacky is dedicated to showcasing incredible electronic music to people everywhere. A committed and passionate music enthusiast, diversity is a key element when it comes to expressing the stellar music he loves, most commonly through his love for trance. One thing that is always guaranteed, no matter what style or genre he plays, you can always ensure that Chris' sets are constantly and consistently radiating the same level of high energy.

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Come with me as we step Behind The Decks with Dj Lacky

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You have been in the industry for almost a decade, and as most cases, the industry evolves over such time, yet your passion and delivery for giving your audience the biggest and best in trance music has always been paramount. How have you found yourself adapting to the ever-evolving industry?

The great thing about the industry naturally changing over time, is that it allows you to try new things and not just remain stagnant. I’m a huge lover of all sub-genres of trance; whether it be progressive, tech, uplifting or psy, and I’ve been super lucky in my position that I’ve been able to venture into these different realms and play all these different styles, so adapting to where the scene goes becomes almost second nature, and no matter where the journey takes you for a ride, it’s always enjoyable.

 

You have played alongside some huge name artists; most recently having closed for Anjunabeats Oliver Smith. Is it still those “pinch me” moments when you get to work alongside artists you respect?

Absolutely! I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work alongside several massive artists that I admire a great deal, and it’s always so incredibly surreal when you go from just listening to them and loving their music, to actually then playing on the same line-up as them. It’s always great to meet them as well, as the majority of the time they are just really down to earth people, who at the end of the day are just music lovers like yourself and you get to connect with them on a different level because of it.

 

Recently you launched your alias Little Spoon, do you think it’s important that DJ’s separate their genres under different aliases so the crowds have an idea of what sound you will be bringing to the set?

Admittedly, when I first started to delve into the scene, I always found it strange when I saw artists having different monikers for different styles of their music. To me, I couldn’t understand why you would want to do that and separate things, I thought you would want to have everything under the one name, as so to get the most exposure even under the variety of styles. I now understand that that is not always the case and as to why they also do split things up for a multitude of different reasons. I think it’s good to segregate your different sounds, as I feel people will innately pigeonhole your different aliases to a particular/specific style and as a result might stray from your music if you’re too diverse under the one name.

 

Your inspirations; who are you currently keeping on your radar and who can you never not get enough of?

I have loads! My current top favourites (in no particular order) are Bryan Kearney & John O’Callaghan (including their Key4050 collaboration), Giuseppe Ottaviani, Craig Connelly, Cold Blue, and Sneijder. Special mention to the VII crew as well who I’ve been a massive fan of since their inception, and who have as always been fantastic, along with Paul Denton, Billy Gillies, Ashley Smith, and Danny Eaton, who I think have all done really well especially within the past year or two. I’ve also been really digging some of the amazing albums that have been released this year across different styles as well; specifically Key4050 - "Tales From The Temple", Giuseppe Ottaviani - "Evolver", "Afterdark 002" [Los Angeles] (mixed & compiled by Sneijder), "Subculture" (mixed by Craig Connelly & Factor B), and most recently, Tinlicker - "This Is Not Our Universe", which I just cannot get enough of at the moment and has been on repeat for the last little while since its release.

 

Having worked in the industry for nearing a decade, you have seen firsthand the changes to Brisbane’s nightlife. With major venues such as The Family closing their weekly club roster and focusing on single event nights, what are your thoughts on the Brisbane’s music scene currently, and where do you see it heading in the future?

Brisbane’s scene has been quite diverse lately, and I’ve be extremely ecstatic about the variety of different and new artists that have been brought out here that I haven’t seen before. We’ve had progressive trance acts, techno artists, house DJs, and more! It’s been quite interesting seeing the plethora of music types here, and I hope it continues along that path, so that everyone gets a taste of something they like, and also, it brings out the potential for them to branch out to something new and experience something they otherwise might not have.

 

You have been blessed with travelling interstate and playing across some of the best venues Australia-wide, which venue/crowd has been your most favourite in your career?

Every venue has been special to me in some way or another somehow, but I would have to say that getting to play at Family Nightclub has probably been my favourite. When I first started going out, it was the number one club for me for trance - the biggest and the best - and it was always a personal goal of mine to one day play there. Thankfully I finally got my chance to do so several times, and getting to play on such an amazing sound system with incredible lighting as well was always so spectacular in my eyes; there really is no place like home! With that being said though, I was absolutely blown away by the crowd in Sydney when I played there earlier this year in April. They were very welcoming, and highly open-minded, ready to be taken on the journey I wanted to take them on. I’ve travelled a lot to Sydney and Melbourne for different events; and getting to play the music I absolutely love the most, and having people just appreciate what you want to showcase is phenomenal. I’ve only travelled overseas a handful of times, but I truly believe we have some of the best crowds in the world right here in Australia.

 

Speaking of biggest and best venues in Australia, you are booked weekly on the line up at Brisbane’s new refurbished venue Sub Rosa, which houses the state of the art Void Sound System. Are you finding that working with technology so advanced is encouraging you to push yourself and your music to test new sounds?

I’m a huge technology fan, so getting to test boundaries and push the limits is what I love to do the most. Nothing beats a good dirty thump of the subs to take things to the next level. It’s just pure filth. There’s also nothing better than getting to hear clear, crisp audio quality on a pristine and sublime sound system such as the Void Acoustics.

 

If you could play B2B with any artist, dead or alive, who would be your number one pick?

That’s a very hard choice to pick, but I would probably have to say either Bryan Kearney as he is my absolute favourite DJ of all time, and our styles are very similar; or Paul Denton as I feel like we would vibe very well together, both loving the heavy banging stuff as well as the uplifting stuff, and it would just be a great deal of fun and an awesome time!

 

What’s the 1 bit of advice you would give to DJs who are just starting out?

I actually have two. Like most things in life (especially jobs), networking is key. Go out to as many gigs as you can and network - get your name out there. I went to many gigs before being a DJ purely because I loved the music, and then when I decided one day that DJing is what I wanted to do, I was given a chance originally because I had already supported the scene for so long previously. That’s also how I’ve seen so many other up & comers get a leg up in the industry. The second is to play the music that you love and that you want to play. Don’t play something that somebody else wants you to play if you don’t like it. Stay true to yourself, you’ll be far better off for it in the long run and you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more.

 

Finally, we close all our interviews with the same question, what’s the craziest thing you have seen from behind the decks?

I haven’t had anything too crazy happen so far. I’ve often seen inebriated people doing funny things, but I think the craziest thing at the moment that I’ve seen whilst playing was a smoke machine overheating at one point and part of the venue catching on fire. I’d like to think it was the music I was playing though being the cause of it!