Chris Liebing has dedicated the past 25 years of his life to the performance, production, distribution and broadcasting of Techno music on a global level. His touring life is extensive, having appeared at some of the very best and most influential clubs including Space and Amnesia in Ibiza as well as some of the biggest dance music festivals worldwide. We were lucky to have caught up with him to find out more about his tour essentials, in the first of our What’s in the bag series.
Do you have any interesting stories from life on the road?
This is the beautiful thing of being on the road – you always see new places and meet new people. Therefore I have plenty of interesting things always happening. Depending on what one actually finds interesting, in my case that is trying to find out how people live their daily life in various places, even though I might only be there for a few hours, or a day max. I do this mostly by walking the streets and observing.
Like last time in South America, walking around in Caxias do Sul Brasil, I ended up having quite a deep philosophical conversation with a guy on a park bench…
What do you pack into your FlyBy?
My Macbook Airs, as I have one only for music and one for the internet. A travel wallet with money, cards and passports, a small iPad for Netflix, nuts, as I am vegan and this is my safety net in case there is nothing to eat anymore, a field recorder for those moments that you wanna capture, as well as recording my sets, headphones, cables, chargers, scarf (for those cold flights and crazy air conditions even in the summer), sunglasses and anything from deodorant to toothbrush.
Whatever happens to me, I am sorted with my FlyBy. Basically all my life is in there.
Can you tell us what features are useful to you as a professional DJ/Producer?
I love that I can split the FlyBy and have a smaller backpack. That is perfect for my City adventures. Besides that, I find the FlyBy has the perfect amount of space and zippers, so I can access everything I need during my travel quickly, like boarding passes and passports to USB sticks etc.
Do you have any go to playlists when you are travelling?
This is a playlist that I made with Spotify recently… perfect for traveling or just hanging at home on the couch.
What item(s) can you just not leave home without?
Funny enough, my FlyBy, as there is everything in it that I need. 🙂
Do you have any travel/packing tips you can share from your years of experience?
Yes, I can actually state that I am a professional traveler! I get paid for traveling, not for the actual DJing, I do that for free! 😉
My best advice is to keep things in place. Everything should always have the same spot, that saves you from a lot of searching and hassle. Then I usually pack according to weather and counting the days that I am gone for. You could actually wake me up at 3 in the morning and I would be ready to travel within 10 minutes. Organisation of your equipment and clothes is the key.
And having the right travel gear is important. Go for quality rather than price, it will pay off in the end. And you will be having more fun when you travel, because you worry less! The FlyBy was the last missing piece for me. It’s the perfect piece keeping all what is super important in its place.
What show are you most looking forward to?
The one that I lose myself in, where no thoughts are distracting and everything has that perfect flow.
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To find out more about Chris Liebing’s FlyBy, click here.