Following stint as the official FIFA World Cup DJ, Yurie ready to play her home crowd

by Bridget Stringer-Holden on August 17th, 2023 at 6:10 AM

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Despite growing up classically trained in voice and piano, Christine Yurie joined the DJ scene at 15 years old and has never looked back.

“In high school, I was that person that would always bring the mixtape to the party,” the Vancouver-based artist says via phone, “and just was always surrounded by music.”

After noticing her passion for music, Yurie’s parents introduced her to DJ Leanne, who taught her the basics of mixing and organizing crates (back when vinyl was still a thing).

“From there, I started making my own mixes and putting those online,” says Yurie (her artist name is her last name). From there, she started building up a fan base and booking gigs.

Known for her tech house, rolling basslines, and groovy percussion, Yurie has performed at FVDED in the Park, and is a regular Saturday DJ at Celebrities Nightclub. She also recently added official DJ at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar to her list of accomplishments.

“I can’t believe I was there in Qatar and was able to perform for like 80,000 people on a daily basis,” she says. “I learned a lot about needing to change things on the go, being patient, optimistic, and just going with the flow of things.”

Photo by Brendan Leong.

Next, she plans to bring her dynamic energy to Compound, a free annual block party held by independent record label Monstercat, in late August. This year, Compound will feature two stages full of electronic music, along with art installations, food trucks, beer gardens, and a Kandi bracelet-making station.

“I’m extremely stoked about this,” Yurie says, mentioning that Monstercat is one of her dream labels to work with. “It’s one of the festivals in the city that’s free and accessible for a lot of people. I think Vancouver needs more events like this: where you’re bringing together positive, like-minded people who just want to have a good time.”

Yurie will be dropping a lot of unreleased music at Compound, as well as announcing some new collabs. And while she wouldn’t share anything about the new music, she did say that English DJ James Hype is one of her current musical inspirations.

“He is an incredible DJ and is really pushing the boundaries in terms of live performance,” she says. “I think it’s really inspiring to see him scratching live during these massive music festival sets.”

Both Yurie and James Hype played Amsterdam Dance Event last year—one of the Dutch city’s biggest music festivals. “I remember coming home after that festival and making so much music, because just being surrounded by that environment was so inspiring,” she says, adding that her new goal is to create at least one piece a month.

While she says that Vancouver can feel siloed from the rest of the DJ world at times, it has resulted in a more close-knit community that she’s grateful for.

“It's always nice to go out on the weekends and see familiar faces and people that are like-minded—there for the same reasons that you are, to just enjoy the music,” she says. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I still absolutely love every second of it—it’s never felt like work to me.”