LawnChair Generals

LawnChair Generals (producers-DJs Carlos Mendoza and Peter Christianson) have become Seattle's go-to double threats on the local and international house-music circuits. These amiable ambassadors of slightly left-of-center house have found their own tracks getting deck love from frequent-flyer jocks like DJ Sneak, Derrick Carter, DJ Heather, and Mark Farina. It's easy to understand why: LawnChair Generals smoothly unite Chicago and West Coast house styles, conjugating soulful uplift with mellow funk, and adding enough quirkiness to keep things from getting too predictable. As producers, LCG strive to create tracks that are "the ones you whistle on the way out, the ones that make you get up and dance when you're sitting at the bar," says Christianson.

"[We] try to revisit and capture the moment when a track gave us chills or sounded strangely familiar," Mendoza adds.

Behind the Technics, LawnChair Generals can work two or four platters at a time, depending on their whim. Clubbers from Europe, Australia, and various American metropolises have moved to their sultry grooves. "Our goal is to have some fun along with our audience, or maybe convert some people who didn't know they could like house," says Mendoza. "Our strategy is to only play music we really like. There is a certain range of style within that music. We can get a feel for the night and the people we're with, and go from there. We change it up a bit sometimes, when we feel like the crowd will trust us. Some jocks think they have to play more tech or progressive stuff overseas. We just do our thing."