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Mark Dynamix makes the Laundry his weekly home
If you don’t know who the hardest working DJ is in the busy by now then you are either clearly insane or permanently have your head in the sand. It’s fair to say this guy has been around the block more times than any other DJ currently working in Australia. Not content with DJing, Mark has amassed a prolific amount of talent over the years. You’ve seen him, heard him, been impressed by him and bought the CDs. RA managed to catch up with the man himself to get the low down.
RA : Your career has spanned over 15 years, you must feel partly responsible for the growth of dance music within the Australian marketplace. You must have seen or been party to some amazing events over this time. What has been your most memorable moment to date?
MD : Yes the music scene is always changing – musical styles go in and out of fashion and with it, a new generation of clubbers and attitudes. I have watched as Australian dance artists have evolved and become a force to be reckoned with overseas. It’s hard to capsulate 15 years of changes in a single paragraph, but I think the Aussie scene is in a healthy state at the moment, especially when all we seem to be hearing from the UK are clubs closing down. I think the most spine tingling moment I’ve seen here on our shores has been watching Underworld playing at the Big Day Out in Sydney, and personally my favourite DJing moment was playing there that same day.
RA : You are often referred to as “Australia’s hardest working DJ”, do you ever get fed up with this? What would your alternative mantra be?
MD : I guess it’s because I have always taken on so many roles within the industry, from DJing to radio, production, DJ mix releases, web and up until recently used to manage all my own bookings. It’s fine if people want to use that tag, I can only take it as a compliment. Alternative? How about “a bloke who can mix a couple of records fairly well after a couple of bevvies”?
RA : 2005 saw you voted No 3 at the Technics inthemix50 DJ Poll and to date you have produced 24 mix CDs, most of which notably for the Ministry of Sound label. All of this almost seems par for the course bearing in mind your dedication and commitment. No doubt you’re producing and award winning is self fulfilling but do you have a goal you are still striving to achieve?
MD : I’d like to get my production up to a level that is internationally recognised and tour overseas more. Maybe set up a label somewhere down the track. Aside from that I’m still trying to balance a healthy lifestyle and DJing in clubs (which is a health hazard!).
RA : Why do you think you have remained so highly regarded within an industry where on the whole DJs longevity is hard to come by? Any secrets you wish to divulge to aspiring spin misters out there?
MD : It may sound clichéd but, believe in your sound, stick to your guns and promote yourself. There aren’t any tried and tested secrets, because everyone works differently; I’ve always done what I believed in and I was lucky enough to have an audience out there who appreciated the same music as me.
RA : May be this is partly due to the fact you have over the years held many strings to your genre bow. However, since coming on board with the Ministry label has your creativeness been dictated to give way for commercialism or have you been given a relatively free helm?
MD : There’s no denying that the mix CD’s track listings are swayed towards the lighter end of the dance spectrum, but a CD of dark German techno on a CD such as The Annual just wouldn’t make sense. I think the fact that the CD’s have been a good balance of what’s new and what’s already current have been a key to their success. Some of the compilations have been more underground than others, but when I look back at the track listings I can still say that I have never put anything on a CD that I haven’t played in a club at some time or another. In saying this, I’m working on a compilation for later in the year which will be a totally underground experiment so I hope people will trust me on my track selection even if they don’t recognise many of the tracks.
RA : So on those rare moments that you are not spinning, producing or promoting what do you do for time out and me time?
MD : Boating, snowboarding, DVD’s, restaurants, browsing rubbish on the internet…. Your standard time wasters really…
RA : Looks like the overseas travelling and touring has been put on hold for the time being which will be welcome news to your loyal fans. You are about to kick off your new weekly residency at the Laundry. What should we expect?
MD : I’ll be alternating between the Laundry and the Cave which means a slight change in styles between the two rooms, but still very bass line driven electro. The Cave sets will be much darker and experimental than the Laundry sets. As for touring? Can’t say its being put on hold – I’m touring with Good Vibrations around the East Coast in Feb, touring Canada in March, Asia in May and Europe in July, and that’s aside from the Ministry tours… but I’ll be doing Chinese Laundry whenever I’m in Sydney.
RA : Do you have a crowd pleaser, if so what tune is it?
MD : Dirty South’s bootleg of Evermore “It’s Too Late” is good for the Laundry, and Trentemoller’s remix of Matthias Schuffhauser “Coincidance” rocks the Cave.
RA : You must have seen some sights over the years behind the decks. What’s the funniest or strangest thing that has happened?
MD : Playing at a Ministry gig in Wagga Wagga of all places – a fight ensued on the dance-floor which started moving towards the DJ booth’s direction. Before I knew it, a stray fist came through the Perspex barrier installed to keep people out of the booth which became entangled in the mixer’s cabling. The whole system was pulled onto the floor – decks, mixer, CD players… I had to finish the set on one CD player with only a left channel working and a record player with a broken tone arm. Security dealt with the morons fighting, God knows what happened to them!
RA : Having recently posed this question to a well known club promoter, RA was keen to gain a DJ’s stance on electro, bearing in mind Mark’s already prolific use of electro long before popularity.
So Mark do you believe that “dance music is as vibrant and exciting now as it’s ever been” (stated in “iDJ” magazine) or will the current trend of electro see dance music on the wane?
MD : No I truly believe that we’re in a good place at the moment musically. Never have so many records made me sit up and take notice; I think it’s due to the level of production software available now. The stakes have been raised. The quality you can produce from a home studio is astounding, and the result is a huge number of great tracks becoming available almost immediately (due to the internet). I’m sure the sound we now classify as Electro will change and merge and morph into something else in time just like progressive and techno has in the past, but hey that next thing could be even better… who knows?
RA : This reviewer sees herself as a true blue house fan but is currently in love with the surgeoncy of electro throughout the Sydney clubbing scene; or maybe it reminds her back in the day of the 80’s growing up as a teenager! Why do you think the current youth culture is so fixated with this trend? Does the average punter now want to be a rock star instead of a dance hedonist or raver?
MD : I don’t consider electro of now to be anything like old 80’s style electro really… but yes there are plenty of 80’s inspired house tracks and remixes out there at the moment. Being an 80’s kid, it’s a little nostalgic but I can see it wearing thin soon! Music and fashion go hand in hand so sure the style that is promoted alongside current music trends is very rock chic. I don’t even think people use the word “rave” anymore do they?
RA : Your tech:LOGIC website is pretty comprehensive and shows just how the hardest DJ in the business is proving he is indeed worth his salt. Can you tell RA which upcoming gig you are particularly looking forward to and why?
MD : Certainly the Good Vibrations festival, just because it’s such a departure from previous festivals for me…the artists are much more diverse than something like Big Day Out – and that is exciting for me because it’s where my music tastes have always been.
RA : Your long awaited debut single (“Identify Me” with Jaytech) is due for imminent release. This will surely be a special defining moment for you personally? We see that a follow up is already in production. Does this mean that you will be cutting back on live gigs to concentrate on producing your own music?
MD : Yeah the single has already been promoted to DJ’s around the world on vinyl and CD, and the retail release will be in the weeks to come. People are really getting into the original version and the Daniel Taylor remix, and the responses have been encouraging with Kiss FM declaring it no.7 on their chart at the moment. We’re working on a follow up next week actually, so fingers crossed we can have that one out soon after.
RA : As a pretty grounded DJ, what advice could you best give to anyone? Is there a saying you always go by?
MD : Try and stay calm and collected even when the shit hits the fan.
RA : Lastly, is No 1 Technics inthemix50 DJ Poll in your cards for 2006?
MD : Who knows? You guys would have a better idea than I would!! Fingers crossed hey?
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Published / Monday, 20 February 2006
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