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Mark Dynamix interview

Author: Freddy World
Friday, May 2, 2008
Your Ministry of Sound compilation has outsold every other mix CD, dance or otherwise, in Australia - what are your rules for putting together a good compilation-

Well, it does really depend on the compilation... The Annuals have a different pretext behind them from the compilations like Mixtape or Discotek. For me as the mixer, general things have always been to experiment with the material you have ready to mix so I'd try layering tracks together that you wouldn't normally mix together - sometimes the effects were surprising.

Pick a track listing which represents you as the artist or DJ but isn't too self-indulgent. Make sure there's enough of each track in the mix so that people who buy the CD aren't disappointed when their favourite track appears in approximately 25 seconds of the whole thing.

Try and be forward thinking when licensing your track listing because it'll take up to two months for the CD to hit the shelves. Don't load it up with hit after hit, because there's nothing more boring that listening to a CD of tracks you've heard a million times over and over for the last six months, all on one bumper CD.

You've spent years touring extensively - are there bases you still want to cover-

I love doing festival gigs, and because I've been overseas and toured so much for MoS over the last five years, I haven't done the festival circuit all that much here in Australia, so I'd like to get back into doing that. Outdoor gigs always have a different vibe to the club gigs, and the atmosphere is always electric, whereas the club gigs can be quite serious in attitude.

You've been described as 'Australia's hardest working DJ', how much of your success is perspiration and how much inspiration-

Thinking about it, if I wasn't so into the music and the idealism of bringing particularly new music to people who might not hear it otherwise, I would have stopped DJing a long time ago. Once something stops being interesting for me, then I lose focus and move onto something else.

But because there is always a flow of new music and interesting combinations of sound to explore, I'm constantly inspired and excited to play out, even if it's only one or two amazing tracks that week...

What original productions and remixes can we look forward to from you in 2008-

All will be revealed when Long Distance Recordings (.com) is launched. Not long now... But there are some exciting collaborations with high-profile producers from all over Germany, plus most likely some fresh new Australian acts that I'm looking at signing to the label.

What happened to all the hard house and trance records you used to play - do you have a well-stocked basement-

Haha, yes I've been asked this one before. I've got everything. All the vinyl, still catalogued and all in the same condition as they were 10 years ago- I wouldn't part with the stuff I liked, now or back then.

Most of the tunes I still have for a reason - either because they're awesome tunes, or because they bring back a particular memory about where I was at the time, for instance: playing a record at a massive party and having the crowd lift!

I pull the tunes every now and then and spin them at private parties for friends. Sentimental bastard I am. I should have sold them all years ago and made a mint!

Finally, now you're back in Australia, do you have some Sydney residencies planned, or will it be week to week-

I'm back at Chinese Laundry every Saturday night from May onwards, and [I'm] very happy to be back there after almost a nine-month break whilst I was living in Berlin. Fridays will be filled with different Sydney guest spots and as usual I'll be making trips up to Family in Brisbane and Melbourne and Perth gigs every couple of months. Although I loved the crowds overseas, it's great to be back home playing to the local crew again.


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