BIOGRAPHY

Constantly searching for new sounds, original production talent and cutting edge club music, Mark EG is at the forefront of the UK's new music movement. But he refuses to be labeled. And this sometimes chameleon-like addiction to music has held Mark responsible not only for some of the most ground breaking releases in the hard techno world over the last few years (The Anxious), but also partly for the underground explosion of both hard trance and hardstyle through the UK.

Mark's tastes span back to the early 1980's, through Detroit techno, Chicago house, electro, acid house, hard trance and hard techno. Throughout the years he's become widely acclaimed for his intense stage presence, as well as his outrageous antics behind the decks, spanning several different musical scenes and movements. His most notable achievements have included his massive popularity in the Serbian/Bosnian and Croatian techno scene; his almost cult-like status within the UK hard trance and hardstyle movements; the near sonic domination of the Canadian rave scene; his infiltration of UKs hard dance scene; and of course who could forget his place in the UK hardcore scene where Mark has been a well respected part of the furniture for the last fifteen years - playing regularly at all the main events such as Dreamscape, Helter Skelter, Hardcore Heaven and Slammin Vinyl.

The last few years have also seen Mark playing at some of the biggest outdoor events on the world stage such as Dance Valley, Impulz and Q Dance. And of course theres his recent Blackout Audio FM techno radio show, which took over from Carl Cox on Moscows Megapolis FM last year and is now broadcast nationally in the Ukraine. Most recently he has been voted 'UK's Best Hard Dance DJ' at the Hardcore Heaven Awards 2003, 2004 and 2005 and for his downright lunacy he received the Party Animal award 2005 at the Londons Hard Dance Awards. Its also well documented he was instrumental in the A+R for 90s giant Bonzai Records and edited cult music magazines such as Wax and Eternity. This is one man who simply lives, eats, sleeps and breathes music. So when I approached him, I told him that I wanted to do an interview that was different from the usual. Find out what he's actually been doing behind the scenes all these years, what he's doing now, and where he's going and what he's got to say about music as a whole. ‘This is exactly the type of interview I want to do’, he enthuses. Read on...

Before we go any further, let’s talk about your last CD Music For a Harder Generation Volume 4. It was amazing to say the least and has been a long time coming. It’s followed in the lines of Anne Savage, Yoji Biomehanika and Andy Farley but finally represented Hardstyle, Hard Trance and Techno like never before. How exciting was this project for you?

‘I love doing CD albums’, Mark says. ‘They are so much work, but it’s a chance to think deeper about a set than you usually would on a weekend. What I liked about that project, apart from the fact it was a two fingers up to the establishment, was that they gave me two CD’s - I could really go to town with a few of the different styles that I’m into. It took me about three months of planning - of course you have to licence the music and you can never get all the tracks you want. But all in all, I was really pleased with the outcome and it definitely represented where I was musically at the time.’

Do you have anything else planned along these lines this year?’

‘I’ve just finished another CD called Hard Fast And Furious,’ He continues, ’A concept which attempts to bring together the hard dance and hardcore scenes. They asked me cause I play both types of parties. So I just fused together as many styles as I could on the one CD. Again, I’m really happy but it’ll definitely shock a few people. The techno at the beginning is pretty damn intense so I can’t wait to see Lars Klein on the shelves in Asda haha’.

So I ask him if it’s along the same lines as MFAHG? Have you done your own edits of tunes and then CDJ’d them together?

‘Yeah I suppose you could say it’s similar, perhaps like the two CD’s of MFAHG on one CD instead. I tried my best to find a way to merge all the styles into one CD mix but still keep the flow and try to tell a story. I just want it to appeal to people who are simply into good music rather than just a certain style or genre. I think that’s why I liked the concept so much - cause it sort of fits with the way I think about music.’

We know you’re a world-renowned techno producer with your girlfriend Chrissi but do you make hardstyle and hard trance tracks too? If so are they purely for your sets or do you release them under aliases?

‘You know, we just make what we feel at the time. The studio really is a place where we don’t have to conform to what people expect of us. It’s such a great place to be. We make hard trance or hardstyle to play in my sets as well as techno, but we only put our name to the techno cause that’s where we’re truly at in the studio.’

You were known for so long as solely an underground DJ in the UK with a massive cult following and I remember a lot of your fans being a bit miffed when you started playing the larger, more mainstream clubs. Was it a big decision for you to take the step into the UK hard dance scene?

‘It wasn’t a decision at all. It was just the way things went. I’ve always seen myself as a music person not a DJ who just plays one scene or one style. Sure the hard dance scene wanted to book me all of a sudden, we did it and some hard trance people might have thought WTF but if you look back before hard trance, I was playing purely acid house events, then techno events, then hardcore events, then wherever. It’s all about taking the music you feel at the time to the people that want it but keeping your ethics and musical morals. I’m no musical snob, people want so much to put you in a box and say, ‘Yeah he’s a lovely trance dj’ so he must be a certain way but I wont limit myself by style or put myself in the conformist box. Live the music you’re into at the time and then move on and go forward. I’m someone into so many different types of music, so I find it a real buzz and challenge playing different scenes and finding the next music. It’s all part of the challenge and it’s what keeps me excited about this game.’

Wow that’s a pretty unique view. I ask him about other DJ’s that have taken a more commercial path.

‘I think what you gotta remember’, Mark continues ‘is a lot of DJ’s who go from a more underground scene to a slightly more commercial environment is they get greedy, the adulation goes to their head and they forget where they come from. To the point where all the old promoters can’t book them anymore and their fee goes up by a couple of thousand quid. Their music becomes stale because the love for the music is suddenly replaced with cash. One thing you’ll find with me over the years is I haven’t forgotten where I’ve come from or my morals or what I believe in. That will never change. The moment it does is the moment I need to hang up the headphones.’

In the UK we’ve seen the Mark EG sound progress and change, always getting harder but still keeping that element of trance that’s been there since the early 90’s. You were pushing the hardstyle sound in the UK when it was still labelled hard trance by many. Ultimately what are your reasons for playing hardstyle and what is the next step?

‘The next step is to keep doing what I’ve always done – buying music that I like and playing it out on a weekend. I didn’t make a decision to play hardstyle – like you said it was originally hard trance but it’s what is out there right now in the record shops and it’s the next generation. Similarly I didn’t make a decision to play hard trance – it was originally techno. I think ultimately it’s about finding the time to go through all the new releases in whatever style and just picking out what you think is taking music forward in the clubs you play. As an example I so loved the days of Fog Area and EDM but trends move on, people get bored and the music changes. So either you adapt and evolve or you become lost in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I love the past but keeping a passion for this is the most important thing for me so I need a constant supply of music I’ve not heard before. Call it a drug if you will.’

With this in mind, where does he see the hard trance scene going now?

‘For me the hard trance that interests me and has always interested me is confident, non-dreamy, staccato-type stuff with attitude. Unfortunately the amount of people making this right now you can count on one hand but it is out there - just not enough to replenish a record box every month. But I will constantly search for it and find it. For me hard trance is incredible music and it’s still got such a long way to go. But if you’re asking my opinion, it really needs to stop with the UK hard trance clones and focus back on its roots.

Now for Schranz! For those who aren’t familiar with the term how would you define it to them? What are your thoughts on this newer breed of techno? Is it the next level or just another offshoot to an already massive genre?

Schranz was a name given to the harder edge of techno by a DJ/producer called Chris Liebing. At the time, I suppose a lot of people were calling our techno sound Schranz but now Schranz has become a totally different word, as people have found a formula for it and stuck to that. I think the best way to describe it is hard, distorted and compressed 160bpm 1 bar loops with loads of metallic stabs and factory noises over the top. If you’re in the right mood, this can be some of the best music you could ever dance to (as demonstrated by me in the front row of the crowd to Pet Duo’s set @ Dance Valley LOL). But to me, Schranz is just a form of techno – such a fantastic genre. You know what? Fuck the genres. Just immerse yourself in the music. It’s the best thing you will have ever done!

Finally, some questions from fans!!

Just how busy is the life of Mark EG? Is it just all about living and breathing music? Run us through a typical Mark EG week, Monday to Sunday.

Monday is my recovery day but it never turns out that way. Tuesday and Wednesday are studio days but again, they never turn out that way. Thursday is ‘get records ready’ day and that ALWAYS turns out that way. Friday and Saturdays are travelling and gig days and Sunday are just a blur. So yeah, pretty much living and breathing music ?

What’s your favourite cheese and why???

Who writes these god-damn questions? LOL. Cheshire.

What's the first dance tune you ever bought or the first track that inspired you.

Well at the time it wasn’t called dance, but the first techno record I bought was by Cybotron called ‘Clear’ in 1983. It was so futuristic – like a calling. I saw the film Metropolis and then got into computers, house music and then acid house. The rest is a beautiful mess of non-education and trying not to get a proper job.

CDJ’s or Vinyl ?????

Both these days. Originally I hated CDJ’s but now I find them so much more stable and easier to play if you’re playing on a stage, plus I can master all my records so that they sound the best they can be (if you’re a producer you start to get anal about sound hahah). The quality of the music is everything to me when I’m playing. You know, I actually spend more time and effort preparing my CD’s than I ever did with vinyl. Plus some gigs you turn up to and they don’t have CDJ’s and some don’t have record decks - so you really have to be prepared.

What does EG stand for?

Finally I can lay this to rest. E stands for Ey up and G stands for God’s sake would ya leave my ass alone.

Why did the Mark EG and M-Zone B2B stop? And why don’t you ever do it for a one off?

It stopped because we realised that we were constantly being asked to play together and it was important to keep our own identity. We’d been playing for years separately and I think if we’d have kept it going much longer it would have been really hard to break out of it. Those days have such brilliant memories though and I am so grateful it happened.

Anything to add?

Thanks so much for the questions guys. Check my website if you’re interested: www.blackoutaudio.co.uk. You can download our techno radio shows each month and if you join the forum there’s loads of my sets and stuff on there. Thanks for reading; It’s all about the music :0)

Thanks Mark for a great Interview, you can catch Mark EG @ RESONATE on the 27th October @ The Old Firestation Bournemouth alongside Uberdruck, Kamui, Alex Kidd, Mic E, Iain Cross & SL-DJ
There’s also a chance to win a copy of his latest release “Hard, Fast & Furious” HERE

Interview by: SL-DJ