The ultimate party nutter Mark EG has been playing for Frantic for over 10 years! Check out the interview below to find out more about the rave legend and what to expect from his set on Saturday at Tranz-mission 2010!

1) How was your New Year?

Usually I travel about 3000 motorway miles on New Years Eve (no joke), but this year I decided to do four sets in only two places. It was one of the most relaxing New Years ever with a grand total of only five hours on the road and countless fun moments of party time. New Years Day I played in Leeds at the ever so good Goodgreef NYD party. It’s all a bit of a blur after that to be honest!

2) How was your Xmas?

Party central! But it would have been even more so had I not nearly written my car off. We were on our way to a gig in N. Wales round the stupid B Roads in the snow and were quite lucky as we nearly ended up in a river. Amazingly I managed to get hold of someone who collected us and got us to the party, but unfortunately I let Firewall down in Bridgewater. Hopefully I can make it up to everyone in the next few months!

3) When and where is your next international tour?

I’m doing a ‘Mark EG’s Madheads’ Tour in Australia for February and March. It’s been about a year since I’ve been over there and I’m really chuffed to be doing it, especially as we’ll be in Melbourne and that is one of my favourite places in the world (especially Ramsey Street!). Sometimes I think I might never bother coming back from that god damn place it’s so good.

4) What is the most unusual place you have played in the last year?

Well it’s a toss up between a forest in Russia or a World War II Fort in the middle of the Channel. In Russia we travelled for miles into the middle of nowhere, where suddenly we found almost 10,000 Ruskies avin’ it to the dirtiest sounds of techno, drum and bass and even trance. Then there’s a place off the coast of Portsmouth in the middle of the sea where Contact do one-off parties. It’s truly an amazing experience – getting a ferry across to an old Fort and then banging out the hardstyle tunes with no sound restrictions. Brilliant.

5) When is your next track due for release?

I’m waiting for it to come out now actually: Mark EG Meets Thilo And Evanti ‘The Ride’ on StraightOn Black. I plan to get in the studio a lot this year – so watch this space!

6) Are you still writing reviews?

Yes and I’ve just finished them as we speak. I love writing – so much so I recently became the Editor of a magazine called Core. Go to wwwcore-mag.net for more info. If there’s anyone out there who’s interested in joining us on our mission to bring good music to the people get in touch!

7) What track never leaves your box?

Believe it or not, every track leaves my box pretty damn quick. It’s always been like that. I can only play tracks for so long before I have to move on. The key for me is finding the new music, new directions and new formulas. I know sometimes people don’t understand how you can be so into something one day and not the next, but I totally thrive off it being like that. It’s why I very rarely play old school sets. Some things are best left for memories ;)

8) Do you ever mix on Vinyl?

Of course! With around 50000 records in my collection, vinyl has been a very big part of my life for 20+ years. I’ve definitely moved into the digital realm more, but I still buy vinyl all the time and play it when I feel the equipment is stable enough. I’d actually love to get the feel of vinyl back into my sets in the future and have recently been looking at forward thinking ways to do that.

9) Can you tell everyone about the time you DJed in front of the huge church organ at a previous Tranzmission?

Yes, it was not my most favourite experience! It’s kinda ridiculous but I’m actually scared of heights and one year they put the DJ’s really high up in front of a huge Church organ with pipes the size of a house. I remember holding onto the decks for dear life, trying to mix together 60 minutes of music in front of thousands of ravers with the earth shaking beneath me. I threw up at one point – in fact I think you can even hear that on the tape packs ‘cause the record suddenly speeds up. Haha.

10) Do you remember when you first played at Frantic?

Of course I do – it was in London at The Rocket and it was a big moment for me. I really wanted to play a good set and get people on side. Thankfully it all worked out (apart from the four thousand people that left when I dropped Right Said Fred - JOKE). You know, it’s amazing that over ten years and thousands of burst eardrums later they still want me down. Bring on Tranzmission mofos!

Thanks Mark, make sure you don’t miss Mark EG’s set in the Frantic Arena at Tranz-mission this Saturday!

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