Grin When you Winning!

This article is about Moondance 2008 NYE @ Debut (was SEOne) in London (UK), Wed 31 Dec 2008

We caught up with Grin Recordings creative mind and resident DJ/Producer to take an inside look at the rise of the brand ahead of NYE and what the next year has in store for the Gentleman of Dance music Mark Batch.

Greetings Mr. Batchelor, Tell us about Grin Recordings and how things have been going in your world over the last year?

Wow… where to begin..? Grin Recordings was launched just over a year and a half ago now with two of my best mates Richard Bowditch and Jack Michaels. It was just something that we dreamed about doing one day. We wanted to create a label that would allow us create and promote House based music that contained all the different sounds that we love and go clubbing to.

We go to so many different types of clubs and love so many different genres of music.
I think that as a long term ambition we would like to be a label that crosses over into different genres and fuses them all together into one place between 127 & 130 bpm.
It would be great to breakdown the barrier play House, Electro, Techno, Trance.

It might seem very strange to many people, but we have started doing this in our productions and performances and we are really pleased with the results. We have friends across lots of scenes so when they come to Grin events and the tunes drop – The Party goes off!!!

So far this year as a brand… We’ve run a bi monthly residency at Inigo, toured Ibiza, played Ministry of Sound and even featured a Live Band called ‘The Mouth’ at our Halloween Party with Together at The Scala.

You’re an Art & Design Teacher by profession. What was it like to make such a big career change to do what you are doing now?

Leaving my teaching career was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make as I had studied my whole life to do this and loved my job. Since being at school, I had always worked on music projects in my spare time either as performer or promoter, so in one way it just seemed like a natural step.

Leaving my work colleagues, my students and tutor group was very hard and I do think of them all the time, but I handed in my notice, packed my bags and made my way to Ibiza for the summer.

When I got back I found whatever work I could working behind bars at nightclubs and did a bit of supply teaching to support my music projects before finding work with Data Transmission where I am involved in Marketing and Design for the Dance Music Industry. This is perfect for me as along with the DJing, Production and the Label, the different roles intertwine brilliantly.

Your Track ‘R.I.D.’ was featured on the Big in Ibiza Space Opening Parties Compilation and Closing Parties collection. What was the inspiration behind this?

Jack and I got a call one day from Media Records, saying that Jonathan Ulysses was in the building mixing the new compilation. He had heard our track and wanted to feature it and was this OK.

This was probably one of the best moments of the year. The response we got from press and DJ’s was amazing. We saw the roof almost come off when it was dropped at Pacha in London.

The funny thing about the track is that it contains samples from the Transformers film and original 80’s cartoon – hence the name of the track R.I.D. (If you’re a transformers fan you will know what this stands for.)

R.I.D. – Jack Michaels & Mark Batch

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Between the Lines – Mark Batch

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DiscoBomb – Jack Michaels & Mark Batch

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Grin also host their own events as well as releasing records. What makes your events different to all the other promotions that are out there competing every weekend?

I would have to say that our productions and different styles within the group is what makes a Grin night a journey and experience. Within the Grin DJ’s we all have different likes and ideas and when we play together we plan our nights and the musical soundtrack to make sure that we are complementing the evening, the venue and each other which creates a memorable experience.

We also have a bit of a reputation for causing lots of mischief and have often been known to dress up in silly outfits on occasion.

The residents, guest artists and of course our party goers are what makes our events really special. It’s all about the fun times at Grin which is why I think people warm to us.

What have you got lined up for 2009?

The Grin Calendar for 2009 is nearly already complete. I don’t want to give too much away yet but can say that we will be returning to Inigo where Grin began. We have been asked to return to The Gallery at Ministry of Sound and we will be launching details of our ‘Ibizan Heat’ Tour very soon.

We would also like to host more venues in our local town Kingston again at some point as the gigs were a great opportunity to bring our music to our friends from home.

2009 will be going off with a massive bang as we will be co-hosting the House & Electro Arena for Moondance NYE at SEOne. Its going to be full steam ahead from then on in. 2009 = Grin Time!

What does Moondance mean to you?

Good question… When I was at school, I used to love listening to the Dreamscape and Moondance ‘Tape’ packs. For years the Hype tape rattled around in my walkman and car. I even lost it then ‘borrowed’ my friend Nancy’s copy to replace it as I missed it so much. (Sorry Nancy… I hope she is not reading this!)

I think anyone who has heard this recording knows what I’m taking about and why it was so memorable.

The MC’s classic lines:
“Hype, Hype , Gimme da phone Gimme da phone Hype, Hype … DJ Hype, Hype Gimme da phone”

“MOOOONNNDAAAANCCEEE!!!”

Does anyone know the one I mean or am I just rambling!?

We would spend hours parked down Stanley Road in Teddington in my car waiting for the tunes to drop and then we would all start bouncing around and going nuts… The people passing would wonder what we were up to… I guess you had to be there.

The point I’m trying to make is that Moondance is something that we have grown up with and now years later to be one of the performers alongside the legends is a tiny bit exciting. I can’t wait to showcase the Grin material along with the other boys Jack, Yiannis Balkizas & James Edwards. Also having Kiss 100’s The Loose Cannons as the headline act is a going to be real treat. I’m looking forward to see how they work the crowd.

Grin Recordings in the House – Yeah!

It’s a really good opportunity to slip in some real grimey bassline tracks which might upset some crowds, but I know that the Moondance clubbers will not be put off by it.

We are also planning to have ‘The Sax Offender’ Ed Norris Jam with us. This guys is awesome and always lights up the party when he plays.