Questions:

-How’s life treating you at the moment?

All good! Interesting times for the music industry at the moment with the rise of the MP3 download…

-What have been up to this last month?

Ah its been a busy one with the Amsterdam Dance Event at the end of October. Definitely my pick of the bunch when it comes to Music conferences as it is literally all the players from the dance music world all in one building so its great for business… I’m now trying to finalise the deals!

-Aside from running the label you DJ at some amazing venues. Whats your favourite club?

Well a year ago I would’ve said Blend in Derby but sadly its closed down now. I’d have to say for Pacha in Egypt as it is a huge open air club which ROCKS! UK wise the atmosphere at Fiction @ The Cross is unrivalled!

-You also find time to host a weekly radio show on UnknownFM.Net (90.2FM in London). How long have you been doing radio?

I’ve played on Unknown for around a year and a half now. However I started with a show on Girls FM way back in 1996. I’ve always enjoyed doing radio as you get instant feedback from the listener which is great for promoting records!

-Do you still enjoy playing out or would you rather be working on finding productions?

I LOVE DJing… Always will. And I think it really helps me decide on which records to sign up. I test them in the club and if they rock it – we’re on!

-Hows the year been for you DJing?

Very cool… I managed to get my regular slot at Fiction which is something I’ve been wanting to do for ages. I’ve also played abroad at venues like Amika in Miami, Deep in Dubai, and Pacha in Egypt - all are amazing. We also did some great Peppermint Jam parties at Gatecrasher and Pacha London.

You're playing at the Unknown FM's flagship night 'Good Life' who hosting a joint 2nd birthday celebration with 'Tickled Pink!' @ Sin, Saturday 18th November. What can we expect to hear in your set and describe your ‘sound’?

I usually play anything from soulful vocal stuff right the way through to the tougher electro house. At Good Life/Tickled Pink I'll be playing in the Electro room hosted by Good Life. So i'll be looking to filth it right up.

-We hear that there will be casino tables with croupiers at the event. Will you be having a flutter?

I'll be smuggling some monopoly money in with me for sure!!!

-Peppermint Jam has grown and grown over the years into an institution. How did you come to work for them?

Well I’ve been a huge fan of the label since I started buying house music 12 or 13 years ago. I met Simon and Mousse T through my previous job and they asked me to join the team at Peppermint Jam. I now run the UK operations and A&R the label.

-What tracks should we be looking out for from Peppermint Jam in the near future?

We have some great stuff in the works. Single wise we have a track called ‘YOU YOU YOU’ from JAMES KAKANDE which is shaping up really nicely, a new INAYA DAY project is in the works, I picked up an excellent track from DJAIMIN called ‘SHAKE IT’ which has a big sample from the Scarface movie and one of our new signings DAMIAN STRONG has a new track called ‘LOVE SHOP’ which is great.

Album wise MOUSSE T is back in the studio early 2007 to get cracking on his next LP, JAMES KAKANDE has a great album which is out at the moment, we have the new album from OMAR which is pure class and we have just signed a new LP from MAXI PRIEST!!!

-What are your top 3 tunes of the moment??

1. SE:SA ‘Bonstair’

2. Junior Jack ‘Dancin’

3. James Kakande ‘You You You’ (ATFC MIX)

-CD vs Vinyl? Your opinion?

These days CD. No question. The CDJ has re-invented DJing. Plus when you have over 25,000 records you don’t need more!

Many thanks to Mark Robinson for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview. Dont forget you can catch him every wednesday evening on London's Unknown 90.2FM or via the net www.unknownfm.net