Mark Seven Interview

February 2005 NYC and I'm taking a break from dj'ing downstairs with my good friend Darshan Jesrani from Metro Area at APT, situated in the meatpacking area around 14th St. Upstairs another friend DJ Spun (PS1) musical programmer and co-label owner for Rong Recs is spinning disco and left field sounds he's reknown for.
Sitting up near the sounds are friends over from London DJ Phil Mison, girlfriend Angie and ex pat Phil South (No Ordinary Monkey) Were here to party. Loft Anniversary, a No Ordinary Monkey b-day Party and also to see Harvey play at Deep Space as over in London as we miss him a hella bunch, I'm also as ever meeting new people and I have the pleasure of meeting special musical fellow and the start of a friendship is about to ensue.

Mark Seven is now stranger to underground music, his involvement goes back to the early 80's his input has included organising and promoting parties like the all night 'Bizzare' one of the original Balearic/early house all nighters (when it was illegal !) as well as many others in the late 80's. A Shoom regular he began dj'ing and now also collects and sells records to those lucky enough to receive his lists. He now resides in Sweden home of all beautiful things including vinyl !

Mark is also co-promoting parties 'The Lodge' and NY Social Club and keeping relation to other parties in Europe, inviting the guests Prins Thomas (Feedelity) and Phil Mison (Reverso 68).

His mixes have gained notoriety on websites www.djhistory.com and San Diego DJ Hugh Herrera's www.h-track.com for his eclectic leftfield selection of old and new music innovatively mixed. Mark is one of the few to really capture the understanding of Balearic style of music and how to play it. In fact in a few hours of listening to Mark as I did initially at Steve Terry's 'Let It Happen'/ Voodoo Tea Dance I was impressed that he's able to mix many genres with keeping respect to the music and the dancefloor in front of him. Did I say exciting ?

Mark was also kind enough to join us in October 2005 and play the Voices party which he subsequently rocked and made it one our most memorable events.
More recently in 2006 Mark has returned to London to play at Lazermagnetic Bank Holiday parties and at Plastic People with alongside Gerry Rooney & myself.

So raise your Voices as we speak with DJ Mark Seven:

Where are you originally from and where were you born ?

My family roots are in beautiful Bracknell, Berkshire. I was born just down the m4 in Reading.

Any musical family links ?

My dad was a drummer, like all drummers he was always tapping on whatever was around - teaching me to try and keep time.

When did your interest in music begin ?

I started really taking an interest at about 10 or 11. I had a cool friend at school that got me into all the Two-Tone stuff and some Clash and punk stuff, I think that all came from his older brother. I remember I was well into The Jam. As I got a little older it just evolved into dance music and soul. Radio London I suppose... soul nights out. Was probably horrifying to the older soul heads but for kids in the 'burbs it was exciting stuff.

What inspired you to start dj'ing ?

When I left school I did this apprenticeship that paid me a wage - money in my pocket! I used to run around with these mates, four of us always together and we'd go up town Saturday buying records at City Sounds, Groove, Quaff, Music Power all that. Trying to get in spots in town... Delirium, Dingwalls etc just dancing, getting inspired.

So one these mates used to have a teacher at school who he said was into records. Turns out its Bill Shannon (Timewarp) and he opens a store in Bracknell at the same time. I'd go in there pestering him to sell me stuff.

Another one of these mates: Don, he was a little older and he was a regular at this spot near him, the backroom of a boozer in Chertsey called The Cricketers. That place had some great dj's, Jasper the vinyl junkie, Jazzy M - great stuff, inspiration. Anyhow when they get a night come free, he somehow persuades the owner to let us fill in, together with Bill. We used to freak Bill out, this was about 87 and house and acid was taking over. Bill was a true purist and I think he soon regretted having anything to do with us !

So cut a long story shorter... I was lucky to have a lot of amazing influences very early on.

What parties were you dancing at and what were your feelings, were there any dj's who stood out and made an impression on you ?

After those early days we get to that time when everything changed. Early in '88 we went to a party called Hedonism, that blew me away. That summer we began running a party in Windsor, home to half the Boys Own collective and we fell into a great crowd. One night we just abandoned our club to the sound guy and jumped on a coach to the first Boys Own barn dance. That night left an impression on me that I still feel to this day. I feel so lucky to have been at the right place to have experienced that... Future, Spectrum, Shoom, parties like Destination Moon. A coming together of events and people like that, it's life changing.

Apart from those dj's I've mentioned, of course Andy Weatherall was a big influence, Steve Procter and yep, Oakenfold too. Hard to imagine but he was fantastic then... "La Habanera"!

But I can't overstate how big an influence Rampling was. At that time he was God, end of! It sounds crazy, but to look at him rockin' out, doing that dance, playin' those tunes... we just wanted to be Rampling! He would have to be the single biggest influence on me as a dj.

Were you involved in organising parties in U.K ?

To a small degree. We did a little barn dance in the countryside for our mates in September 88 with Andy, and Kevin Hurry and Swain. From there we got warm-up spot for the Boilerhouse boys, we did the balearic backroom at a club in Maidenhead called Valbonnes every week, and various little one-offs. May 89 we did this big barn party near Windsor - Bizarre with the Kevin's, Rampling and Andy.

What inspires you to DJ ?

Just music I guess, music and dancing - it's a wonderful thing. You hear a record and you think "I can't wait to play this to my friends". I s'pose I always have the feeling in the back of my mind, of how it felt to be on a dancefloor at Future or Shoom... that collective joy.

What struck me and our collective initially when I heard you play is your attention to the flow of the music in regards to tempo and mood.
The mix seems very important and exciting when hearing you play and I get the impression you like the challenge of crossing various genres, where does that style come from in terms of your dj'ing ?

That's kind of you. I've always felt mixing's important but I can't say why really, especially when you hear Harvey or Gerry play a set that blows you away without mixing. I dunno, I like to plan the set to build right, to have dips and peaks in mood - you know basic stuff, it's all personal I suppose. I don't set out to incorporate different genres but there's just so much great stuff to choose from. Selection is important, otherwise you're not dj'ing, you're just playing records and everyone can instinctively hear the difference.

How do you approach a party you are playing and does it differ vastly from being in Sweden or London in terms of what you play ?

I'd have to say I haven't been back home to London enough to get fully comfortable yet. I'm still kinda nervous about what's gonna work. It's harder when you don't know the crowd so you just set out to play some music you wanna hear. In Sweden we do a party called The Black Lodge that's run for just over two years, with that party I'd say I approach it in the same way I'd approach Voices. Similar box of records, similar style. But in general when I play in Sweden, I normally have to have some 'safety' with me... we don't have that many committed dancers, and you can't always take the chances you'd like.

Where do you enjoy partying at in Sweden and abroad ?

"Whenever I'm in London, I always stop in at Voices - the choice of the professional" hehehe! But really, these days I love coming home. What with you guys, Steve's 1001 do's, Lasermagnetic etc... there's a great little underground. Dj's, musicheads who are totally committed to what they do and are mostly left alone by the mainstream. And the family runs deep, you got the Manchester cosmic folks, Carlos, Phil and the NYC familia, the West Coast scene, Thomas, H.P., Terje and Rune doing their thing in Oslo, the heads up in Scotland... It's very positive.

In Sweden, I don't think there's anything else like the Black Lodge for me - I don't see any other clubs put that kind of love into it. But these days there are quite a few parties getting into the dub/cosmic disco thing, which is nice to see after pushing it in clubs and mix cd's for so long !

Let's face it I'm an old man: most of the time I fantasize about some mythical drinking club with wood panelling, a real fire and a perfect sound, great drinks and nice people... but mostly the closest thing to that is my front room.

When and why did you move to Sweden ?

I think it was '98, for the rare women and the beautiful vinyl.

Are you dj'ing and involved in parties there ?

Apart from the Black Lodge I do a night called NewYorkSocialClub in a small college town called Uppsala. But Sweden's strange, they have an inferiority complex about their own dj's - it's like clubs got to have an international guest rather than their locals, even though I've seen plenty where they maybe shouldn't have bothered. They seem to need the hype to make it work and I've always been out of step with that so I don't play that often - unless I book myself!

Do you give importance to sound when you are preparing your parties ?

We try. I'm inspired by what you've achieved with the Voices sound and of course the Mancuso ethic. We're not in any position to bring the monoblocks and Klipsch horns out just yet but bad sound kills me.

Have you been involved in making music and are you planning to release any productions in the near future ?

Yeah, I've done bits and pieces in the past - never with any real success. I'm currently trying to master the subtleties of logic - but the things I make now are just to play out. Still, never say never.

You're also a record dealer, how long have you been selling records and how can we contact you ha ha ?

I started selling records as "Jus'Wax" when I moved here, so about 8 years ago. It's a monthly list that goes out to an extended group of friends but maybe a permanent page on the web is on the way. Contact? You betta axe somebody!

Why the 7 ?

Hehe! When I started dj'ing and making music on my own, my career was shall we say, supported, by the DHSS ! A slight change of title seemed like a safe idea. And Seven? Well it's lucky right? "Seven and 7 is"!

Mark if there is anything you want to add please say as well ?

Naah that's enough chat from me, I hope to see you and the family on a dancefloor soon. Big-ups to Voices, it's a beautiful thing to remove the egos and what's left is pure joy. Keep saving that karma.

x/m