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Features
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Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! |
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K90 - reach for those lasers!
Reported by MostWantedJc
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Submitted 24-01-07 22:01
Looking for a DJ that makes even your nipples reach for the lasers? Sound impossible? Then you obviously haven’t seen or heard K90 live in action. With enough energy to drive a small Welsh town and a smile that could be seen from the outer reaches of space it’s that big, Mark Doggett is an absolute dance floor legend...
Which is precisely why he was a perfect choice to headline not only the Hard Dance Awards 2006 at Brixton Academy on Saturday February 24th, but also the massive eleventh tidy Weekender at Pontins in Prestatyn this March.
If that wasn’t enough for you, he’s also hard at work on a new K90 album. We can only assume of the electronic delights he’s got in store for us, as in typical K90 fashion he’s remaining unbelievably tight-lipped about it all! After several attempts to try and crowbar some production information out of him, we put out frustration to one side, mopped up where our mouths had watered and asked him about that other all important subject: nippliness. You couldn’t make it up…
As the massive and mighty TW11 is coming up with its High School Romp theme let’s start at the beginning...
At school did you get good grades, or were you often relegated to detention?
My grades were pretty average through school to be honest; I was more content to have a football at my feet than a pen in my hand. I never really got into any major trouble either so looking back, school was really just something I went through on the way to adulthood.
Music geek or cool dude?
I was into music when I was at school but nothing I was listening to then gave me any clue what I would end up doing for a living!!!
What music were you listening to through your teens?
In my early teens I suppose I was into (ahem) Michael Jackson, then once I’d got the “hee hee” moonwalk out of my system I moved onto some of the early electronic bands such as the Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and OMD. Towards the end of my secondary education I got into electro (the first time it was popular) and rap bands such as Run DMC and the Beastie Boys.
What is the most rebellious thing you did at school?
I wasn’t really rebellious at school; I just got on with it and looked forward to leaving! Although, thinking about it, I did do something a little bit naughty and a tad illegal while I was supposed to be in school! I bunked off with my best mate Keith and he had a job in the kitchen of one of the local collages here in Cambridge, which meant he had use of the student bar! It was also one of the only places we could get served; I dunno how, we must have only looked about twelve! Anyhoo, we were supposed to be in class but decided an afternoon on the lash would be much more fun! We played the fruit machines and pool in the bar while enjoying a few ciders, when we noticed that whoever had emptied the pool table of its cash hadn’t put the cover back on properly! We saw this as a great opportunity and, under the nose of the bar man took turns to scoop out handfuls of ten pence pieces and fill our pockets! We walked out of the bar feeling well pleased with ourselves with our jacket pockets bulging! When we counted it up, we had fifty eight quid in ten pence’s…result!!! Well, not really, Keith got found out and got the sack! I spent my half on records and luckily got away with it!!!
How old were you when you started partying and where was your first proper rave?
I got into partying as we know it in my early twenties and before the criminal justice bill came in. In those days, free raves came complete with a giant fairground and thirty thousand people! My first official rave was at the Cambridge Corn Exchange at an event called ‘Eclipse’ — white glove o’clock!
I read that you had your first studio in your kitchen, you legend! But what or who made you first become interested in producing your own dance music?
I got into producing by complete accident. A mate of mine who I used to work with got made redundant and with his redundancy cash he bought a Commodore Amiga computer. I used to work shifts and finish at two in the afternoon some days, so I used to nip round his on my way home from work for a cuppa tea and to play computer games. He used to buy computer mags for the Amiga and one month he got a free music software program as the cover mount. We tinkered around with the program, and before we knew it we were making our own music! After about a year, we made our first EP — ‘One Love’, sent it to a few labels and ended up getting signed to the then hardcore label Kickin Records. That was in 1992!
Any advice for all those producers sitting at home, trying to break into the music industry with their own killer riff?
The biggest piece of advice I would give to any up and coming producer is to enjoy your music, first and foremost. If you sit there trying to make the next big thing, chances are you won’t. If you treat what you’re doing as an enjoyable pastime and just enjoy the process of making music, chances are that enjoyment will show through in your work and somebody will notice you. You could end up with something somebody might want to release, and more importantly, your own original sound.
My personal favourite track of yours is ‘Deliverance’ because the riff makes even my nipples reach for the lasers, but what is your favourite K90 track and why does it still rock you?
To be honest, I try not to look back at previous productions too much, because I prefer to focus on new ways of making ya nips stand out! My fave K90 track is always the track I’m working on at the time and I can’t tell you what that is because it’s something that’ll be going on my next artist album and it’s a secret!
What’s your favourite track by another producer, and do you think you could make it even better if you had the chance to remix it with your own style?
I can’t say there’s one track that I look back at and say “that’s the best track I’ve ever heard” as it changes all the time.
With all those big names at TW11, are there any special K90 traits we can expect to really rock the tidy people?
I’ll be showcasing some of the new stuff I’ve written for my next album, mixed in with all the favourite K90 tracks such as ‘Snapper’ and ‘Breathe’. I’m also about to start work on a remix of a track I released last year and hopefully that’ll be finished and in the set for TW11.
The first time I saw your live set you were grinning from ear to ear. I just wondered how you manage to keep that great big smile on your face every time you play? Surgery perhaps, or are you just having that much fun?
I get asked about this a lot both in interviews and by people at events. Let me put it like this: I travel the world, playing music I have made and get to party for a living and get paid for it! Wouldn’t you smile?
Do you still get nervous when you drop a new tune in front of a crowd for the first time, especially if it’s something a bit different?
I wouldn’t say I get nervous; I get a huge buzz from it and it’s the only way, in my opinion, to get the track sounding just right! It has to be what I call ‘road tested’ before it leaves the workshop! I can have a track in production for sometimes up to two or three months before I consider it to be finished.
What upcoming K90 releases should we expect the DJs to grind the dance floors with?
I’m working on a remix of a track I released on Dataless last year as I mentioned, and that, all being well, will be the first K90 release of 2007. I don’t want to say what the track is yet, just in case it doesn’t come out the way I want it to! After that it’ll be full steam ahead finishing the album, a single from that ‘pre’ the album release and then who knows, three or four singles from the album after that?
What new tunes from other producers are rocking your iPod at the moment?
There’s a couple — ‘Access’ by RDVB (Randy Katana Mix) and a dirty electro mix by D Ramirez of ‘Lost’ by — believe it or not — Roger bloomin’ Sanchez!
The debate continues for digital vs. vinyl. As an artist and label manager that releases and sells on all formats from your own website, what are your thoughts about it as far as sales goes?
I have to say, it doesn’t look good for vinyl. 99% of all the DJs I’ve seen and stood along side in the DJ box recently play nothing but CDs, so what sort of message does that project to the dance music buying public? From a personal DJ’ing point of view, I haven’t spun a record out in probably six moths and I can’t see that changing anytime soon either. From a record label who releases music on vinyl, it’s just too expensive to produce vinyl records. Unless the price comes down to put music onto plastic, in my opinion, and I hate to say it, vinyl seems doomed.
You’ve had an incredible year last year; what was the absolute highlight for you?
I had some truly unforgettable times performing last year — Invasion: Ibiza; a World Cup 06 kick off party for 30,000 in a single arena in Malaysia; plus a six city tour of New Zealand and Australia to name but a few! Believe me, there are still loads of other shows and events I did last year that make it onto the rostrum! I’m really looking forward to carrying on the 2006 momentum into 2007 and making this year even better than last!
How and where did you finish off 2006?
I played at Storm in Coalville and then headed off down the motorway to Slinky vs. Sundissential vs. Koolwaters. Both events were superb!
You’re been working on new album for some time now, how close are you to a release date?
Um, that’s hard to say but I’m aiming for September 2007.
Do you have a title for it yet?
Yes, but I’m not telling you cause it’s a secret!
What is your main reasoning for expanding your recent productions beyond the hard trance genre?
The way I write tends to mirror my current tastes in music. I’m really into tech trance and electro at the moment, so what I’m producing in the studio seems to reflect that.
Where are you getting your influences from for your new diverse material?
I love what’s been coming out on Dutch labels such Reset and High Contrast. Over the last year or so it’s stuff from producers like Randy Katana and Mac & Mac that have really tickled my giblet lately!
Will you be wearing your school uniform at TW11?
Er, guess what? No!
How long before a big gig like TW11 do you need to get your smile sorted?
I get up with a smile on my face so it’ll be there before I turn up at the event!!!
Catch K90 Live! at tidy’s legendary Weekender, held at Pontins in Prestatyn on March 22nd to 25th. Chalets are being snapped up fast, so don’t hold back til the last minute!
Photos courtesy of John Rideout & JCMost Wanted PR. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By MostWantedJc: Carlsberg don’t do DJs. But if they did, they’d make Guyver! Anything to declare? Scot Project gets interrogated!
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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