Mark Dynamix: Sound Advice.

Mark Dynamix plays Family on Friday. His mix CD, Ministry Of Sound - Club Nation 2002, will be instore July.

Australian club culture has several names that resonate nationally; Pee Wee Ferris, Andy Van and Groove Terminator are three of ‘em, while Mark Dynamix has been slogging it out for the better part of ten years. Recently named the 2nd best DJ in Australia (voted by 3D World Magazine), Dynamix is possibly best known for his compilation CDs, his Peaktime and Full Frequency comps for Central Station have always been popular choices, while his association with Ministry of Sound probably found him a berth in most CD players around the country. Due to release the Ministry of Sound Club Nation 2002 in July, Dynamix is due in Vegas this week to tease punters about the upcoming release.

Mr Dynamix, a joy to interview in general, is his usual cheery, professional self.

So what are the current residencies in Dynamix world?

“Thursday nights I do the Icebox, Friday I do Aqua Lounge at Manly and Plastic at Zen, Saturday I do Progress at Gas and the one off parties and Sunday I do Sounds on Sunday at Greenwood and the Icebox again. Stylistically, the sets really range, everything from breaks to funky house, progressive and techno. I really like it that way cause it keeps it interesting.”

You seem to skip through genres fairly nimbly, is it more acceptable to specialise in many genres now, rather then just one?

“I think more DJs are trying to be varied, it’s a lot harder to be varied then it is to stay true to one style. People become almost snobby about what they listen to. Like ‘Mark is playing a funky house set, but he can’t really play funky house cause he’s a progressive DJ’ I think that attitude is fucked, cause a good DJ can play any style”

Whose fault is that? The record companies, the media or promoters?

“All those factors, I think people on the dance floor expect a certain sound when they see a DJ and if they don’t hear that, they get disappointed. I think people should have an open mind, I like to be surprised when I go to a nightclub.”

You occupy a strange landscape in between the underground and the commercial elite, how do you do it?

“I try to find a balance… definitely with the CDs. With the CDs, I do them on quite a commercial label, Ministry Of Sound so I have to find a balance that works for both of us as well as satisfy the punters. If you go too commercial you piss off the purists, if you go too underground, people won’t buy the CD and it will stick in their minds next time you do a CD. For me, the first priority is DJing and my regular gigs, that’s my job, that’s what I do, all the other things, like CDs, if they want me to go commercial, I have to think ‘How is this going to affect my main job?’ If it affects it in an adverse way, I re-think it. For instance, I did the radio for Qantas In-Flight for a year, that had to be quite commercial, but it had to work for me too… so it was a fine line.”

You do more then the average DJ to keep your name out there.

“I always try to do different things, I like doing the radio stuff, I like doing the Internet stuff, I have built a big forum up on the net. I just think the more angles you can come from, the more areas you can cover, whether that is radio, Internet, in the clubs, on CD, whatever, it helps the Dynamix brand name. I think people appreciate the DJs that give a bit more then they have to.”

So this MOS disc, the Club nation 2002 one, what’s the science?

“It’s with GT, a double disc and it’s a little bit different to what I do normally. I have played funky stuff in the clubs before, but not really on CD, it’s generally been more progressive. So this time I have gone into that more. I like it. It’s slower then the other CDs, it’s a bit cruiser.”