Mark EG's Exclusive Megablast! Interview

Written on 09 December 2011.

Well, it’s getting to that time of the year where we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012! And where better to be, than stomping your way around Mark's very own Megablast! Arena at the huge 5 Arena event that is Slammin Vinyl and Compulsion NYE 2011 (the biggest event in the UK this New Years Eve).

So what has Mark been up to? What's this new MEGA_VX thing he's up to? And who did he get chased by in Crimea over the summer? Here are all your questions answered!

Now all the madness of the festive season is in full swing, what have you got planned for the holidays and the start of 2012?

Well Christmas is super busy for me, especially as I’m also trying to organise my Megablast! Arena as well as actually DJ at it! There’s so much more to do that people don’t realise – getting schedules organised, sorting décor, etc - arrrgh! But luckily loads of really passionate and great people are helping me with Megablast! which lets me get on with what really matters - my music! Thank god for them, because my techno label Blackout Audio is in full swing again, we’ve done 20 tracks this year for our The Anxious pseudonym (www.theanxious.net) and I’ve got new hard trance 2.0 studio stuff happening with the amazing Busho from Bristol too. It’s never ending but I’m loving it!

What are you looking forward to most about Megablast! @ Slammin Vinyl/Compulsion on NYE?

Apart From FIVE Arenas of music from hardcore to drum n bass to old school and us (it’ll be the biggest dance event on NYE in the UK!), I’ll be attempting my new MEGA_VX (Audio/Visual Experiment!). It’s the first time anyone has attempted to do anything like this in our scene – I’ll be in control of the visuals via a series of MIDI controllers, so I’ve been working super-hard on this! I’ll be showcasing the new Allen and Heath DB2 DJ Mixer too. I was very lucky to be sent one for Beta-testing and even got to play it for the first time ever in a UK club. You can see my review of the mixer here:

The line-up for the room looks incredible! Can you talk us through it?

Sure, well I've tried to put a little bit of variety on you know - I don’t want it to be 150 bpm bangingness from the off but then again we don’t want to be reaching for our pillows at peak-time do we?! Even though I love many styles of music I think progression is really important. The more gradual you peak, the longer you stay there in the end. In my book, nobody wants to hear the same thing all night! A*S*Y*S will be building the night beautifully ready for the man-of-the-moment Scope DJ (a Scantraxx giant!) to let it rip for midnight. Kutski will be continuing the journey and then it'll be time for one of the most respected new-music figureheads in the world DJ Thera to present the real sound of future hard music. Then it'll be time for me to come on and do my thing - musically expect anything - I've even been playing everything from dub techno to industrial hardcore in my sets recently! You can expect Megablast! to really develop this concept next year and explore what it truly means to be into good music no matter what it is. We're even planning worldwide tours to shake up the club scene!

Do you have any New Years resolutions?

To get a week off! No seriously, I can’t remember the last time I went on holiday abroad. I suppose you could say swanning off to far away lands every month playing the music I love is a holiday, but it’s the travelling and the airports that is a pain up the ass. I’d just love to simply go away for a week with no schedule over my head and sit on a beach doing naff all. Yes, I really must do that this year (Mark sets a reminder to slap himself silly on Dec 31th 2012 if he hasn’t been on holiday by then!) 

What gigs are you most looking forward to over the next few months (Other than Compulsion’s NYE event of course?)

You know, I really can’t single anyone out – it just wouldn’t be fair to the others! But I think the main thing I’m going to be trying to focus on over the next few months is to push the variety of music in my sets – presenting good music to people no matter what style it is whilst most are playing the same. I think that’s the future of the club scene and I intend to expand in that direction as much as I can. Sign up to my newsletter on the right of this site to keep up to date ---->

What tracks are currently doing the most dance floor damage during your sets?

Oh there’s too many, purely because of the amount of music I’m into. But for techno it has to be stuff from Luis Ruiz. For hard trance 2.0 it’s Danny V’s acid sound and Thera obviously. For hardstyle/rawstyle it’s Delete and then for hardcore techno anything on Motormouth. Finally for punk rock attitude - it’s Atari Tennage Riot without question!

After a year travelling all over the world you must have had some eventful nights! What’s the maddest thing you have witnessed (apart from your own off the wall antics?)

The maddest thing I ever saw this year was definitely at the Kazantip Music Festival in Crimea, off the Black Sea. The party goes on for 6 weeks constantly and it attracts 150,000 amazing people. When I walked in and saw the Arena where I was playing – a massive authentic Greek Coliseum - I just couldn’t believe it! But the maddest thing happened during the day after the night before – Proteus and I ended up getting chased around the whole site by a huge army of robots – proper ones with guns! It was just nuts – it’s like they’d all radioed through to each other and were looking for us. I got so scared I actually ended up trying to disguise myself in a make shift cardboard robot suit. OMG we laughed so hard that day J I made this vid shortly afterwards: