Page 26 - Zone Magazine Issue 012

Mark Knight, “DJ, producer, label owner and businessman” is how his biography describes him in its first sentence and what a perfect intro that is, to the story of a self made mogul of the dance industry that has achieved so much in his musical career so far.
His name is synonymous with the underground dance scene which is at juxtaposition to his success as an industry leader as surely, the runaway success of his DJing, recording career, record label and touring brand ‘Toolroom Live’ make him a household name in dance music circles!? So how does he maintain that air of mystery and coolness that insure his position as a champion of all things cutting edge and underground in a scene which is now a global phenomenon?
He is the second highest-selling Beatport artist of all time with no less than eight No.1’s to his name and he regularly tours the world, something that was caught on camera for a feature length ‘fly on the wall’ documentary that was released in January 2016 and aptly titled “A Year In The Life.” This also coincided with the release of an album with the same title.
He is also a philanthropist of sorts as well, as all the profits from the sale of the album “A Year In The Life” went to the children's charity ‘War Child’ which again seal his credentials as a true pioneer of the global dance scene.
And then there is his hugely successful label ‘Toolroom Records’ which launched in 2004 and has gone on to release hit after hit and has managed to do so while not jumping on the bandwagon musically, but by always staying a step ahead of the game by releasing the sound of the future of dance music and of late, focusing on the development of the artists on the Toolroom rhosta.
Now in 2016, there has been a move away from releasing just single after single and instead releasing more albums and this policy again has been a success with ground breaking albums from the likes of Weiss and Adrian Hour. There has been hit after hit since ‘Toolroom Records’ inception in 2004 and over the past few years as part of their pivotal #RESET campaign a lot has changed with the label.
Personally Mark has worked on his own sound of late by stripping it back and going back to his roots and this has yielded some of his best releases to date. He will be releasing on a lot of different labels as well as on his beloved Toolroom Imprint so expect even more groundbreaking releases in the near future.
Another runaway success for Mark has been his radio career with Toolroom Radio now reaching over 13.5 million people in 60 countries worldwide. It also was named by ‘Digital Music News’ as being in the top 20 most influential iTune podcasts, based on
the number of subscribers he has to his weekly podcast. And as these figures are global it really goes to show how much he has made an impression on the World electronic music scene.
And hand and hand with this hard earned good fortune is the success of his international touring brand ‘Toolroom Live’ which has hosted stages at many festivals Worldwide as well as hosting nights in the likes such legendary venues as Space Ibiza and Amnesia. ‘Toolroom Live’ is a name that is synonymous with upfront underground dance music and DJ’s and this is set to continue with bookings coming in thick and fast for 2017.
With so much going on we were lucky to get the time to ask mark some questions about his position as one of the World's leading electronic dance music exponents and this is what he had to say:
Hi Mark, The last time we met I was interviewing you in Swansea at a festival in 2015 and your schedule was truly hectic. Is it still as busy for you internationally as it used to be?
Yes it’s pretty relentless, not that I’m complaining: it’s a privilege to be able to do what I do for a living, but the travel does start to get to you after a while. I have slowed down a little in the amount of gigs I’m doing as I really wanted to spend more time in the studio this year. It’s been great really getting stuck into production, but as you know a DJ ultimately earns his living on the road these days, so I won’t be giving up touring any time soon!
So 2016 is nearly drawing to an end and you have you had a great year so far. What have been some of the highlights for you?
There’s a gig I do every year at Cacao Beach in Bulgaria that is always incredible, and this year was no different. It’s without a doubt one of my favourite places in the world. The energy I get from being there is unbelievable. I’ve been playing in Bulgaria now for so many years that I have a very special connection to the country. But Cacao Beach is particularly special. Playing to 5-6,000 people all night long until the sun comes up; it doesn’t really get much better than that. It takes place on a beautiful beach, and all you can see from the stage is people going back right into the sea and literally no-one leaves until the very last record: it’s insane.
Aside from gigs, the success of my record ‘Yebisah’ has made me very happy. I really tried to go back to basics on that record, and make something that ultimately just makes people feel good, so it’s great to see it getting the response it had.
And dare I say it have there been any things that have disappointed you in 2016 or is it all been good for you?
Not from a personal perspective. At the start of the year I had a pretty clear plan of what I wanted to achieve this year, and so far I’m happy with what I’ve done. But on the industry side there have been a few disappointments, the closure of fabric chief among them. It’s absolutely gutting that the powers that be don’t value clubs more, and when somewhere as influential as fabric goes, you do worry that the entire industry is in trouble. I really hope that the guys there manage to turn it around, London and electronic music in general is a far less exciting place without that club.
You are a man who likes to keep busy so with so much going on for you, how do you keep control of it all?
I’ve always enjoyed doing lots of different things and enjoyed keeping busy, but I don’t think there’s any particular track to it. If you’re passionate about what you do, you end up doing more and more of it, so it’s that drive to be successful that helps you keep all the plates spinning.
Are there any areas of your multi faceted career that you prefer to others or do you enjoy it all as equally?
This is a question I get asked quite a lot, and to be honest, I enjoy it all. I’ve you asked me straight after a particularly good gig, or productive studio session I might say one thing of the other, but the truth is that I love being able to have different facets to my career. Same with Toolroom and the more usiness side of things. I think if I could only do one thing I’d get bored pretty quickly.
With your name being so synonymous with ‘Toolroom Records’ and ‘Toolroom Live,’ how do you manage to keep your own identity as ‘Mark Knight DJ and Producer’ separate from the Toolroom moniker?
This was something I thought about a lot this year, which is why I made the decision to start making records for other people’s labels, rather than releasing everything on Toolroom. Of course people associate me with Toolroom, and that’s perfectly natural and absolutely fine: I’m incredibly proud of the label and what we’ve achieved. But I wanted to give myself the challenge of making records for other people, and introducing myself to people who might not know me via my music. I’m also currently working on an album that will show a completely different side to my production.
There has been a lot of talk in clubbing circles about Ibiza of late, you held two ‘Toolroom Live’ events in ‘Amnesia’ this summer, how did you find them?
Amnesia is a fantastic club, world-class, and the parties we have there are usually some of the best of the year. This year was no exception.
feature interview [uk]
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26 ZONE-MAGAZINE.IE