Interview: Mark Farina

On your new Fabric Mix; I was impressed with how you’ve doggedly stuck with your recognisable house sound, despite a global downturn in the popularity of this style of music. What places do you think this kind of music is still booming in at the moment?

The Midwest (USA), California, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, Belgium, just to name a couple spots.

Has your loyalty to house music been a conscious decision, either for the benefit of your long-time fans, or perhaps because you don’t like to be dictated by current trends? Or is it just that you don’t identify so much with the more popular music right now (arguably tech-house)?

I just love House. There’s a certain Chicago – SF jacking deep sound that I enjoy and always try and find new goodies to support that. I think Chicago house has many sub-genres within though.

What do you prefer to listen to at home, funky house music along the lines of your Fabric Mix, or the sound you’ve been credited as coming up with, “Mushroom Jazz”? Any other left-field stuff?

Both. I usually listen to more house because I tend to find more new house tunes than downtempo. I collect weird records – searching for samples too.

Your Fabric Mix contains a few interesting science fiction samples. Where did these come from?

Obscure old spoken word albums I’ve collected over the years.

What about the Japanese samples in Das Shibuya? What’s the guy saying? (something about a computer I think, my Japanese skills are a bit rusty)

The guy is naming all of the Kraftwerk songs they performed at a concert in Tokyo in 1981.

Being a veteran of the house scene, does it disappoint you to see so many kids in America growing up thinking of anything with a 4/4 beat as “techno” in the negative sense, especially since techno and house were conceived in their own back yards?

It’s not their fault. It’s hard in the US to be into house or techno or any other sub genre of electronic club music because all the clubs are 21 and up (meaning you must be 21 to get in).

How’s the scene in America now? I’ve heard you mention in the past few years that rock music is making a big comeback, but I have also seen signs that dance music is gaining ground generally. A lot of American producers are starting to emerge on the global stage, though not necessarily in the house field. What do you make of this?

Still, it's pretty good here. Club style is either house, techno or electro. Then of course there’s the whole hip-hop R&B thing that’s more mainstream.

America is currently your home. Though hosting plenty of talented producers and DJs, it’s dwarfed by the amount of material from Europe. Have you ever had thoughts about relocation, or would it feel wrong considering that both house music and yourself got their respective starts in America?

Probably thought more about relocating to Europe or Canada because of lack of faith in our government than music.

You’ve stated in the past that Detroit, the techno mecca, is actually not that great to play because the clubs close so early. What IS your ideal club night? Are you in the open air on a beach, like the Full Moon parties you’ve played in Hawaii, or in a dank and dingy underground club in the centre of the city? What are people wearing? What’s the décor like?

Detroit is fun to play though, it just sucks when the party has to end too early wherever it may be. I usually prefer clubs in the 300-1000 range.

I wrote an article a while ago about the impact of drugs on the dance music. There are few people who have as much experience as you in the scene. What are your thoughts? Do you think drug use has increased or decreased? Is it detrimental? Would you prefer a crowd of drinkers or drug takers at your parties?

I think music, whichever genre, and drugs or alcohol have always had intertwined relationships. It’s just part of growing up. I think a mix of people is usually best, a few drunks, some druggies and some sober people too.

I’ve heard you like to play video games in your spare time. Are you a console or computer kind of guy? What are your past and current favourite games?

I prefer X-BOX 360 or PSP. Current faves: Grand Theft Auto (X-BOX 360), Call of Duty (X-BOX 360) and Tigerwoods 2008 (for PSP).

I’ve found that my favourite games often have great soundtracks. Is this something you notice too? If so, what games have good soundtracks for you?

The radio stations in GTA 4 are cool. One is a DJ Premier channel.

What’s coming up in your world in the next 6 months?

After the Fabric 40 release this weekend, going to do tours in USA, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil, UK, Australia and New Zealand.