In the words of Mark Pember, or Meat Katie as he is most commonly known, Australia is “probably the most experienced in breaks”. Given this fact and given he is a long-standing fixture in the breaks world, it is no wonder he is heading to Australia to play at parties across the country over the festive season.
To give you some background Mark Pember has previously released two artist albums and is currently working on his third. He has two record labels, Lot49 and the Whole 9 Yards, and he has released numerous tracks on labels such as Kingsize and Bedrock. He has also done lots of collaborations with other big names in the breakbeat world including Elite Force and Christian J, and he is currently working on the next Fabriclive CD, set for release early next year.
Considering his calibre as a DJ and producer, Mark has a surprisingly realistic outlook on life. He has a sense of humour too, finding the phone disconnection during our interview, funny. Heres what Meat Katie had to say on the phone between Perth and London:
As you are aware, breaks are huge in Australia. What other parts of the world are developing a strong breakbeat scene?
The Far East is becoming quite a major territory for breaks – Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur – all those places. It’s really happening on the West Coast of America too like San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. South of Spain is massive. I’ve done some fairly big gigs in Russia as well.
Is this a fairly recent thing?
Yeah, this year it has really started to snowball. Lucky for me and many other producers who have been around a long time [laughs]. We’re all extremely lucky that it has started to work out. I’d say Australia is probably the most experienced in breaks because it’s been popular there for the longest; the scene is a little more knowledgeable, if you know what I mean.
What about in the UK?
I run a night in London with Rennie Pilgrim called Hum. We started it three years ago and there were 80 people. The last party we had – there were 1700 people – so it kind of grows.
What is the best gig you’ve done this year?
I’ve had some really good gigs at Fabric; I’m doing their next live compilation [no.21]. I’ve played at Technique four times this year and each time it’s gotten better. Yeah, the gig at Fabric must have been good or they wouldn’t have asked me to do a compilation for them.
The Fabric compilations are always fantastic. Are you excited to be doing one?
Yeah I’m excited it’s a good one to do.
Are you working on it now or has it been recorded already?
I’m putting it together at the moment and I have to finish it the week after I get back from Australia and the Far East – by the end of January.
How do the live compilations work? I mean, they don’t record you playing live at a gig do they?
Every DJ must do it differently but I’m recording mine live in the studio. I think they tried to do some of the compilations live but the actual sound quality wasn’t great and they decided not to do it. At the end of the day they do major packaging and it looks good, so I think people would feel cheated if they got a DJ mix that didn’t sound great. Doing live mixes with the sound quality – no one has really mastered how to do it.
What equipment will you use in the studio?
I use two turntables, two Pioneer CDJs and probably an Allen & Heath Xone mixer.
What about when you are producing your own tracks? Do you have a home studio?
Yeah I use Logic and a Mac laptop. I’m getting a G5 in January.
Where do you get your inspiration from to create tracks?
I don’t know… I start off doing a lot of sampling and add bits of percussion and then I do the musical parts myself and incorporate that into the track. I’ve got a massive database of samples and material that I’ve built up over the years… so I just start looking for sounds and beats… I look for bits I like and then recycle it, chop it up and start integrating it into the mix. You still have an idea… but you comprise. I try to make it sound natural.
Do you find your musical taste differs regularly and do you try and incorporate what’s inspiring you into the Meat Katie sound?
You just do it automatically. I don’t go ‘I’m listening to electro so I must incorporate some electro sounds’. You start writing and you go ‘you know what… this track needs this’ and you just start looking. I know when I introduce a new element to the track it’s either right or wrong – it’s as simple as that. If it is right then I’m heading down the right road, if it’s wrong I stop and go back and find where it started going wrong.
You come from a live music background playing bass guitar. Have you incorporated live elements into your DJ sets and if not, is that something you would consider doing?
Not at the moment. The new album which I’m working on… I’m kind of going back to grass roots really, playing a lot more material. I get too caught up in technology. It is easier to just play a bassline on a keyboard than to plug in my bass guitar and try to get a good sound and then record it. I’m kind of missing that element. I wouldn’t incorporate it into my DJing but I am definitely going to incorporate a bit more live playing when I record… I’m probably not going to bring musicians in but I’ll play a lot more of my own material.
A common characteristic of successful DJs/producers is that they are workaholics. Do you live and breathe music or do you have interests outside of music?
I don’t get much time to do other stuff. I’m one of those lucky people that my job is also my hobby and my first love. I’ve got two children so I have a family as well; when I’m not working I spend time with them; I do stuff like go to the park and go swimming.
It must be hard to be constantly touring if you have a family?
It’s very difficult. My youngest child is ten months old and because she’s so young my girlfriend is not working… and I’d prefer the children to have a mum there all the time, so it’s more a case of necessity; I have to work as hard as I do. That sounds horrible because I don’t do what I do to make money, but you have to have money to live. It is good to earn a living doing something you enjoy. I would be a pain in the ass if I had to dig holes for a living.
You’ve got a new label, Lot49. How does that differ to the Whole 9 Yards?
The Whole 9 Yards is actually still going. My partner who started the Whole 9 Yards is out of the country and so it is impossible for us to work together. He didn’t want to sell his share of the label because he worked for six years with me building it up, so he didn’t want to let it go. We were in limbo because I’m not going to do 100% of the work for only 50% of the label, as I would just be working for someone else. It got to the point that I had to make a serious decision about what I was going to do and so we left the label for the time being. If he moves back to the UK, I’d put music out again on the Whole 9 Yards but until that day, I can’t really. So I started a new label. We’re really pleased with it, it was a good decision.
You’re coming to Australia in a few weeks, where are you playing?
Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland; doing a few parties.
In Perth you’re doing Breakfest and I hear you are going back to back with Lee Coombs – is that right?
Yeah I’m looking forward to that. We’re doing something together I think [laughs]
So nothing’s worked out yet?
I play with Lee regularly. We know each other well so you know… I’m sure we’ll hook up before we come and work out who’s going to play what, but I know what Lee plays and he knows what I play…there’ll be a certain amount of professionalism, I’m sure [laughs].
You can catch Meat Katie in Australia and New Zealand on these dates:
Sun 26th Dec, Perth – Breakfest (BUY TICKETS)
Fri 31st Dec, Sydney – Underwater NYE (BUY TICKETS)
Sat 1st Jan, Sydney – Field Day (SOLD OUT)
Sat 1st Jan, Melbourne – Summadayze (ITM SOLD OUT)
Sat 8th Jan, Gold Coast – Summafielddayze (BUY TICKETS)
