Dance music in Australia has come along way from its humble beginnings in the mid 1980s, today we see it as perhaps one of the most popular music genres around. Dance tracks flood the music charts and large scale events such as Two Tribes showcase the best local and international talent each year. With Two Tribes 2005 just around the corner ITM caught up with Mark James, Managing Director of Future Entertainment, who promote the event with fellow Melbourne promoter Hardware Corporation. He enlightened us into the world of promoting as well as taking a short stroll down memory lane, to revisit dance music’s humble beginnings.
You started out in the 80s when rock music was prevalent, how did you succeed in promoting and producing dance music?
Funny you should ask that question as it’s the main reason I started promoting my own nights due to backward club managers or owners telling me what I should and should not be playing so the only way was to do it myself. With the productions I guess that was an extension of my DJing I had many underground and commercial releases though out the 90s.
You have been very successful as a producer and DJ and worked with some of the biggest names in Australian, why don’t you just concentrate on that side?
I have been producing music for some time now but there has been a period where the promoting has taken priority it becomes very hard to juggle things as the events have grown. My intention is to do a lot more producing and writing this year, I am currently working on a new single and hopefully an album to follow.
Do you think it is important for international dance acts to come to Australia? What effect does that have on the local scene?
It’s very important the top acts are there for a reason they are very good at what they do and intern can inspire local artists while here and bring a bit of where they are from to Australia. It’s also very important for our local acts to travel OS as many of them are doing now with great success.
You have had plenty of experience in the electronic music fields. Where do you see it going in the next five years?
As technology changes so does the quality of productions the fashion, the art and everything that has to do with the culture so you really cant predict what will happen I just hope it doesn’t go backwards as I feel electronic music is about progression and moving forward .
Two Tribes has had phenomenal success in both Australia And New Zealand, What sets Two tribes, as a musical event above the rest?
The sheer size and production of Two Tribes automatically sets it above any other dance related festival in the country we have always tried to maintain a good variety of styles of music with a high quality production and we feel its very good value for money.
When organising the event what do yo u think about? Is it making money and drawing a crowd?
It’s about putting on a great event to the best of your ability including great acts, its also about making a living and doing something you enjoy.
Each year you manage to pull the biggest names from all the electronic music genres, Prodigy, Richie Hawtin, Grandmaster Flash, etc, how do you manage to get so many renowned acts on board in the same place at the same time?
It’s not easy! I am working on the 2006 Two Tribes line up now so it takes a good 12 months starting with a wish list then working with agents and artists to make it all fit sometimes you get what you want sometime you don’t. Two Tribes is one of the highly regarded festivals of its kind in the world so most acts are happy to be on the bill.
There is always so much excitement and anticipation leading up to a Two Tribes event, how do you as a promoter create that and more importantly how do you ensure that it lives up to the anticipation?
Good promotion and marketing and most of all have a good promo team who love what they do and believe in the event really helps bring that across to the public at street level. We pride ourselves on providing what the people want we listen to them on forums and on the street so at the end of the day we do hope that we live up to their requests within reason.
Do you think Two Tribes popularity lies in its ability to cater to all types of electronic music fans?
Yes most defiantly we hope to expand on this in the coming years with even more variety.
When mixing a CD like Two Tribes how do you approach it so that it correlates with the event itself?
It’s hard to put so many styles of music that reflect the event onto 2 disc’s and make it all work and sound smooth this year we have gone for a more house and electro come breaks feel in previous years the CDs have been on the harder edge maybe next year we may do it differently but I think this one has a good cross over of styles.
Two Tribes is continually described as “Part Club, Part Carnival” how do you create that kind of tone?
It just happens when you have a variety of things all going on at the one time we incorporate music, live performance and festival amusements and much more.
For you, what is music about? Is it about passion or about skill or something else?
It’s something I have been around all my life. The music is something I love and it’s a bonus, and I am very happy, I can actually make a living doing what I do.
‘Two Tribes 2005’, mixed by Mark James, is out now through Shock. The Two Tribes tour kicks off this weekend, don’t miss your chance to experience the festival for yourself:
Sat Mar 5th – Sydney, Two Tribes
Sun Mar 6th – Perth, Two Tribes (BUY TICKETS)
Sat Mar 12th – Adelaide, Two Tribes
Sun Mar 13th – Melbourne, Two Tribes (BUY TICKETS)
