One of Sydney’s most respected underground DJs, and often touted as a pioneer of the new electro rave sound – Mark Murphy has certainly had an impact on the Sydney scene. Big Day Out three times, twice at Field Day, Mardi Gras, Sleaze, We Love Sydney and a host of successful club nights. Nevertheless he has certainly not lost his flair. “It’s been a friggin’ rollercoaster. Highs, lows, mid-drifts, tight spandex shorts, lots of glitter. Yeah man. Rock ‘n’ roll. Who would’ve thought I’d get this far being the below average person I am? I mean, I can’t even read a road map. Honestly. I thought a u-turn was a dance step from the 70s,” he laughs.
That said, it is plain to see that Murphy has no regrets. He’s loved every minute of it, and so tireless have been his efforts, that he is often labelled a pioneer in his chosen musical genre. It sits relatively comfortably with Murphy, and he’s quick to give credit where it’s due, especially in relation to emerging trends. “Yes, I am the Burke and Wills of electro. I really dig the new stuff which is primarily coming out of France; it’s a little techy and a little ravey, hence the ‘rave electro’ tag. It’s from people like Justice, the Institubes label, SebastiAn and the Ed Banger crew, all that nastiness fun. Love it.”
Murphy has never been one to rest on his laurels though, and has always gone just that little bit extra. He produced his own radio show, Techno S1ut, for the now defunct Rhythm FM, and he’s also appeared on a host of other radio shows. He wrote a column called ‘Hottie’ for dance mag 3DWorld, and he co-owns Spank Records in the inner city Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. Not surprisingly though, it takes its toll, preventing him it would seem from enjoying some of the more ‘enjoyable’ moments in life. “I’ve been known to just faint in the shop at the drop of hat. It does sound like a lot of work, because it is. Spank is doing well but it does take up my entire life and my weekends are taken up with DJing so I have very little time to just sit and play some scrabble and stroke my pussy,” he adds.
For now, however, a lot of his excitement is coming due to the release of his debut mix CD, ‘Fuzzy presents Killer’. Being new to mixing CDs, Murphy admits to it being probably one of the most stressful things he has ever had to do; not that he didn’t want to do it, but rather that he “just get(s) too nervous and stuffs them up”. Despite coming with a pseudo-health warning, Murphy is understandably happy with the finished product. “This CD is full of the music that I like to play at the moment. It gets a little tough at the end but it’s a good ride, honestly. If the nose starts bleeding, please see a doctor. The whole mix was done live in one take, or should I say about 80% because I think I stuffed a couple of mixes. I guess I didn’t want it to sound too smooth so that you really didn’t know if it was mixed or not. I really wanted it to sound sort of live-ish.”
When it comes to influences, it’s certain to be music to Molly Meldrum’s ears that Murphy looks back to an old ABC music show to find one of his first musical stimulation. At the opposite end of the inspirational spectrum, he also names a club called Heaven in London. “Countdown was a religion to me back in the day and it got me addicted to music. Obviously my taste and style has changed. When I lived In London in the mid-80x – whoops, there goes my age – I used to go to this club called Heaven every Saturday night and that’s where my dance music influences happened. It was all this cheesey Hi-NRG which was awesome,” he reminisces. “Just when I left we were getting all the house stuff from the US. It was a great time, and then experiencing first hand the house explosion in Sydney with the onslaught of the Hordern parties was really inspiring.”
Not surprisingly, given the breadth and length of his career, he’s seen his fair share of crazy things, and many of them rank as highlights in a long and successful career. It’s no surprise, in a career that has spanned two decades, he’s seemingly done it all. “Playing the big parties are surely the highlights. Playing my first Mardi Gras was amazing. Giving the gay community a taste of techno for the first time was awesome. Obviously doing the last three Big Day Outs were pretty amazing and working with Ben (Boiler Room Coordinator) is always a pleasure.”
“Fuzzy’s Field Days were also a highlight, purely for the fact I’d never experienced an outdoor festival like that before and to be playing on one of the stages amongst those acts was a load of fun. The first We Love was good fun as well and also doing my own Strudel parties back in the early electro days was cool. And obviously, doing this here CD is pretty damn special.”
Needless to say, you wouldn’t find many that would disagree. Be sure to check out ‘Fuzzy pres. Killer’, mixed by Mark Murphy and Freeform Five, out now through Fuzzy/MRA.
