Mark Murphy was one of the first techno DJs I ever heard in Australia, playing at the Sleaze Ball a couple of years ago. He played a trademark hard, pounding set in an overcrowded Dome where the heat peaked at nearly 60º C before the lighting techs killed the lights – an altogether otherworldly experience. Mark’s style was uncompromising, raw, and powerful, with enough energy to keep the sweating crowd thrashing away on the dance-floor despite sodden leathers, leaden feet in motorcycle boots, and catastrophically-smeared mascara.
Mark has been a DJ for the last 6 years, and is a mainstay of the queer underground, playing at gay and pervert parties all over Sydney, more mainstream gay events such as the Sleaze Ball and Mardi Gras, as well as conventional dance parties. I’ve heard him playing twice recently, once at Tampered @ the Bat & Ball for the Swarm recovery, and last weekend at a private party. On both occasions he stood out, playing tight, exciting, very danceable sets – he has moved on from his acid techno background and now plays a more tribal, darker set, with not a 303 in evidence.
ITM’s Marcus did a great interview with Mark a year ago – you can read it here. I was keen to talk with Mark to find out what he is doing now, and to get his take on the state of Sydney techno in 2002. As one of Sydney’s best techno DJs with a wealth of experience and an unusual perspective on the scene, I was pleased when he agreed to an interview, and even more so to be invited to a friend’s party where he would be playing. We had a casual chat and a good few beers in a dark cave of a club off Oxford Street (natch) and retired to a nearby coffee stand for a chat.
While Mark is an extremely friendly and approachable DJ, the fact that he is a self-confessed “two-pot screamer” certainly helped smooth out any initial awkwardness in the interview. We hit it off straight away, and the occasional alcohol-induced lack of focus was well compensated for by the additional laughter. I’ve edited the worst of our ramblings and over-excited interjections, but what follows is a reasonable approximation of our conversation.
We started off discussing Mark’s experiences as a techno DJ in Sydney. One thing in this city, you don’t make money out of techno. It’s hard getting the crowd, it’s hard getting a venue. Especially with the queer scene as well – getting a crowd to go to a non-Oxford Street venue, away from the gay community mainstream is just hard fucking work. The word “techno” scares people – but the thing is, if they come and hear what I play, they wouldn’t be scared – they’d enjoy it! Last Mardi Gras was the first time MG stepped across the boundaries and put me and (Baby)Bear & Luke(Leal) into the Dome. And that really worked, so the following Sleaze Ball they moved us to the City Live venue, and now into the Hordern – so it’s getting really popular. But use the word “techno” and try to get the gay crowd to go anywhere but Oxford St is very hard work.
I hate asking predictable questions of DJ’s, but in trying to compile a guide to DJs for people who might not know their work, sometimes you have to. I bowed to the inevitable and asked Mark how he would describe the type of techno he is playing now to people who don’t know his work. I’d describe it as being mainly tribal techno. I’m playing a lot of UK sounds – my favourite producer is The Geezer, guys like D.A.V.E. the Drummer, that’s my main love at the moment. They came from acid techno, full-on 303 sounds, and they’ve progressed – they stuff they are producing now, techno DJs can play, hard-house DJs can play, it’s not confined to what it was, it’s progressed. That’s why I love techno, because it changes – rock music hasn’t changed since The Smiths! There are only so many chords on a guitar – but dance music is evolving all the time. As is the technology. What was your question again? [Laughs]
Having established that his musical tastes are changing as techno itself evolves, Mark went on to describe the more commercial end of dance music as “pop-music”. Commercial dance music is like what Kylie was in the 80’s – there is a huge crossover now between commercial dance and pop. And there are not going to be many interesting things happening in the charts, dance-wise . I was just listening to the charts this morning – Steps have done another cover of Chain Reaction, and it sounds exactly like Diana Ross’s version, and I think “What’s the point?”. But people know that shit, it sounds familiar, so it’s going to be accepted and people will buy it. I don’t think techno will ever be commercial, because it’s not a familiar sound, and it’s generally harder than what people are used to listening to.
So how do you account for the success of hard house, a sound that can be just as hard as techno? Yes, but hard house has a real commercial side to it, and it’s more familiar. It has the vocal samples, predictable beats, familiar sounds (the hoovers and the horns) – I used to play that sort of stuff before it got “commercial”!
I asked Mark what do you think of guys like Mauro Picotto, a personal favourite of mine who combines straight techno with hard house and hard trance, and calls it all “hard dance”. That’s the future of this kind of music. I was just speaking to a guy from Infectious (a major distributor of D.A.V.E the Drummer etc) and he was saying this is where it’s all going – D.A.V.E putting out stuff on the Nukleuz label, and remixing that kind of music. They’ve done the stuff that they like, and now they are moving on. I heard a horrible phrase yesterday – “progressive techno” – the UK love to pigeonhole genres, and I feel that’s very confining. But this is the direction of techno.
Perhaps “progressive techno” would be a good label to sell techno under – I can sense a marketing opportunity here, much as I dislike the phrase. I asked Mark for his opinions on why people choose to listen to different types of dance music – was it personal progression in musical tastes, or marketing driven?
I think scenes have a lot to do with it, the people you associate with. If a friend says “oh you must come and try this” then that will sway your style of music. There is an element of progression in your own musical tastes, but I think it’s more your surroundings, your friends, the scene that you inhabit, and the DJs you like to hear will all influence you. Working in a record store has obviously helped me.
I asked Mark what he thought of the state of the Sydney techno – was he happy with it as it stood, as a fairly small, underground scene. I’m not sure that the techno scene here is as big as it was, but I think it will always be there – but it needs people to support it. One of the biggest problems is that venue owners know that techno crowds don’t drink – we’ve tried to put techno parties at venues, but the bar hasn’t worked, and they won’t put us back on there. So it’s very hard to get a techno gig at any club. That’s why there will always be more underground parties.
Would it be possible to run your own venue, not expecting to get much from the bar but boosting the door a little to compensate? I think 61 Regent St was a little like that, and it was well supported, but the council closed it. But the guy who managed that is still around and doing things – there is another Acid Bunny coming up – it’s going further underground!
I asked Mark, if like Vic, he was happy with techno being underground. Vic is very passionate about his techno, and puts on parties for the right reasons – that’s why he has such a loyal following. I’m playing at the Mardi Gras this year, and I won’t be changing my style one iota, and I’m very pleased that I’m getting that kind of music across to a very gay crowd who believe that Kylie is the greatest thing in dace music. I’m chuffed to be able to do that, as a lot of these people have never heard this kind of music. I like the fact that techno is underground, but I also like the fact that I can occasionally bring it to an entirely different crowd.
Can you make a living from being a techno DJ in Sydney? I don’t think I could – I’d have to make too many compromises. I’d have to play stuff that I don’t like – so no, I could never do it for a living.
So what is he doing? Well, I don’t really get booked for gay parties any more, other than the ICE parties, and of course Mardi Gras & Sleaze. But I really prefer playing to an audience that appreciates my music! The gay community getting into my music is just wonderful, but the small straight parties get more into my music than the gay ones do. I play at all the M*A*S*H parties (here Mark dashed off on a wild tangent about the history of some of his previous parties, with evocative names like Fierce, Bombed and Screw) Now, what was your question again? (Laughs)
Mark’s eponymous Techno Slut radio show on Rhythm FM is sadly no longer. Yes, it’s sad, but really we couldn’t afford to keep doing it – it was costing us a bit of money to get out there for the show, and we couldn’t cover the costs. And now with the shop starting, I really wanted to concentrate on that. We did it for two years, and might again in the future – it was good fun.
Mark’s fondness for saucy names is evidenced again in Blowfly, the name of his regular 3D World column. I commented that it has proved rather scarce recently. It will be up again soon! I was talking with them recently, and I do want to get it back up again. I promise!
What would you consider your day job? Spank! I worked at Reachin Records for 5 years, and was manager for about a year, and it was time to move on. I’ve been in music retail since the late 80’s, and so it was a logical move to open my own record shop. Spank Records opens in late February, and will be run by a couple of friends, Chris Lowe, Leanne Clegg & me. Chris & I will do the buying – I have good contacts in the industry, obviously. You can expect my sort of music, progressive (which is what Chris plays), breaks, trance, a little bit of house (although not much) – obviously we are buying what myself & Chris are playing, because that is what we know. For the first couple of months we’ll be asking everyone who walks in that store what we can get for them. I don’t think enough stores do that, and the customer service element is very lacking – we will be there for the punters.
Sounds good to me – and if it does to you, get down to 403 Bourke St (just off Taylor Square) and use this opportunity to influence a record store in to buying your kind of music, both on vinyl and CD. You can catch Mark at the Mardi Gras, at the next M*A*S*H* (3rd March – Mardi Gras recovery) and at underground techno parties everywhere.
For other articles in this series, see the links below.
