Wildchild Preview: The Mark Norman Interview
Reported by Wild Angel
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Submitted 29-06-04 12:46
Production duo Mark Norman have stormed onto the scene in recent months with their widely acclaimed track 'Phantom Manor' which has seen them win accolades worldwide. Now signed to Tiesto's label Black Hole Recordings, the winners of the 'Talent Of The Year 2003’ at the Dutch DJ Awards make their debut at Wildchild on Friday 2nd July...
Not many people realise, but the Mark Norman brand is actually made up of two of you – Mark de Jong and Norman Lenden. Can you tell us how you got together and when you first started to produce music as ‘Mark Norman’?
We (Mark & Norman) met each other at high school and we became friends because we had the same interest in electronic music. Mark was playing keyboard and Norman was mixing break beat tracks. Some day we decided to combine the good things and so we started to produce music. Three years ago we signed a record deal with BPM Dance, at that time home of Signum, Katana and Mac Zimms. Before we knew it one of our tracks, called Splash! was getting the green for our first release ever and Mark Norman was born.
Your sound is very unique, having been described as driving, energetic and atmospheric. How did you create this sound in your earlier releases such as ‘Overkill’ and how do you still manage to make all your records sound different?
It always starts with a good drive (Bass line and Beat) from there on you have to bring the drive alive with sound effects. Overkill was something like a yoke, it was a B-side so we decided to do something crazy. The intension was to make the people on the dance floor totally mad. Make them scream etc. and it worked. And that is what the Mark Norman sound is really about. [/b]
As your career progresses, can we expect to see you taking a different angle on some of your future releases?
Maybe we try to do something different about the arrangement with more little breaks instead of one long break which is in almost every track, but it must have the same energy in it as in our previous releases. As you might know we produce under different guises like STARR, Silk and Alexander Gustaff. We try to develop these guises in future.
You have recently signed a contract with the mighty ‘Black Hole Recordings’. How does it feel to be part of this huge trance institution?
Great!! After we left BPM dance because of financial problems we decided to contact BHR. We knew that Overkill was played by Tiesto a lot and we contacted him and asked if we could do something on his Label. Before we knew it we were sitting in front of him talking about our possibilities at Black Hole Records. As you can understand we had a little party in our car when we drove back.
You mixed the latest ‘In Trance We Trust’ compilation, making this the 9th release in the series. How did you make it different from the others and was it difficult compiling the tracklisting with there being so many great records out there?
The only thing we knew was that we wanted to put our own style on this CD so that people could really recognise the Mark Norman sound. We contacted a lot of DJ’s and producers to send their newest material, and we received a lot of tracks. And indeed the most difficult thing is to compiling the CD. So many good tracks and we had to chose only a few of them.
Your first release on Black Hole ‘Stream’, was warmly received by DJ’s all over the world, and played by a whole host of A list DJ’s. Can you tell us a little about your second release ‘Phantom Manor/Rush’?
Rush is now a year old and was played for the first time on the Tiesto in Concert event. Rush is a typical Mark Norman track like our song Faith with a trancy break and a massive drive. Phantom Manor is a spooky track with a great atmosphere. Also a massive drive and melody. Both songs are getting very good response and is played by lots of top jocks. This release, on the Magik Musik label, is now a few weeks old. In two weeks we were number one in the Dutch IDP charts.
What else do you have planned on the production front?
We hope to release another Mark Norman track end this year. Furthermore we have just finished a new Starr which will be released on the In trance we Trust label. Starr is another project of ours for the more trance tracks we make.
After winning ‘Talent Of The Year 2003’ at the Dutch DJ Awards, can you tell us how you felt when you received the award?
That was really something!! A few weeks before this event Black hole told as they had a big surprise for us. And when we heard that we had won this award and that Tiesto named us as Talents of the Year 2003 we were very surprised and felt honoured!
Do you feel it has influenced people because of winning the award?
On this evening we played before people out of the dance music industry. They saw us win the award and after that they heard us play, eventually this has lead to more gigs and especially at the massive Trance Energy. Where we played in front of 13.000 people. The reactions of that set were amazing and it felt very good to play for such an audience!
Your DJ career has taken you all over the world from America to the UK. Which do you prefer, Djing or production?
We love to do both and we can do both because there are two of us. We decided to split our tasks in Djing and Producing. Norman is now focussed on becoming a good DJ and Mark is more the production guy. Our opinion is that we can work more efficiently, producing quality tunes and give good performances, than doing both the same things.
You are performing at the forthcoming WiLDCHiLD Vs Goodgreef event on Friday 2 July @ Heaven, London. Can you tell us what we can expect to hear from you there and if you will be testing out any new material at the event?
We will play some of our own tunes like Phantom or Stream but it always depends on the audience. You never know how the reaction is and how the vibe is. We surely play our newest material… we have a few new tracks!
Can you name one record in your box that you know is going to rock the crowd at the event?
Phantom Manor 
What do you have planned for the rest of the year?
A lot of gigs are coming up all over the world. And also we have some new releases coming up. Furthermore we have some collaborations in mind with other artists and we will see what future brings!
On behalf of everyone at Wildchild, we would like to thank you for taking part in the interview and I’m sure after reading what you guys have been up to over the past couple of years, everyone will be looking forward to hearing you at the event on 2 July.
WiLDCHiLD Vs Goodgreef + Riot!
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On:
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Friday 2nd July 2004
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At:
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Heaven [map]
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From:
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9pm - 7am
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Cost:
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250 x £10 Early Bird Tickets, £15 Thereafter
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Website:
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www.wildchild-uk.com
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Ticket Info:
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www.ticketweb.co.uk
08700 600 100
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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The North Meets South Soundclash
10 hours 35 DJs 3 Live Acts 5 Arenas 2000 people. 2 of the UK’s brightest clubbing brands join forces to ignite your summer with this no-holds barred North Vs South, WiLDCHiLD Vs Goodgreef face-off!
Clubland’s star young players join forces together to celebrate the launch of the brand new Goodgreef Album with the intention of tearing London apart over 10 exhilerating hours in the capital’s number 1 venue:- We’re in Heaven!
Trance, Hard Dance, House, Anthems, Classics, WiLDCHiLD represent the South, Goodgreef represent the North in this North Meets South Soundclash brought to you under 1 Superclub roof!
Expect fireworks of the Trance & Hard Dance kind as this explosive episode promises to live long in the memory of Famous Friday nights!!!!!!
To help stoke the fire we’ve also brought in the boys from Riot + a UK Soundclash featuring the finest residents from some on the UK’s favourite nighteries!
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Flyer:
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Other Features By Wild Angel:
Wildchild interview with Yoji Biomehanika
WiLDCHiLD Preview - Interview with JFK
Interview with Lisa Pin Up!
Wildchild Previewed: Interview with Rob Tissera
Wildchild vs GoodGreef - The Interview
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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