Dubstep legend Mark One, or as he's more commonly known, MRK1, has recently released his newest EP entitled Stand and Deliver. This EP, although only including a single track plus a remix, also includes the radio mix and instrumental of the song which gives for massive use and exposure. "Stand and Deliver" is a mixture of dubstep, ragga and rock. The song features vocals of ragga MC's, Trigga and Flowdan, and uses heavy guitar riffs to mesh with the filthy bass that he injects into the track. The remix was done by fellow Tempa All-Star N-Type, which gives the track a deeper and heavier bass rhythm all while keeping the basic structure and vocals of the original song. Both producers, MRK1 and N-Type, have been around from the birth of dubstep and have seen it grow and spread throughout the world. Building off dubstep's roots and not adhering to mainstream culture, MRK1 uses his personal formula that worked so well throughout the years as well as including some modern twists from the original form of dubstep to create a sub shattering new single.
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MRK1 had a moment to answer a few questions with Earmilk about his past, future and some of his favorite artists these days. He was also gracious enough to include an exclusive track entitled "Dirty Mutt," which includes deep roaring bass with loud electro bleeps. Very particular to a classic 16Bit tune, circa 2010.
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Earmilk: Hey Mark, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First off, can you give us a little background information on yourself?
MRK1: Hey, I’m MRK1 aka Mark One, I’m a dubstep producer and DJ, originally from Manchester in the UK. I’ve been producing for the last 13 years and I've been around since the beginning of dubstep. I started out making drum and bass in the early years and then started making music at 140 bpm that later developed into dubstep. On the back of producing I started DJing and I have since been lucky enough to play all over the world.
LI: What drew you to producing drum & bass/grime/dubstep?
MRK1: I started producing drum and bass, which at the time was called Jungle music as it was my favorite music at the time. I got into it as I listened to it all the time and I wanted to have my take on it. I started using a very simple program called Rave Ejay, which believe me, was shit! However it gave me a good insight into how music was put together and produced. Soon after that I started using Cubase and really learned about music production. After doing drum and bass for a while I got a bit bored with it all and wanted to try something new. My friend Oris Jay was telling me about this new scene of music evolving which was at 140 bpm. So I gave it a go, and soon came dubstep.
LI: What was some of the inspiration for your track "Stand & Deliver"?
MRK1: When I was into drum and bass I was a HUGE MC Trigga fan, as most kids were back then. Triggs was one of the main reasons I started listening to the drum and bass music. Of that era, drum and bass ran the UK and I was brought up on it. Being from Manchester I got to know Trigga and really wanted to work with him due to him being such an influence when I was younger. We hooked up, got on really well then talked about working together, which we eventually did on "Stand and Deliver" and "Inna" for Profound Audio.
When I got into Grime music around 10 years ago, I was really into a group called Pay as You Go, which Flowdan was part of, and I was a big fan. So when I found out Trigga was friends with him, I wanted to get him involved on the track! I remember when I was younger I wanted to be an MC, which believe me, was never going to happen! I was terrible!
LI: What sets you apart from other DJ/producers today?
MRK1: I don’t know if it sets me apart, because there is so much talent out there now, but I do like to play good music. In my sets I play everything that I think is good and will get the party going. To me, the main thing is to keep the crowd happy, and go home saying that they had a great night! To do that I need to make sure I’m playing the biggest and best tunes. I spend all my time, when not producing looking for those tunes.
In terms of production I’m always looking to make something fresh. I like to mix up genres, like with Stand And Deliver, which is a mix of many genres, dubstep, drum and bass, ragga, basement, and grime with some heavy weight UK MCs on.
