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4/2/2010 /// [View all news]

Mark Knight & Fedde Le Grande Interview

We catch up with Mark Knight & Fedde le Grand ahead of their 7-hour Box Takeover at Ministry of Sound this Saturday for Toolroom Knights, and find out what’s happening in their world.

Where in the world are you right now?

MARK – On a flight back from Sofia, Bulgaria. I played the re-opening of Yalta last night (Sat, 30^th Jan) It was awesome. I love playing over there, musically I get to take it where I want. Gigs like that totally inspire you.

FEDDE - I’m currently in America, I’m due to play at Haze in Las Vegas tonight, I’ve just flown in from Vancouver in Canada and then tomorrow I’m off to Crobar in Chicago.

What kind of start have you had to the new year?

MARK – It’s been non-stop for me since NYE with studio work and DJ shows keeping me busy. I flew to Australia for a 2-week tour on 28^th of December and I haven’t stopped since. I’ve lots of projects on the go and currently I’m producing tracks for Underworld and Faithless as well as all my own. It’s all good though, feeling focused and getting lots done.

FEDDE - I’ve had a great start, thanks. I toured around America and then Australia over November and December, did 4 amazing shows on NYE and I’d had a pretty hectic year all round for 2009 with a season in Ibiza and a packed diary. So I decided to give myself a holiday J I went to Thailand and had a really nice time just relaxing and chilling out and recharging my batteries in the sun.

2010 - the beginning of a new decade. Have you noticed any emerging music trends? 

MARK - House is back in a big way, grooves, bass lines and vocal samples are the theme of 2010.

FEDDE - The last few months I’ve seen the house scene going full circle and more or less going back to its origins, Chicago House, but in a 2010 suit. I think that’s great, because I feel we lost a bit too much of the original vibe.

You and Mark are playing back to back for the last 2 hours at Ministry next week - how did this come about? What can people expect to hear on the night?

MARK - Fedde was one of the first guests we booked for Toolroom Knights at Ministry of Sound back in 2007, so the history’s been there for a while. He played for us last year at our Miami Winter Music Conference party when we did Toolroom Knights @ Space, then in September we played at Pacha Ibiza and it just happened that we went back to back – it wasn’t planned and worked well. What can people expect to hear on Sat? - you cant really plan too much when you play back to back, it’s more about having fun and vibing off each other.

FEDDE - I’ve been good friends with Mark for a while. He played at my Flamingo Nights party out in Ibiza last year and I was also thrilled to have him play at my arena at Mysteryland as well. Mark asked me to mix together the latest Toolroom Knights compilation and of course, I said yes. The party at Ministry is the launch party of that album so Mark and myself are taking over the main room. We’ll both play our own set, then we’ll go back 2 back which will be great fun. I can’t predict what you’ll hear on the night, it’ll depend what bombs Mark has in his record box and what I can throw back at him J

Also, rumour has it you guys are planning to get together in the studio - can you tell us more?

MARK – We certainly are, it’s just a case of synchronizing diaries to make it work. I would say look out for something to drop in the summer!

FEDDE - Yes we are. We haven’t set a date as of yet but I like Mark’s sound and style and vice versa, so we’re going to pin down a date to get together and see what we come up with

The buzz around this year's Miami Winter Music Conference has already started. What's your plans for this, the 25th anniversary of WMC?

MARK - I’ll be flat out as always with lots of new music to break and some great parties to play. Toolroom Knights are back at Space for our annual WMC party on Friday, 26^th March, we’re taking over the Terrace this year with the usual Toolroom crew and a VERY special guest. Looking forward to it big time.

FEDDE - I’ll definitely be there. I’m putting a party on at Cameo on March 25^th with some very special guests so if you’re there, please come down. It’s always a great atmosphere at Miami, everybody’s up for a party so I’m really looking forward to it.

Ministry of Sound have just upgraded their main room soundsystem, adding an additional 72 subs – what’s the most expensive piece of equipment you’ve ever bought?

MARK - Probably the cost of building my studio.

FEDDE - My first digital Mix-desk, a Mackie. And it was obsolete within a year as technology develops so quickly these days!

 Tell us what's keeping you busy at the moment?

MARK - Making music non stop!!!. Currently working on a Mark Knight 2 track EP, due for release end of March and I’m back in the lab with D.Ramirez, producing tracks for Underworld’s forthcoming album. I’m also working on new music for the winter music conference. My next release ‘The Stopover’ is due out end of this month (17^th Feb).  It’s a co-production with Dirty South, we hooked up when I was in Oz last month. We locked ourselves away in the studio for 2 days and this is  what we came up with...it’s HUGE. Due for release 17^th Feb

 FEDDE - My tour diary J It’s been great having some time off but now things are back to normal. I’m in the States next weekend, then I’ve in Switzerland, France and the UK (of course) the weekend after, Germany and Italy after that, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia after that and then I have a two week tour of Brazil in February. But in between I’ll spend as much time as possible in the studio.

MARK – Fedde has 24hrs free to spend in London - what 3 things would you recommend he either does/sees/experiences?

Nobu Berkely Square, Size trainer store, Upton park (West Ham's ground).

FEDDE – Mark has 24hrs free to spend in Amsterdam - what 3 things would you recommend he either does/sees/experiences?

Fedde - Mark That’s a tough one as there’s a lot to do J I’d definitely recommend you get a bike as it’s the perfect way to see the city. The traffic in Amsterdam is geared towards bikes so it’s not that scary when the roads are busy. I’d also recommend that you take your bike off the main roads because there are so many hidden little places in Amsterdam that you don’t normally find if you stick to the usual places. There are three main canals in the city and if you follow the smaller side canals you can find some amazing art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants and parks that are filled with local people just chilling out. And finally, I’d recommend dinner at my favourite restaurant, Castell. I go here all the time, the do BBQ as their speciality but they also do everything from steaks to shrimp, and the service is fantastic J