The Legend and Legacy of Mark Farina and His ‘Mushroom Jazz’ Series

Mark Farina played EDC Las Vegas for the first time in 2016.

“My experience playing at EDC Vegas this year was great. I played the earlier events in L.A., but this was my first time at the Vegas EDC. I played the closing set on Monday morning (at upside-downHOUSE) after Juan Atkins, who I had not shared the stage with for some time, so that was exciting—plus it was really nice to see some of the house heads come out.”

Now he’s preparing for the release of Mushroom Jazz 8 (out July 22), and he is also celebrating 25 years of Mushroom Jazz.

Anything that lasts 25 years must be good, right? A relationship, a band, a vehicle—or in this case, a mix series—after so many years, it can tell its own stories. It can be a legend; it can be a legacy.

What is Mushroom Jazz 8? It is all of the above: a relationship, a band of various artists, a vehicle for discovering new music (that you may never hear without listening to the mix), a legend of past adventures told by thousands who have listened, and a legacy of one of the world’s best DJs.

Think about that for a minute: one of the world’s best DJs. Imagine you are Mark Farina. You are really good at what you do, you are humble, and in our case, you are happy to talk about the eighth licensed mix release. This demonstrates an appreciation of an artist’s place in the musical food chain. While being at the top, he understands that his role is to bring these sounds to the world—and not just in the form of a regular compilation, but mixed in a way that no one else can.

Mark describes his relationship with Mushroom Jazz in a very personal manner. It is a part of him, and it is an aspect of his art that continues to evolve. He created it many years ago and cultivated it from a series of mixtapes (around 20 tape releases, along with another series called Downtempo Forest and its 20-or-so volumes) into a high-quality, licensed-release series.

Like a tree, it grew from the ground up over a period of years, with enough headroom and space for interpretation, like any quality art. The listener can explicate Mushroom Jazz in his or her own way. The mix is designed to allow us to get into our own heads and experience it as our subconscious sees fit.

“I always wanted the music for Mushroom Jazz to be more organic. I knew that by combining short, instrumental tracks into a stream of sound, I could do what I wanted. In the past volumes, there were many songs that stood out and that people remembered. For this latest mix, I wanted to present heady, thoughtful music, and I wanted to stay away from a single or series of single songs, and let it become a whole.”

He plays this style of music regularly during his travels. Sometimes he is booked to play a longer set, so he’ll begin with Mushroom Jazz and build up to his Chicago house sound, for which he is also well known around the world. Other times, he will play house on one stage and Mushroom Jazz on another stage, at the same event.

“One of the benefits of doing two different genres is that sometimes different times call for different styles,” Mark explains. “It can open up many other possibilities.”

The process for creating the mix begins with compiling a list of 20 or more tracks and then getting them cleared for licensing.

“Since many of the songs are sample-based, you never know,” Mark adds. “An artist is at risk of getting in trouble for using a sample.”

“One time—I think it was volume two or three—a jazz guitarist was in a retail store, and the Mushroom Jazz mix was playing. He noticed his work had been sampled by one of the artists on the comp, and he contacted the label and wanted to be paid,” he recalls. “You have to be careful to make sure everything is cleared before you begin the mix, so you don’t have to go back and remove anything.”

After the group of tracks is licensed and cleared, the mix is created, and the project comes to life. Then the complete life cycle of art becoming product begins. Mark and his team are very creative in financing the project. If you view Mushroom Jazz 8 on pledgemusic.com, you’ll see various packages available to fans who donate to the cause, which helps finance the release. There are things like vinyl test pressings, remix offers, packages containing Mark’s original photographic artwork, custom headphones, VIP passes to performances, all the way to a private DJ set by Mark—for a hefty but worthwhile investment. Everyone gets to contribute to the art and get something in return, in addition to the music itself.

Mark sources the tracks from peers with whom he has worked in the past, like Colossus, but he also digs through the digital bins of sites like SoundCloud to discover new artists. Tracks like “Night Light” by PH-Wert and “Rain Drops” by Freddie Joachim sit perfectly in the same company as better-known artists like DJ Spinna, whose song “Duke” is one of the standouts. As Mark puts it, “I was very happy to get one from Spinna on this one.”

Mushroom Jazz 8 is a perfect return to form for the series. It begins as many of his mixes do, with an intro of a sample encouraging one to “listen as well as you know how.” The jazz flows, and each track is perfectly blended into a seamless sound. The bumping hip-hop beats and tempo—which are the secret ingredients to Mark’s Mushroom Jazz sound—continue throughout. You can always tell an excellent mix when you enjoy it so much that it ends before you are ready. Much like a great film or a great party, you want it to last; yet when it does end, you are left completely satisfied and wanting more.

With Mushroom Jazz 8—and the last 25 years of mixtapes and eight licensed mix projects—Mark Farina has given the world an amazing cultural library for both young and old to enjoy. This is the perfect first step for a young person to take into a lifelong jazz journey, and it’s also a great position from which an older generation can look back and say something like, “I told you this music is amazing, and there is an almost endless amount in the world for you to enjoy throughout your life.”

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