Mark Knight Captures the Underground With His ‘Year in Music 2016’ Mix

In 1988, Mark Knight went to Ibiza and, like a lot of people, was never the same. Rooted in funk and hip-hop, Mark was converted by New York and New Jersey garage house and began DJing in the late 1990s. By 2003, Mark was a resident at Ministry of Sound in London, alongside some guy named Steve Angello.

Also that year, Mark launched his label Toolroom Records, which has since grown into a lifestyle brand including Toolroom Trax, a club-focused sub-label; Toolroom Knights, a long-running party; Toolroom Radio, a podcast; Toolroom Live, a streamcast; Toolroom Academy, an educational workshop; plus, a talent development branch featuring artists like Adrian Hour and Weiss.

Highlights in Mark’s own arc include his 2008 cover of Laurent Garnier’s “The Man with the Red Face” (which he thought “had all the right ingredients in the wrong order”); a supersize cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in 2012 with Funkagenda; and a string of hits over the last 13 years, including “Chaos Theory,” “Downpipe,” “The Return of Wolfy” and “Your Love.”

While Mark’s style has evolved steadily toward tech house, at its core it’s still, in his words, “that edgy electronic thing with soulful roots” inspired by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. “When people like Jam & Lewis were using drum machines, sequencers and synths, combining that with soul—that, for me, pushed all the right buttons.”

Beyond pushing buttons in the studio, Mark also produced the 2013 documentary 10 Years of Dance Music, chronicling the global explosion of dance music between 2003 and 2013, and a more personal documentary, 2016’s A Year in the Life, which captured Mark’s whirlwind lifestyle and generously donated its proceeds to the charity War Child.

Amid all the activity, Toolroom Records still had one of its more prolific years. Among many standouts, the label released Mark Knight’s “Yebisah” (throbbing electro awash in piano house keys and disco strings); Solardo’s The Aztecs EP (lean, minimal tech-house); Weiss’ “You’re Sunshine” (funky house featuring a loop of Yello’s “Bostich”); Adrian Hour’s “Love Something” (warped and filtered disco-tech); Ramon Tapia’s “Yellow Submarine” (minimal shuffling techno), and Prok & Fitch’s summer anthem “Heatwave.”

Varied in style, all of 2016’s releases adhere to Toolroom’s central tenet established by Mark: “These records have to be of a standard to turn your set around.” It’s no wonder Toolroom has consistently been the biggest-selling label on Beatport. With that in mind, we asked Mark to answer a few questions and record a mix that captured his 2016.

What was the highlight of 2016 for you, creatively and personally?
I was really happy with the success of “Yebisah.” I just wanted to make something that went back to basics and was a bit more fun than some of the more serious music I felt was dominating. Obviously, I was really happy that it was as big as it was. Whenever I played it, it just seemed to leave people with a smile on their faces. 2016 was a pretty serious year in lots of way, so I guess people just responded to feeling happy on the dancefloor. I was also really happy to pretty much finish a new project that I’ve been working on for years. Hopefully, I’ll be able to say more about that in a couple of months, so keep an eye out for that.

You were nominated for Best of Beatport this year. What does Beatport represent for you, and what makes this honor special for you?
I’ve always found a lot of support at Beatport. I’m actually one of their highest-selling artists ever, which is something I’m really proud of, especially considering all the competition. It is also an achievement based on straight-up facts. It’s not a popularity poll or whereby your stature is measured pro rata to a marketing spend with dance press. It’s straight-up metrics: sales! My music and music that Toolroom puts out seemed to connect with the Beatport crowd from day one, and we’ve built up a really loyal following on there. The support has been incredible.

DJ culture and “house nation” have always been rooted in inclusivity. As the world swings far right, what do you think is the role of DJ and club culture going forward?
I think music—and dance music in particular—has always provided people with escapism: a place or moment to forget about the day-to-day grind and lose themselves, to truly be themselves. I think this year, that will be more important than ever before. It’s also true, I think, that sometimes some of the greatest art and music can come out of turbulence and hardship, so it may well be that 2017 will be an incredible year for creativity.

How does club culture need to improve in 2017? What can we do better as a global family?
Recently, the scene seems to have been reshaped, in that you have some of the top DJs getting a lot of the bigger bookings, but who haven’t made a record for years. There are so many producers out there now that I think that some DJs have become a bit complacent. They play other people’s records and release their music, but it would be cool to see if they’ve still got it in the studio. I guess it’s a product of not being able to make money from records anymore, that their focus isn’t on that. But for me, that’s missing the point a bit. I’d like to see some statement records from some of these guys. That’s something I think needs to be readdressed. But the scene’s in great shape, because there will always be young, hungry, passionate producers trying to make their mark. Finding the gems in all the rubbish can be a bit daunting at times, but when you find that record, it makes it all worthwhile.

What’s up next for you and the Toolroom crew in the coming year?
I want the label to evolve to focus less on singles and more on developing artists, and releasing albums is going to be a huge priority for us. In terms of singles, we don’t really have too much more to prove, and our 12-year history of releasing singles, especially our successes at Beatport, has shown what we can do. So now, we’re ready to focus elsewhere. We’ve got projects coming up from Adrian Hour and Weiss, which I’m really excited about. Albums afford artists the opportunity to work more creatively and with fewer restrictions, which is definitely the direction I see the label heading in.

Track List:: Leroy Burgess “Barely Breaking Even” (Opolopo Vocal Remix) [Groove Odyssey]
Adrian Hour “That’s It” [Knee Deep in Sound]
Basement Jaxx “Jump & Shout” (Eric Hagleton Mix) [Toolroom Records]
Emanuel Satie “Come as You Are” [Saved]
Cristoph “Divvina” [VIVa]
Camelphat “Make Em Dance” [Suara]
Krankbrother “Circular Thing” (Hot Since 82 Remix) [Circus]
Mark Knight “In the Pocket” [Toolroom]
DJ Boris “Make You Do” [Toolroom Trax]
Tiger Stripes “Body Shake” [True Soul]
Pig & Dan “Growler” [Diynamic]
D-Nox, Victor Ruiz “Arise” [Sudbeat]