Hi guys, for me it’s always played a part in my DJ sets and productions, but I’d definitely say that the hard-trance sound is making a bit of resurgence at the moment, so it’s really great to have the absolute best of the best hard-trance legend on my Outburst label, Mr. Scot Project! I’ve been good friends with Frank for a long long time now, so expect to hear a lot more from him on the label. Outburst is primarily a tech-trance label though so I reckon Frank is the only hard-trance producer that we’ll work with, to be honest.
You certainly have big participation on this comeback. You are known for helping with mastering for young producers… In your opinion, is it harder to break through today than it was 20 years ago?
It’s never been easy to break through, but it’s definitely a lot tougher these days yeah. There are literally hundreds, maybe even thousands of trance producers and DJ’s all trying their best to break through and be the next big thing – my first bit of advice learn to produce (obviously) and my second is BE DIFFERENT. You’re never going to stand out in a crowd if you regurgitate the same sounds all the time and copy a hundred other producers, learn your craft and then strive for originality.
“I love dance music that’s written for the dance floor and not for the charts or EDM main stages.” – Mark Sherry
In an interview with DJ Mag Italia, you said you hate commercial trance. What does a commercial trance mean to you? Is it trance what is played at big festivals? Or how would you define it?
I don’t want to go into a big rant about this, so let’s just say that I love dance music that’s written for the dance floor and not for the charts or EDM main stages.
For over 20 years on stage, you have not released an album, “just” compilations. What is the reason?
I have actually written 2 albums, but under different project names – but never a ‘Mark Sherry‘ album… until now! My first ever artist album is scheduled for release early 2019 so watch this space! I’ve written 12 tracks already so it‘s almost finished. I’ll be choosing my absolute favorite tracks to put on the album along with my management later on this year so it’s a very exciting time for me right now, there are going to be some very cool tracks on it!
What is the difference between your own Outburst Records and other labels?
Well, Outburst is a label that’s dedicated to tech-trance. When we first launched in 2014 we were the only one, but now there are a few others so it keeps things interesting, competitive and challenging, but I actually enjoy that because it keeps me on my toes and stops me getting complacent haha. We stick to keeping things as underground and as ‘tech-trance‘ as we can, but occasionally we’ll get sent a demo that just can’t be ignored, like Richard Durand’s ‘The Air I Breathe‘ is a good example for instance, it’s an absolutely HUGE track but it‘s uplifting trance and not techy at all really, but I had to sign it… I’d have been crazy not to!
You’re probably the only DJ (not counting Steve Aoki), who occasionally doing “crowd surf”. Will we also see one in Ostrava?
Please don’t compare my DJ antics to Steve Aoki, I was crowd surfing before that idiot was even a DJ! 😉 I like to perform as well as DJ but I don’t do it for likes or attention, I do it because the crowds love it..and when I DJ I’m there to play for the crowd, nothing else. I’ve been DJ’ing for almost 25 years now and entertaining a crowd is what I do best, so if I feel the urge to dive into the crowd or even just go onto the dancefloor for a jump around with the crowd then I‘ll do it..and I‘ll enjoy every minute of it!
In the Czech Republic, we have seen you only in clubs. Do you prefer clubs or big festivals and why?
I always love playing a good balance of club events and festivals throughout the year. With the club events you get more of an intimate atmosphere with everyone dancing right in front of you, but with the festivals, you always get the much bigger productions with huge stages, loads of lasers, light shows, pyrotechnics, confetti canons etc. That’s all great but sometimes at the bigger festivals you are so far away from the crowd that you lose some of that intimacy and atmosphere. Give me a dark and smoky club with an amazing sound system any day of the week haha. Summer festivals are always amazing though!
“I’m not sure why being married would make any difference to my touring schedule? Do you think she’s not going to let me out the house anymore? Haha.” – Mark Sherry
How do you think trance & progressive music will develop in the following years? Do you wish it to evolve in a certain direction? Which one?
I‘m really loving the progressive trance resurgence at the moment and also the fact that trance is colliding with techno. It’s an amazing/exciting time for music and boundaries are being smashed to pieces! As long as it stays underground I’m happy. Yes the EDM explosion introduced a lot of kids to dance music and that’s great, but it all became way too commercial, the quicker all of that kind of trashy dance music subsides the better, it’s cringe-worthy. But I’m happy to see the more credible styles are thriving and that includes trance. There are some truly amazing trance events going on around the globe at the moment and judging by the lineup for Ostrava this is going to be a very special one too! 😉
In the last question, I would like to ask about a couple of things about your wedding. How did you feel in a traditional kilt and have your life changed after marriage? Do you or will you perform less?
A kilt is a normal thing to wear in Scotland for a wedding and big family events etc. so it’s nothing very ‘out if the ordinary‘ for us… although it might look funny to all of you lol. I’m not sure why being married would make any difference to my touring schedule? Do you think she’s not going to let me out the house anymore? Haha. I’ve been with my wife for 7 years now so nothing has changed, apart from the fact that I feel even closer to her now. She has been a huge inspiration to me these last few years and she keeps my feet firmly planted on the ground. We had an absolutely amazing wedding day and it really was the best day of our lives, I just wish we could do it all again tomorrow!
Thank you for the interview and we are looking forward to your set in Ostrava.
Thanks a lot for the interview guys, I’m very excited about coming back to Ostrava, I know that the crowd will be really crazy (and very noisy) as always… see you all soon!
Mark <3
This interview was created in collaboration with the organizers of the Tranceformers 2018 event.