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Mark Oliver @ the Guvernment - OLD SKOOL!
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| E2EK1EL |
Oliver's twist
Mark Oliver celebrates five years of making the masses move at the Guvernment
MARK OLIVER
Birthday party as part of Guvernment's 5 Nights of Celebration with Dave Seaman, Pete Tong and Luke Fair. Sunday, Oct. 7. Also with Paul Van Dyk, Wednesday, Oct. 10. The Guvernment, 132 Queens Quay E.
(They left out Tiesto Saturday, Oct 6th ... that was da bomb set! All the anthems from Magik 4 - 7)
BY ELIZABETH MITKOS
Five years ago, the buzz surrounding Toronto rave pioneer Mark Oliver was so overwhelming, no big nightclub owner could afford to ignore it. Now, reputed for his staple Spin Saturdays at the Guvernment, Oliver is celebrating a landmark five-year anniversary as the night's original resident DJ. Nearly 3,000 people pack the slick dancefloor each weekend, revelling amid the towering bass bins, grooving in the velvety Acid Lounge and lining the mezzanine railing, relentlessly devoted to Oliver's legendary nine-hour sets.
Known as one of the initiators of the Canadian rave movement, with the founding of Exodus -- North America's first-ever rave organization -- and being the first DJ to play acid-house and techno nights, the 33-year-old's solid rapport and versatility as a DJ won him the city's biggest club night. The move was exactly the step he was looking to take in his career, which now spans over 14 years of playing across the country and around the world.
Oliver was originally offered the opening bar-hours slot at Industry, but he turned it down, knowing he was capable of a peak-hours set. He says word of mouth led Charles Khabouth, owner of the Guvernment, to offer him the residency. Khabouth was trying to capture the right sound for such a big venue, and Oliver proved to be the DJ that would make the Guvernment a world-class nightclub.
"Every week I was playing somewhere different -- a lot of warehouse parties and places where I wasn't happy with the sound system," says Oliver, explaining that the Steve Dash-designed Phazon sound system at the Guvernment is unique to Canada, and international institutions like Cream, Ministry of Sound and Twilo. "It was nice to be able to commit to such a beautiful club. To play on that kind of system is a DJ's dream and that's one of the things that's kept me there for so long."
Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Oliver hit the Toronto scene in '87 and has played more residencies than any other DJ in Canada. With his exceptional spinning techniques and sublime understanding of dancefloor dynamics, he's a master at anticipating what the crowd wants. He says pure hard work and his passion to play house, trance and progressive make up the definitive Guvernment sound.
His record collection is rapidly surpassing 20,000 with weekly injections of acetates and promos from labels around the world. It keeps his sets fresh. But his prodigious programming is more improvisation than preparation, only testing his new music on his Tuesday-night 1groove.comradio show, Odyssey.
"I feed off the crowd," says Oliver. "I spend most of my week figuring out which tracks I want to play. I have a general idea of building slowly, or quickly, or sometimes I'll just flip everything around. I like to approach each night with a certain theme and tap into people's emotions and try to heighten the feeling or simply provide a pure night of escapism."
Either way, Oliver's armed with about 400 records and a charging stamina to pound out brand-new nine-hour sets each weekend, sets he says could go longer.
"I have so much music to play," he laughs. "It really gets interesting around 4am when I can start to experiment. There's always a receptive crowd there and the response is phenomenal. I could keep playing as long as people are there -- I've played parties for 14 hours before."
But by sunrise, Oliver shuts down the music, despite many protests from a still-strong crowd. He says the line has to be drawn somewhere, and that's what keeps the people coming back each weekend. When Oliver returns home to his wife and two children, he's exhausted for a few days before the routine picks up again. With at least four regular gigs per week, plus radio and television appearances, Oliver also juggles time in the studio mixing a series of compilations. His collaboration with Toronto's Saint Pete saw the release of two tracks this summer on DMT Records under the alias POMP -- one of which is also found on his Timeless Trance mix CD.
But his music today is faced with the challenge of so many more DJs playing out, becoming one of many rather than one-of-a-kind. He maintains his edge by pushing the boundaries, having an expert ear for music and the innate ability to sniff out a hit.
"I used to be thought of as eccentric because I'd try to break new music that people didn't necessarily understand right away," says Oliver. "That was always the appeal of playing a venue of that size -- to get away with playing music that no one else was playing. Now it seems a lot more clubs are using a similar style, just on a scaled-down level.
"My job is tougher now because back then you had your house clubs, your hip-hop clubs -- everything was very defined, each club had its own character. But now with so many clubs trying to play progressive music, it pushes me further. And I enjoy the challenge. In the end, it's more fulfilling to pull off interesting sets every week for nine hours."
While playing private parties for Madonna, the Rolling Stones, Prince and Lenny Kravitz are personal highlights, Oliver is devoted to the Guvernment, having missed only three Saturdays in five years. He plans on being there for as long as the club is around and says he doesn't miss travelling, despite offers to tour China, Australia and Europe next year. Though he played abroad during his early career, alongside class acts like Sasha, Danny Tenaglia, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Daft Punk, Underworld, the Chemical Brothers and Moby, he's happier now to host them as guests at the Guvernment.
"Not one of those people hasn't been blown away by the club, saying it's the best outside of England," Oliver raves. "When theycome to Toronto, they're in awe, not expecting the club to be as big and the crowd as responsive. It's because DJs here are on the ball, educating the crowd. People will recognize the tracks these guys play, and they'll go for it."
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MARK HIS WORDS
Mark Oliver explains how he keeps calm, cool and collected while DJing a wildly popular residency at one of the city's biggest dance clubs:
"Sometimes I take the residency for granted -- that's why I'm calm about it. It's just so natural to go in there for nine hours, rock the house, go home and have breakfast. It's like being a mass murderer, you know? Like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, listening to opera after his fetish meal....
"The only downside of this business is that it's very cutthroat. Every week there's demos coming in the door from other DJs -- they're constantly attacking each other. I try to stay out of the politics. It's the biggest residency in the country. People would give their right arm just to get in here. It's kind of annoying -- I'll have people stabbing me in the back. You think they're your friends, when they're really just trying to get a way in. It's character-building -- you get to know who's behind you and who's not." EM
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_10.04.01/thebeat/markoliver.html |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by E2EK1EL
"The only downside of this business is that it's very cutthroat. Every week there's demos coming in the door from other DJs -- they're constantly attacking each other. I try to stay out of the politics. It's the biggest residency in the country. People would give their right arm just to get in here. It's kind of annoying -- I'll have people stabbing me in the back. You think they're your friends, when they're really just trying to get a way in. It's character-building -- you get to know who's behind you and who's not." EM
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_...markoliver.html |
I could only imagine the stories he'd have to tell...
Mark, you're awesome and thanks for hangin' in there!! :tongue2 :toocool: |
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| zokissima |
| He's teh , we're very lucky to have him resident at Guv. |
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| Shaya007 |
OLD SKOOL's where it's @
;) ;) 7 |
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| house_conXion |
| Guvernment/T.O. are lucky to have him here every Saturday, it's true he could tour for awhile but I couldn't imagine a Spin Saturday without MO at the helm |
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| Tully |
wow great freaking article John!!! :) :)
Mark rules...hands down!! :) |
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| TrueToTheCrew |
I just got the chills reading this article.
That 5 year was a sick party week.
I got ill on the wenesday and still kept going. They had ferry corsten the week before too if i remember right.
Props to MO once again. |
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| Pettiscool |
| keep it up mark, love the theme of the night thing too, not too many djs even know what the hell that means. can't wait for the above and beyond set! |
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| Jayx1 |
check out the photo credits...
(i took that picture) hehehehehe |
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| Shaya007 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
check out the photo credits...
(i took that picture) hehehehehe |
awwww!
:D ;) 7 |
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| edski |
Ya especially all these ASian people should thank him for saturdays
hahahaha |
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