Wall of Sound celebrates 21 years ahead of the chasing pack
1994 saw the launch of Wall Of Sound, one of the most ground breaking, exciting and rock & roll labels dance music has ever produced. Following the underground acid-house explosion of the preceding years, Wall Of Sound set about unleashing a catalogue of releases that were to become synonymous with the era, mixing sonics and genres together along the way. Now, celebrating their 21st Anniversary with a new label compilation, Dan Prince gets the world exclusive with the man behind the music, Mr Mark Jones…
” I once found myself at a urinal in Smithfield pissing next to Mark Jones and realised we were both pissing in the gene pool of pop music. Viva Wall of Sound for character based pop fun….” Norman Cook
Mark a massive welcome to DMCWORLD. And what a f**king journey! Growing up you had to put up with the incessant noise of heavy rock music coming through your bedroom walls, the sounds your older siblings loved. You though reacted against this, asked your parents to buy you a Yamaha CS01 synth from the Gratton catalogue at £3.99 a week and away you went creating melodies. Tell me, did they ever come round to your style of music in later years…were they supportive in your career?
“My older brother was into rock and reggae so I obviously reacted against that , though I did come around a bit in the end. But in answer to your question Dan, no they never came around to my synthesizer sound (good line that) and he legged it before I knew it. Maybe it drove him away? I will have to ask him that question. They’ve been happy for me in the good times and supportive through the tough times…”
True or false : As a teenager you painted your bedroom walls black and would sit there in darkness writing music?
“True, yes I did. It wasn’t always dark, I loved it light and bright too. Black was just the colour that worked and Debbie Harry of Blondie was everywhere looking down on me. Synthesizer Sonic Solitude worked to a point when I needed to be Moody Melodic Mark.”
“Wall of Sound was absolutely instrumental in making me fall in love with electronic music.As an indie kid their eclectic attitude and releases blew my mind. I’d never heard dance music like it. From LRD, Zoot Woman & Propellerheads to Royksopp and The Infadels – these albums shaped my musical mind and started me off on the path I am now on. Rock and Rave!” Alex Metric
One of your early jobs in the music industry was working the lights in clubs, indeed one of the first places you did visuals for was the first ever Shoom. Looking back, at the time did you think that this new thing called dance music was here for the long run or just another genre that was a passing phase?
“Well it wasn’t a job job, it was freedom of expression visually. My friend Michael Speechley and I started POP which was a cool club nitey where we lived and combined visuals /projections to the dancefloor which worked very well. We were spotted a few times by peeps who were talking about it and we were asked to do the first Shoom and Special Branch gigs in London. I was balancing this up with being the lead singer in Prock (Pop Rock) band Perfect Day at the time which was very different. There was no way of combining the two back in those days so I went the other way when the band got signed . ‘Dance music ‘ lived with me as it was always the ‘fun’ escape and acid house really did penetrate.”
“Wall Of Sound was the label. Me and my friends would search for the logo. When I first arrived in the UK we became friends with The Dirty Beatniks who were on the label. Just by hanging out with them, you knew how important the ethos and identity of WOS was to them and the other artists on the team. It’s legacy rests on the music.” Zane Lowe
You once infamously got your wallet out and paid for the pressing and distribution of a new record by a then unknown Basement Jaxx because, well, they had no money. How has the years treated you with different artists…have you ever had a door closed on you or a phone call not returned from an artist who once upon a time you helped out in some way?
“I was working part time at Soul Trader at that time. After the band had split up I hooked up with Marc Lessner (who used to sell vinyl at the parties I did visuals at). I’d been interested in finding out what happens on the ‘other side of the record business’ after what I’d gone through as an ‘artist’ so I was ringing shops up and trying to sell them records and packing records into boxes. Felix came into the warehouse and played me the demo, I loved it so we pressed copies of a vinyl 12″. Most of the people I have helped start off have been supportive, some are just a little tricky to get hold of because that’s the way they are.If the door is closed, I just try kicking it open.”
“Spending time with Wall Of Soundis like being in an epic road movie without a map. And no road” – Banksy
You and your Wall of Sound collective appeared on the first ever cover of 7 Magazine. At the time us “lazy journos” had coined the phrase Big Beat, a term that infuriated you so much you went off and created the hip hop label Bad Magic with Ugly Duckling and Blak Twang. If I would have given you a blank cheque back then and told you to go and sign any 3 Hip Hop artists in the world, who would you have gone after?
“Can you send me a copy? Yes, obviously when it all kicked off lazy journos wanted to put it in a box and every we record we released was given that term. But I started three other labels not just one. Bad Magic (Hip Hop), We Love You (Indie /Guitar) and Nu Camp (House/Dance) just to prove a point. I ran them for a few years and broke some great artists, then closed them to say Wall of Sound can be anything now…you get that? My favourite 3 Hip Hop artists are Run DMC, Beastie Boys and LL COOL J – but I don’t think they would have put pink pen to paper. We’ve had some amazing classic hip hop artists appearing on WoS as guest vocalists thru the years too, including Scoolly D, Busta Rhymes, Roxanne Shante, Afrika Bambaataa, MOS Def and many more…so I think I’ve been there….and done that.”
Mark Jones with a very young Stuart Price
Around that time you signed a school kid called Stuart Price. This young man would in later days go onto become the biggest producer in the world and appeared on newspaper front pages for other reasons too. Had you any idea back then just what a talent this guy was?
“Yes indeedy, that’s why I signed him. I had that vision and hey…guess what? He was originally signed as part of Zoot Woman to start and then told me he had another project…which was his school music exam. I really loved the sound and so we created Les Rythmes Digitales and Jacques Lu Cont and released it as ‘Liberation’ (the first LRD album ) which had peeps asking ‘who is this ?’. He always had/has a great understanding of music of all ends and genres and understands melody on another level. Moving forward to the second album Darkdancer it really opened up. Witnessing his progress, path and development into becoming such a huge success is one of my proudest moments.”
“Happy 21st birthday Wall of Sound and thanks for commissioning my first ever remix for Mekon in 2006!” Duke Dumont
True or false? You received death threats and hate mail when you put the second Les Rhythmes Digitales album Darkdancer out?
“True. At the time, peeps really, really didn’t get it. ‘Darkdancer’ was the 80s inspired electronic LRD album that we dropped in the middle of Brit Pop. I received hate mail send some very, very odd messages. You were not allowed to like anything from 80s at that time and we even featured Nik Kershaw on the album. Funny how people look back now as say how ahead of the game that album was. Music is so cyclitic . Round and Round and Round we go…”
“Wall Of Sound had a lot to do with me getting into electronic music. I fell in love with The Wiseguy’s first album ‘Executive Suite’, promptly joined the mailing list and had WOS flyers all over my bedroom wall as a student in Belfast. Then Les Rhythmes Digitales ‘Darkdancer’ came out and I was a full convert ” Annie Mac
What would a Mark Jones in 1998 have said to the Mark Jones of 2014 if he’d have known that one day he would be trying to appear on a reality TV show in front of a live studio audience and 4 judges that included Boyzone and Westlife’s manager Louis Walsh?
“I did it as a joke as they put me live on the BBC with Mr. Simon Cowell as we are polar opposites in the ‘music industry’. I just thought, ‘what is the most wrong thing I could do for the fanniversary?’ So I did it. I qualified through three rounds and got in front of the judges. When I explained how hard it is to run a ‘record label ‘ these days I had Louis Walsh saying “Mark, I love Wall of Sound”. I sang Mr. Cowell the ‘Perfect Day’ song ‘King of Fools’ asking the question ‘Are you the king of fools or am I?’…and then Propellerheads ‘History Repeating’ trying to replicate Shirley Bassey which was very interesting. I obviously got the four ‘No’s’ which was expected but Cowell was actually quite fun and said…”Mark, you know what you should do? Sign yourself to the label!”. So I said “Great idea”, shook his hand and walked off. Funnily enough they never showed it on the show. I am currently in negotiation with my own lawyer to sign myself to the label…”
One of the artists you have worked with is Grace Jones, a notorious character who always wants to get her own way. “Never work with your heroes? Fuck that!” was your famous quote at the time. I once saw her reduce a promoter to tears after the poor girl had had to wake her dad and get him to drive to a cash point, get some money out and deliver it to Grace’s hotel as the singer wouldn’t go on stage until her full fee was in her hand…and then promptly refused to play as she was too tired. How did you put up with the tantrums of Miss Jones, or by then did she need all the help she could get and was a dream to work with?
“Grace is one the most inspiring artists on earth…actually the universe. It’s not the ‘diva’ thing with her, her bar is just sky high and you gotta reach it to make it work. She was/is great and understanding – and she actually listened to what I had to say and was very receptive. It’s all about giving artists the right platform to do what they do. That’s how I have always looked at this so you need to understand what their vision is and who they are.”
Keep Up with the Jones’…if you can…Grace leads the way
When was the last time the stars aligned and you discovered a wonderful talent?
“It happens regularly for me in very different ways. Meeting new talent has been in various forms…planets collide, stars align etc. Meeting Jon Reverend in a toilet was a memorable experience.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo…”
What artist has been the greatest privilege to work with?
“I’ve said this a few times but it has been a privilege to work with all of the new artists I have signed and released. I don’t look at them any differently. Of course I did the hat-trick of heroes…The Human League, Grace Jones and B.E.F which was an honour beyond all belief.”
“21 years ago I was sat on a cardboard box in a breezy warehouse space enthusiastically stamping logos onto Les Rythmes Digitales 7 inches whilst head honcho Mark Jones juggled two phones and a fax machine whilst holding three other conversations with artists, agents and possibly a bank manager or two. It was the start of the Wall of Sound empire and I was the proud teaboy straight out of university and dipping my tentative toe into the heady waters of the music business. Mark’s charisma, endless energy and relentless work ethics doubtless rubbed off on me and has always made me want to be ahead of the game and never look back. I salute Mark for that early break he gave me and I salute Wall Of Sound for hanging in there and still making a difference two decades later.” Rob Da Bank
A famous quote from you : “I just want to give artists the platform to do what they do. That’s what it’s always been about for me. It’s never been about sitting in a studio saying, ‘Don’t do it like that, do it like this’.” Surely though as a musician yourself, there must have been times when you had your head in your hands thinking ‘you are doing this all wrong’?
“Yes there were times when I thought just that, I just worded it in the right way. It’s very important to me that artists are themselves and not someone else. Giving artists feedback in the studio and being a bounce board is a huge and essential part of A + R…but it has to be right. Honesty is always the best policy.”
You look at the internet in two ways. One it has caused irreparable damage to the music industry as now everyone wants music for free and on the other hand you acknowledge it has brought people in touch with more music. How then as a label boss, do you see the next 5, 10 years panning out for the music industry?
“Yes it has changed the game as we are all well aware. It’s never been harder to run a record label and I will only sign artists on 720 or 1440 deals – not 360 because we are going round in circles! People’s ‘value’ of music has obviously changed financially, but it will never change emotionally. I honestly don’t know what direction we’re going but I’ve always tried to be positive and look forward. Ups and Downs all they way hey?”
“I can clearly remember the night we first met Mark. After that it gets hazy…” Alex Gifford (Propellerheads)
What was your thoughts when the minister compared people downloading music for free to stealing a bar of complimentary soap from a hotel?
“Well it sure does need a clean up…”
An album in your collection we would be surprised to find there?
“Thats a good question. I don’t actually know what people would be surprised to find in my record collection as it’s all about everything. But hey…”
“Wall of Sound? They are a well-oiled machine reversing into the future”. Mekon
What are your thoughts on leading producers such as David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Avicii in 2015. Do you mind their music, are their DJ fees bonkers…?
“Some of their music has grabbed me in odd ways when I wasn’t expecting it. Production wise I can hear it moving on in so many ways and it’s great that new generations can be inspired to push things on tech wise and find a path to choose. Their DJ fees are what they are. The commercial EDM balance. Viva Las Vegas!”
Mark Jones, Jon Carter and Derek Dahlarge on tour in Brazil. Scary
Did you ever think that EDM was going to take over America?
“Well it’s crazy for me how the penny has finally dropped but hey! When I first started taking Wall of Sound music to the US most major labels and peeps I was playing it to were saying “this is not music, this is not real music’ because it was electronic. Even the development of house and techno in Chicago and Detroit had not resonated at a certain level and was truly underground. Then when they heard Propellerheads and Chemical Brothers they were like “wait, is that a guitar? Is that drums?…this is ‘real music’ now!”. It never got daytime radio support but it woke people up and connected. Years later it dipped again because nothing backed it up and then 10/15 years later every Hip Hop and Urban artist were talking about EDM – and production had gone to another level. And that is what finally broke it through as far as I see it. They really need it in a box over there and EDM did exactly that. I have created a new genre which we are taking there now called RDM! Rocktronic Dance Music – bands that combine guitars and electronics as they have been for a while here. Will def go with Rock n Rave over here though as I know how peeps feel about EDM.”
It was The Brits two weeks ago, artists such as Sam Smith, Paloma Faith and Ed Sheeran went home happy. What are your thoughts on the British pop stars of today?
“I love melody, great songs and always have done. You also have the reactive generation that will work against / want to do the opposite of what’s happening…and with Sam and Ed you have people who have picked up acoustic guitars to go back to the roots of music to make things work. Production wise things have moved forward and continuing to with the advances of technology. I always want to see/hear an artist that is not like anyone else and is the first of something.”
“Wall of Sound offer musical freedom” Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont
Another quote from you that I love : “I do this to change people’s lives. Not only a new artist that I can possibly help, give a platform to and allow them to fulfill their dreams, but the people who hear the music for the first time. When their lives are changed forever. That’s what does it for me. The minute that leaves me then I will leave this.” How far are we from that point in March 2015?
“Music never leaves me…and it never will. It was always my goal to get to 20 years! Apparently in every interview I did in the crazy dayz when I was asked the question ‘why are you doing this?’, I would reply ‘because I’m going to get to 20 years…and stick it up your arse’. So let’s see where It goes from here.”
What is coming next from the label?
“Royksopp’s new single ‘I Had This Thing’ taken from the album ‘The Inevitable End’. Some amazing remixes and the band have said that it’s their last ever album…in an album format. Kids on Bridges featuring Shea Seger ‘When the Needle Drops’ is coming May 4th, taken from the album Kidology which is great. Also coming this year are singles and debut albums from Ekkoes – a classic new electronic, melodic, 80s inspired 3 piece. Then there’s SYKUR – a new single and album from the Icelandic Electroids, plus Killaflaw – hey man this is RDM…have you heard of it? Sorry it’s Rock n Rave! Led Zeppelin meets The Chemical Brothers. Some amazing new talent that I haven’t signed their contracts yet so I can’t mention who they are. Or someone will steal them no doubt. Oh and a great band called Perfect Day. Have you heard of them?”
Signing Royksopp on Mark Jones desk on Portobello Road office
And finally young man. What would give you greater pleasure in life. A number one album or your son Stanley continuing his rapid progress as a footballer and one day pulling on the famous QPR shirt?
“Now how do I answer that? He is a great talent and only 9 years old. I will definitely be moving into football management if this continues in the direction it is going. Stanley playing for QPR is my ultimate dream but here’s hoping Barcelona grab him and we can then move to IBIZA!”
***
The compilation features an array of artists from the heady days of the label’s inception and includes tracks and artists from the off shoot labels: We Love You and Bad Magic and cruise through a catalogue that encapsulates the diversity of a label that has been home to the likes of Royksopp, Grace Jones, Propellerheads, Les Rythmes Digitales, Reverend and the Makers, The Human League, Aeroplane, The Bees, Tiesto and more. Available digitally and on a double CD and digital download – including tracks culled from various BBC sessions.
Pre order link : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id964388946
Full tracklisting…
CD 1:
Propellerheads – Take California
Royksopp – Poor Leno
Les Rythmes Digitales – (Hey You) What’s That Sound?
Grace Jones – Williams’ Blood (Aeroplane Remix)
The Wiseguys – Start The Commotion
Zoot Woman – It’s Automatic
The Bees – A Minha Menina
Tiesto vs Diplo (feat. Busta Rhymes) – C’mon (Catch ‘Em By Surprise)
E – Kletik – Maracana Madness
The Human League – Night People
Reverend And The Makers – Heavyweight Champion Of The World
The Jolly Boys – Rehab
Aeroplane – We Can’t Fly
Two Culture Clash – …And Dance
Kids On Bridges – Walls
B.E.F. (feat. Boy George) – I Wanna Be Your Dog
Scala & Kolacny Brothers – Nothing Else Matters
CD 2:
Sykur – Curling
Shawn Lee – Happiness
Ceasefire – Trickshot
Mekon (feat. Roxanne Shante) – Yes Yes Y’all (Duke Dumont Remix)
Propellerheads – Dive (John Peel live session1996)
Royksopp – Remind Me (Jo Whiley live session 2002)
Dirty Beatniks – Whores, Freaks, Saints and Angels (Lamacq Live session 2000)
Grace Jones – Love You To Life (Later With Jools Holland 2008)
Wiseguys – Ooh La La (Lamacq Live session 2000)
Infadels – Can’t Get Enough (Lamacq Live session 2006)
Blak Twang – Kik Off (Jo Whiley session 2002)
Reverend and The Makers – The State Of Things (Zane Lowe live session 2007)
The Jolly Boys – Perfect Day (Later With Jools Holland
The Elektrons – Get Up (Giles Peterson live session 2007)
The Shortwave Set – Now Til 69 (Rob Da Bank live session 2008)
Akasha – Brown Sugar (Mary Anne Hobbs live session 1998)
Ugly Duckling – A Little Samba (Lamacq Live session 2001)
Shy Child – Drop The Phone (Tom Robinson live session 2007)
