A dirty windswept Soho
with it's josling crowds and beckoning blondes seemed a fitting location to
meet Mark O'Sullivan. A Cork exile, residing in Stockholm and purveyor of
some the most innovative dubs around. As we stumble around the maze and confusion
where prostitution and vinyl stand side by side. I asked him about his current
location, Sweden.
(SM) You've been living in
Stockholm for the last four years,were you taken there by your music ?
(MOS) Well I went over there to visit some friends and I realised that every
time I went there my asthma disappeared. One day I ripped up the return
ticket and never came back.
(SM) Were you making music
in Ireland before that?
(MOS) Yes I was but I stopped as I was getting sick too much of
the time. I didn't have the energy.
(SM) Did the label or the
music come first ?
(MOS) The music is always first. The name for the label is ' King
Syndrome Sounds'. I'll explain that first. I was reading an article on psychological
disorders in the United States and people who have a facination with Elvis
Presley have 'King Syndrome'. So we called the label 'King Syndrome Sounds'.
And 'The Mighty Quark' is that part of the atom that appears to exist but
we can't prove it.
(SM) You've had two releases?
(MOS) Well one, the second one ( 'Quiet Life / 3 Way Dub') is not
out yet, so you have an advanced copy....
(SM) Its fresh !
(MOS)...and an the album is ready for release in March.
(SM) I played out Smokescreen
from your first release. 'The Theme From Ian Hendricks Disco' is the title
of the other side. Who is Ian Hendricks ?
(MOS) Ian Hendricks is a good friend of mine from Cork. He's a very
talented orchestrator. He's actually classically trained but to make money
he DJ's at weddings and 21ST's.
(SM) Is he the guitarist
whose on the track ?
(MOS) No the guitarist is actually a guy from Brixton called Danny
Rollins. Who now lives in Sweden and used to be a session musician with
The Pointer Sisters.
(SM) How do you describe
the music that your making at the moment ? I picked up on it because of
it's obvious dub references and heavy B-lines.
(MOS) It's been described by one Japanese writer as "Taking dub
into the next millenium". For me it's ...well if you look at the album it's
Jazz, Electro, Dub... with a little Soul.
(SM) So it's not just purely
digital ?
(MOS) No there's a lot of live playing involved and we try to keep
that element in there, I play Bass and Guitar on some of the tracks and
we also have other guest musicians.
(SM) Do you have access to
studio's in Stockholm ?
(MOS) I have a studio myself. The publisher has been very kind and
has given me a studio to work in.
(SM) You said to me earlier
that there are some quite exciting labels coming through from Sweden.
(MOS) Yeah there are some good labels, You've got 'Svek' and a friend of
mine called Jasper has a label called 'Blank' which is doing very well.
There's another label called 'P M S Plan' run by two girls which is seriously
the most eclectic label in the world. They go from Classical to Hip-Hop
and Electro...Brilliant.
(SM) So what are you looking
for with 'King Syndrome Sounds' at the moment in terms of the U.K ?
(MOS) Essentially what I really want to do is to get the album cut. That's
the most important thing, trying to get it out for the Spring.
(SM) The album is already
recorded ?
(MOS) It's finished, the main thing now is to get it out, so that
people can hear it.
(SM) So there you have it.
Stay tuned in 2001 for bin bustin' dubs from these guys.
Smart Monkey
The Mighty Quark
have a track on the compilation 'Stone' out on Play.
Click here for its review.
