Mark Broom

If you’ve had any interest in real techno over the last two decades, unless you live with your head in your ass, or alternatively a bassbin, you will have heard the name Mark Broom at some point. Broom has been plugging away in the Techno scene since the early 90s, from his earlier days of harder, faster UK Techno, to a new generation of diverse grooves – he is never one to sit still. With his new album Acid House just released, Ali Macdonald chats history, vinyl and of course the big T.

Pulse: So, how did you get into making techno all those years ago? Mark Broom: My first attempt at making any kind of music was with some guys from Southend who went under the name of N-Joi (they were big on the early UK rave scene). One of the dancers from the band was my mate called Metso and he introduced me to Ed and Andy who were part of The Black Dog. We clicked musically and they kindly offered to help me produce some of my own material. We rented a studio from another friend of mine who I was working with on a nine to five job, Dave Hill. He had a nice set up and we used his space for around a year before Dave asked if I wanted to start doing stuff with him. After this we went on to do Pure Plastic.

Has your attitude and approach to music, making and playing out, changed much since then? Not at all. I still have the same passion and drive and also still get a big buzz producing and DJing this style of music. Of course the music has changed slightly, mainly with putting each style of music into it's own genre. Back when I started it was just techno, house and acid, now you have so many different genres it's starting to get confusing.

Does it ever feel like a job, or even a career? No, never. Everyday I am happy to be involved in this world and I'm glad that I made that big decision in 1993 to leave my job and go head first into DJing and producing.

Do you still go record shopping and collect vinyl? Oh yeah, I'm a big vinyl lover and still go out searching for old records at car boot sales. And I'll buy current stuff online. I still play vinyl when I'm DJing. It does get frustrating sometimes when you get to some clubs and the decks are not set up properly with bad needles and feedback, but it's all part of the fun!

"I'm in the studio nearly every day so if I was just doing one style [of music] I would have gone bonkers by now."

There’s a lot of talk in the media, but have you personally felt a resurgence of the UK Techno scene over the past couple of years? It's slowly coming to the surface again, you have some great labels like Edit Select, Blueprint and BeardMan. Then Ben Sims with his Hardgroove and Theory labels that are releasing a great range of Techno again, so I think it's looking promising for the next couple of years as well.

There’s a wide diversity in your releases, across a lot of labels, from the old Soma stuff to the BPitch or the D1 and the 2020 Vision EPs. It really defies anyone trying to stick one of those sub-genre labels on you. What drives the direction your productions take? Well as you already know I'm into all styles, but I'm mainly known for my techno productions. I love to try my hand at making as much and as varied music as I can, from the throbbing dance floor techno to some discoid style tech house. I'm in the studio nearly every day so if I was just doing one style I would have gone bonkers by now.

You played at James Ruskin’s Blueprint Label party recently, how was that? A wicked night, great crowd who loved the music and there were some old techno faces there which was cool. It was nice to catch up with people.

Wbeeza sited you as an influence when starting out; apparently you used to be neighbours. Are there many other new artists that have caught your ear lately? We had studio spaces in a big warehouse complex in Greenwich, South London. Good times. Wbeeza is doing great at the moment. Also loving the Skudge guys and also Gary Beck.

What are you working on at the moment? I have just finished a remix for Alan Fitzpatrick on Drumcode and one for Johannes Heil on Cocoon. I have two new releases on my BeardMan label coming up, plus hopefully another 12" with James Ruskin on Blueprint later in the year.

Mark Broom Acid House is out now on CD as well as an album sampler on vinyl, on Saved Records.

Macdonald Ali