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 “I’ve never cheesed it up or jumped on any bandwagons, maybe I could have had more success if I chosen that route . . . errm, maybe I should.”
Mark ‘Meat Katie’ Pember has long been one of the most interesting and talented DJs to have emerged out of the alternative dance music genre known as breaks and remains fiercely committed to following his own groove.
“I had absolutely no creative restraints, I wouldn’t dream on working on a project that did,” he states, in response to whether he’s compromised for his new Ministry Of Sound sessions CD. “Creative freedom is paramount.” 15 years into his career, the self made and self taught British producer remains cheerfully independent both in musical terms and his willingness to tell it as he sees it, not least over the current somewhat tarnished reputation of breaks. “It does seem to be a dirty word right now, doesn’t it,” he muses. “I got slammed on a forum a while ago for saying in an interview that breaks was on its arse; talk about people living in bubbles,” he laughs. “I’m jumping for joy when I get a decent breakbeat track, but I’m not going to lose sleep if I don’t,” he continues, “I’ve always enjoyed and played a varied selection from most genres. That’s not going to change, and equally I’m not going stop playing a style because its deemed uncool, if it sounds good to me, then that’s enough.” Avoiding genre labels altogether, he’s branded his new single Cracks a DJ tool, though for practical reasons, he insists, rather than for effect. “Cracks was a funny (unusual) release because I made this simple little groove that sat in my DJ sets really well, and it seemed to be working better than the tracks I had made to be singles,” he admits. “I was getting such a good response, I thought I’d get a couple of other interpretations (Madox & Moguai) and get it out there, which is how Cracks came about. And I’m really pleased I did,” he adds, “because a lot of DJs have been playing it, including a few of my heroes such as Justin Robertson and DJ Chloe.”
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff) Modular Records had huge success last year with Soulwax, Presets, New Young Pony Club etc but lost £3.2 million at the same time: what impact has digital had on your label Lot 49?
Meat Katie: “Holy shit, I wish I had 3.2 million pounds to lose on a label. Digital has been a lifeline and, in fact, we will be giving up selling vinyl through a distributor later this year. For cash-flow it’s pointless, we can also release more music when we go digital only. Lot49 has completely embraced the digital formats, and Fidz our label manager has real vision as to what and where we can go. We will still release albums on CD, but when it comes to singles we are thinking of doing small (maybe 500) numbered runs just for our hardcore, and selling them direct from our new site; when the site’s finished. No-one really cares about records anymore, apart from collectors. It’s hard to say that, but that’s really the way I feel.” Skrufff: What’s your view of the state of club-land now: what impact is the credit crunch having? Meat Katie: “I think the state of club-land is a real reflection on everyday life; people are struggling right across the board and it’s tough out there. People are not going to go out on long bender weekends if they can’t afford to fill their cars up with petrol. Politics is not my strong point, I just know it’s a hard time right now.” Skrufff: How important is it to you to be considered ‘underground’ or ‘alternative’? Meat Katie: “I don’t care about being underground or alternative just for the sake of it, although that does seem to be what I end up doing. I’m more into the development side of music, of seeing projects unfold and where they land or take you. I find that approach to making and releasing music more exciting rather than nicking something that’s already popular.” Skrufff: The last time we spoke (in 2004) you chatted about your step dad having you arrested when you were 15 then kicking you out of the house: have you had any contact since then: have any bridges been rebuilt? Meat Katie: “Jesus, is it that long? No, they haven’t. On a personal level, I feel you just have to move on and not dwell too much on the past, you would never achieve or do anything if kept looking back instead of forward, That guy is no longer in my mother’s or step brother’s or sister’s life either. He ran off with another women, after all that.” Skrufff: Guy Hyper was chatting last week about being nicked in Hong Kong for DJing without a visa, have you ever been busted on your travels? Meat Katie: “We got stopped once for running a red light in New Delhi, when I was being driven to Ministry of Sound out there. To my surprise the driver just floored it (accelerated) away when the police pulled over. I said ‘What are you doing?’ he replied ‘they just want money, they are corrupt, I have no cash on me, they might take some thing from you like a camera or Ipod’, which kind of made sense in the heat of the moment. We reached some more traffic lights and the police tried to block our route so the driver pushed forward scraping the whole side of his car, barging the police car out the way. The police were literally right next to my window with a loud speaker shouting for us to pull over. When that happened the driver said ‘we can’t stop now, we will both be arrested’, we managed to get away, but that is by far my most exciting DJ story, “ Skrufff: How much is being a DJ/ producer now about being a ‘artist’ or ‘star’? Meat Katie: “I don’t really know many DJs that think they are ‘stars’, they wouldn’t be my kind of people. If I have to be honest, people who normally believe their own hype tend to be pricks from my experience so far.” Skrufff how much attention do you pay to image (do you buy all your own clothes? Follow particular styles or designers?) Meat Katie: “I wouldn’t say I have an image, I’m just me. I do tend to buy my own clothes (is that weird?) I wouldn’t say I’m a big follower of fashion either, but I am a fan of bathing ape (BAPE), I’m guilty in that respect.” Skrufff: How much attention do you devote to performing in the booth? Meat Katie: “I don’t analyze it, to be honest, its clear if I’m enjoying myself, I do tend to get into it, its not a performance, but I do feel its infectious if the dj is having a good time. Skrufff: I know you’ve had an up and down career, what’s been the happiest period: how much does happiness coincide with success/ financial reward? Meat Katie: “For me, when ever I feel I’ve nailed something a bit special or I’ve somehow lifted my game, or just simply had my head down working without taking too much notice of what’s going on around me, the financial rewards have normally followed. I’m happy when I’m doing what I love which is creating things, whether that’s a wicked feeling in a club, a kicking track or remix or something so basic as getting other artists’ music out into the public domain via LOT49. Doing all of those things make me happy, my philosophy towards music has not changed from when I started.” Cracks comes out on Lot 49 shortly: Meat Katie: the Sessions: is out on Ministry Of Sound in September. http://www.myspace.com/meatkatie1 Article by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
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