5 Minutes with... Mark Eteson
Written By: Joe Gamp

Mark Eteson is one of those rare, homegrown heros in the trance scene in its present state. He's been making a surefire name for himself in the right circles, earning himself a residency at Godskitchen and is also one of the only trance DJs to close the final evening of Global Gathering a whopping four consecutive years in a row, as well as produce, compile and edit 4 worldwide radio shows. As Armin van Buuren once put it, "Mark is one of those DJ’s that fully understands trance and made it his own.  A Mark Eteson labelled production always gets me excited because he understands the essence of trance."

His productions and all encompassing attitude to music means that Mark never sits completely still, constantly pushing the boundaries of the sound, whilst also building an enviable reputation as a highly creative DJ who places pleasing his fans and money-paying crowds first and foremost. In a short interview with the man himself, we get his low down on the Trance scene as a whole and where to next for one of the UK's brightest trance music talents...


The trance scene, like all of dance musics facets, has changed a great deal in recent years - what have been the best developments for you in recent memory?
The best developments is an easy one - although I'm still not utilising it to its full capacity, I knew there would be an eventual movement towards USB sticks/memory cards back when I was in Uni.  The transformation from carrying clunky cumbersome record boxes (and usually more that one!) is just something that had to happen sooner or later.  Do I miss my record box?  And all the stickers we plastered over it to look cool?  Hell yes...but needs must, storage space is paramount these days, now I can walk about with a few USBs and have an arsenal of tracks that only a van of record boxes could previously carry. 

And what has changed dance music - especially trance - for the worse?
The worst - well, here's a controversial point - is the fact there seems to be a core of "trance purists" these days.  I'm sure they were always around, and to be fair, every scene has it's purist fans, but these guys are relentless in the onslaught of forcing their opinions of how the scene has now changed and certain DJs are selling out.  You know what, who the fuck cares?!  It can be incredibly demeaning and disheartening to new/up and coming DJs as well as seasoned pros to have these dimwits ungracefully airing their bitchy comments on social networks and forums.  There is a fair share of music I personally don't like, but I spend absolutely zero of my time talking about it let alone listening to it.  What is the point?!  I alone am not going to be able to stop it's production, so it would just be a waste of my breath. These serial moaners should spend less time getting worked up with the stuff they don't like and more time sitting in rooms with their headphones on full blast from the golden years.  Eteson Out!

You've been in the game for a number of years, could you tell us about a couple of the highlights of your career so far?
Global Gathering has always been a highlight, whether that be in the fields of Long Marston, or travelling to one of my favourite places to play in Eastern Europe - Kiev.  I have had some fantastic shows, too many to count, Shanghai, Bangalore, Minsk, Switzerland, Sweden; from clubs to outdoor festivals, to beach parties to cruise ships.  I'm very fortunate to be in a career which allows me to travel to new and exciting places with it.

You mixed the annual Monster Tunes Yearmix, which covered the trance spectrum in 2011, which were the biggest tunes of the year for you?
Well that would be telling - some of them are on the compilation so to find out, you should go buy it haha!

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