James Fitch and Mark Storie interview

James Fitch and Mark Storie interview

22 July, 2008 | 12.06PM

• Written by: jamiegardiner1
• Filed under: Music News: mark storie, prok & fitch, toolroom records

With a impressive collection of house and electro releases already under their belts, James Fitch [pictured] and Mark Storie look destined for the top.

I caught up with them as they released their collaborative single ‘Bad Boy’ - available exclusively here on Beatport.

How did the collaboration with James Fitch come about, had you worked together previously?

Mark: Yeah we were residents for Prologue/Twitch @ The Egg, London and found that our music tastes were similar so we decided to hook up.

After the 1st track together we realised that we were right on the same wave length and it just worked!

For those of us not yet familiar with your sound, how would you describe your style?

James: It’s pretty much across the board we are residents at various different parties so we play to suit whether it be tech/electro/house or techno.

I think that reflects in our productions as the tracks are pretty non-genre specific.

Also between us we have had tracks signed to Stealth, Toolroom, Big Love, Pop Pop, Data, Berwick St, Noir music, Control Freq...the list goes on!

Tell us a little bit of your history.

Mark: I have DJ’ed for over 16 years now, my first big break was Underwater Records/Kidology Records @ The End, London courtesy of Mark Wilkinson which became my first residency in 2003.

Production-wise my first track ‘You Know You Know’ was co-produced with Cos Demou & Johnny Mikes in 2006 under our Ninja Cowboys guise (look out for an update of this coming soon).

My debut solo track was ‘Class A’ on Toolroom Traxx which featured for 5 consecutive weeks in a row on BBC Radio 1.

James: I’ve been DJ’ing for 15 years now,

Is ‘Bad Boy’ a change of direction for you guys, compared to some of your other production partnerships?

Yeah definitely, working with different people produces different results.

Studio talk - do you use external gear or is it Logic and plug-ins all the way?

Mark: It’s Logic and some tasty plug-ins all the way for us guys.  James loves his Cubase 4, though - it has some wicked EQs built in!

Do you have any advice for up and coming producers and do you find releasing tracks has increased your DJ bookings?

Things don’t come easy—you’ve got to have balls of steel and be prepared to put in lots of hard work.

Releasing tracks, I would say, does help get more bookings, you can’t just be a DJ anymore as they both go hand in hand. 

You can never be doing enough tracks so keep at it.

What does this summer have in store for the both of you?

Mark: Yeah I’m really busy. I have a new techno project I’m currently working on - there are 2 tracks finished ‘Technostomp & Ker Plunk’ with more on the way.

James and I have also done two new tracks ‘Jack The Ripper’ and ‘Panic Stations’, again with more on the way.

I’ve also worked on some new Ninja Cowboys material, a track called ‘Ear Whore’ that Martijn Ten Velden has been supporting since WMC Miami 08.

The Gig Diary is looking healthy as well.

James: I’ve got quite a few tracks and remixes coming out.

The Prok & Fitch stuff is in demand and we’ve got another release lined up on Stealth as well as remixes for Funkerman, Cevin Fisher’s classic ‘Burning Up’, Cube Guys… the list goes on! 

Our Floorplay label is also getting off to a new start! 

I’ve also got quite a few bits I’ve done with Filthy Rich that we’ve signed to various labels including Stealth, Big Love and a remix for Jaimy & Kenny D’s classic ‘Keep on Touching Me’.

Finally some projects on my own that I’m also signing off to various different labels… Busy busy!  Gig-wise quite a few festivals, lots of dates in Ibiza and too much driving!

Do you still do clubbing or is your partying mostly in the booth these days?

James: If I’m not havin’ it large in the booth I’ll most definitely be on the dancefloor cutting some shapes!

How hard is it to make your mark in arguably the clubbing capital of the world, London?

Mark: It’s very hard there are loads of up and coming DJs making their presence felt but after a lot of perseverance it’s paid off and we both now feature regularly on the London scene.

What’s your ‘raise the roof’ track - the one that gets the crowd losing there minds no matter what?

Mark: I have an edit of Daft Punks ‘Around the World’ that my good friend Kid Dub has produced it does the damage every time.

James: Sorry for the shameless plug, but for me it’d have to be ‘The New Wave’ - a track Prok & I did with Daley Padley.

No matter where or when I play it, it always causes floods of people to come up to the booth and ask what it is.

Which of the new wave of producers should we be looking out for?

Mark: Ed Kane/Kanio he’s on fire. D-Dub are doing great things too.

James: Daley Padley’s on fire, Filthy Rich is also evolving his sound really nicely, plus Patric le Funk can do no wrong.

Which one record do you wish you had produced?

Mark: 808 State ‘Cubik’ because it was that tune that made me fall in love with electronic music many years ago.

James: 3 Drives ‘Greece 2000’ - timeless and one of the best dance records ever made!

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• Check out 'Bad Boy' on Beatport