Hello Philthadelphians. I had a moment to pull Gair Marking away from his duties to set aside afew minutes to talk with me about a really amazing party that he has been throwing for over the past year or so. If you havent heard of Gair, he goes by another moniker “Dev79” a musical project he’s been producing ever since I have known him ( and we are talking since the late 1990’s ). Gair is also a reputable writer for Philly’s City Paper and maintains their DJ nights section.
Paul Thorson: Gair, as you have a complex and diverse taste for everything aural.. Who are some of your favorite producers out there today?
Gair Marking:Ahhh geez theres soooo many – Mr. Mitch, Knight Riderz, Starkey, 12 Hunna, DS1, King, Sines, Moony, Mumdance, Slick Shoota and I could go on forever ha.
PT: You are a promoter, a musician and an entrepreneur. What title do you like to identify yourself with and why?
GM: Thats a really tough one, if I only identified with one title I would only concern myself with one path. I guess overall I consider myself an artist, but I’ve always had interests and saavy in business and marketing aspects. Initially I think I gravitated towards handling business stuff because I’d experience so many dumb people handling shit poorly and it was frustrating as I knew I could take the reigns. If I could produce tracks and DJ without having to worry about any business stuff, that would be the dream, but I’m cool with holding multiple hats as it keeps me motivated and diverse.
PT: What is your label’s vision and what genres do you focus on?
GM:We have two labels, Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey Records. They both have similar but there are unique aspects to each imprint and slightly different focuses. Slit Jockey primarily focuses on grime, dubstep and UK garage based sounds; while Seclusiasis has a somewhat broader approach to bass music and electronic music at large. The main vision that we push is our ‘street bass’ style which meshes both electronic and grime influences with rap and other urban musics. Blending urban and electronic musics is one of the flavor’s of the moment currently, although we’ve been championing ‘street bass’ for 7+ years.
PT: Ever since I got involved in the music scene back in the early 2000’s I have seen countless flyers and seen your performances in Philadelphia. Please tell us about your own musical evolution and where you stand today with your label.
GM: Well, all artists evolve and develop with various aspects shaping who you are and what your output consists of. I would say that bringing hip hop and dancehall reggae influences to electronic music was always at the heart of what I was doing. In my earlier years at Dev79, my music was much more left field and experimental. At some point I decided that I was more inclined to making and spinning tracks that were a bit more dancey and accessible but yet still maintaining a forward thinking outlook and edgy sound pallette.
PT: “Let Your Body Take Control” has been going on for awhile and has seen multiple venues. Sound Garden Hall is definitely a larger venue in comparison to the previous locations. Tell our readers about the evolution of this particular event. Where you see this going in 2013?
GM:The “Let Your Body Take Control” series has been bouncing around for a handful of years now, and really has been one of my personal favorites amongst the various party series I’ve thrown. The last LYBTC (with Elijah Butterz headlining) I did this past spring in conjuction with Actual Records and we had a blast. The past few months Actual Recs has been working with Soundgarden Hall and they extended the offer to bring the party there. I was hype to get on board as Soundgarden has a sick soundsystem and lighting rig. And as it looks now, LYBTC should be occurring with some regularity at Soundgarden in ’13. With “EDM” and the party scene in such a heavy limelight right now, I’m excited to curate events that showcase artists and music which are blazing new grounds, yet are fully rave ready!
PT: Let Your Body Take Control is going down on January 11th @ Soundgarden Hall. This party is definitely going to be THE JUMP OFF.
