To go from playing your own tiny basement parties to hosting a headline UK club tour in the space of a year is the stuff DJs’ dreams are made of. To do it with a backstory of chips-are-down grit and determination is the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters.
Make that a Manchester movie with a soundtrack of bass-heavy tech; one that smacks of the city’s party heritage from the Haçienda to The Warehouse Project via Sankeys. One wherein our two protagonists, Mark (MRK-1, veteran producer instrumental in building grime and dubstep’s foundations) and James (house connoisseur and longstanding Manchester scene head), put every penny into their Solardo project and end up releasing music on the likes of Hot Creations, Of Unsound Mind, ViVA, Snatch, Toolroom, Lost and MTA, are played by everyone from Jackmaster to Skream to Annie Mac to Jamie Jones, and host their own series of sold-out events – all within the space of a year.
“I was down to my last £100,” says Mark. “James sold his house and put money into a studio so he could make music his main focus. We both had to make it happen.” Both in their 30s, they locked themselves away for six months, doing 12–16 hour days and refining what’s now become their low end-heavy, jacking, rough soul sound. They wrote 35 tunes, all signed within a month thanks, in part, to a very old-school technique.
“Parties,” grins Mark, whose racous sets often see him and James sharing their rider with the crowd. “We were out all the time, supporting the scene, making friends. We hosted parties and invited DJs we wanted to work with. We’d party and afterparty with them, making connections. It’s a community vibe that I haven’t experienced since FWD at Plastic People: like-minded people meeting up and playing the music they love. It’s not just nights out, it’s about having experiences.”
It’s also about a near-sold-out UK tour climaxing with a home game at Manchester Albert Hall and EPs due on Green Velvet’s Relief Records and Hot Creations, 12 months after their first basement party, 18 months after their first release. The sequel to this Manchester blockbuster could well be bigger than the original.
