Ahead of his headline performance at Day One festival in Digbeth on New Year’s Day, Detroit house heavyweight MK tells us what to look forward to.
I saw in another interview you said that when you delved into working with huge artists you made the conscious decision to have a split personality.
It was a decision based on surviving in the worlds of RnB and dance – the two would just never meet back then, so it turned out to be a great survival tool.
Was that a difficult decision?
It wasn’t that difficult, in fact it seemed to be the ideal solution. I was able to be Marc Kinchen in the RnB world and MK in the house and electronic scene. It turned out to be the perfect balance and now thankfully, it does not matter.
I know you big up Kevin Saunderson as big role model. Is it cool to see the old school Detroit guy still rocking the dance floor?
That’s funny, I don’t think of it as bigging him up but I am very grateful that I was lucky enough to meet him at a time when he was one of the first professional and successful producers to help and support me with what I was trying to do. So any bigging him up, so to speak, is just me saying thanks. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he remains one of the innovators of the genre, so you can expect him to continue to rock out.
Tell us about your latest track with Lee Foss and Anabel Englund, how did you guys hook up?
It was strangely organic, Lee met her and I met her as well but that happened separately and we didn’t know that either one of us had met her. So when Lee told me he met the most fantastic vocalist, I told him so did I….it was Anabel…. small coincidences brought us together.
And with Carl Craig on remix duties, that must have been great to hear the finished product?
It was so incredible and great – Carl is a longtime friend of mine from Detroit, but he is great mates with Lee Foss and Jamie Jones as well. What a treat to get this incredible gift from him.
The name, Pleasure State, also has some impact. What was the ethos and inspiration behind the EP?
It relates so much to what we are about – making music brings us to the pleasure state. We all live in California which is the quintessential ‘pleasure state’ and there are a few more symbolic innuendos…
New Year’s Day will see you back in the UK, tell us about the show in Birmingham.
It should be a wild day, those folks in the midlands know how to have a good party and what a great way to kick off 2015!
What is it like performing in the midlands?
In some ways it’s like playing in Detroit, people are so into it, a little Detroit, a little Brum, throw in some mad summer memories… I love the midlands… now if only I could master that Brummie accent.
And resolutions, have you made any as of yet?
Yes, to finish the MK album, finish the Pleasure State record, get more sleep, and keep it coming from instinct. Happy holidays everyone, I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon.
MK is live at Day One festival in Digbeth on New Year’s Day. Tickets are priced at £30 advance and are available here.
