Irish techno producer Mark Greene has been putting out lean, destructive, and well-crafted club tracks on respected labels like Intec, Ballroom Black, and Silver M for several years now.
The early days of the pandemic also seen him launch a label of his own with DORCHA, where names such as Jovan Zehn, Wetworks, and Might Be Twins have released so far.
We caught up with Mark recently to talk about how his summer went, what he has in store for DORCHA in the coming months, and what advice he would give to anyone that is considering starting their own record label. Get the full discussion with Mark Greene below.
Hi Mark, we hope things are going good for you in Ireland at the moment, how has your week been so far?
Hi guys, yeah things are going great. It’s been a very busy week so far in regards to production and mixes but I’m not one to complain. I finished up a new EP and have been working on our next release for DORCHA.
Summer is sadly coming to an end now, what were some highlights for you over the past few months, both personally and professionally?
Yeah it was a great summer to be fair. Personally, I got to travel quite a bit, which is something I love doing and something I missed so much during the pandemic. It’s always great to get out and see new things and have new experiences around Ireland as opposed to going abroad.
Professionally it’s been full steam ahead! I’ve been producing non-stop and building my catalogue for the upcoming winter clubbing season. I used the summer months to try out new ideas and new techniques to evolve my sound and now I’m ready to show everyone what I have come up with.
Your music has previously come on labels like T-Minus, Yeodal Rave, and Level, which other imprints might we see you on in the near future?
I’ve not really released on other labels in a while as I’ve been trying to grow DORCHA, but we have a few new artists lined up for the label, which means I can go back to sending demos elsewhere (and showing a little patience). I’ve nothing lined up right now per se, but I do have an upcoming track featured on a VA for a new label in November.
A lot of labels seem to be embracing the faster sounds right now, so this opens up the possibility of releases on labels who were traditionally in the 128-130 bpm range. I’ve a few in mind I want to hit up. But I won’t jinx it by naming them.
And you of course have your own imprint with DORCHA, where Jovan Vehn, Might Be Twins, and Wetworks have released, who else will be joining the label soon?
Thankfully, DORCHA has gone from strength to strength since we launched 2 years ago. We put a massive amount of effort into promo campaigns and content. Most recently we had Spanish legend David Moleón release two tracks; Poison and MPC. Our next release comes from an incredible Irish producer called SJUSH, who is releasing a massive 4-track EP. He recently released on Techno Is The Devils Music, which caught our attention. We also have Alexg (IT), Rauhart, and potentially two other artists TBC.
What advice would you give to anyone that wants to launch their own label in 2022?
DO IT! DORCHA has given me so much freedom when it comes to releasing music. I can release what I want, when I want. Which is amazing as I’m not waiting months and months for a track to come out, which was always the case previously. But to answer your question. My advice would be, work closely with the artists and be as transparent as you possibly can.
In my early days of releasing music, I had some really poor experiences with labels; misspelling my name on artwork, tracks being released on random days with no notice or any sort of promo as well as zero royalties paid. With DORCHA we are in regular contact with each artist and we include them in all aspects of the release even down to the small blurbs on promo campaigns.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer our questions, is there anything else you want to mention before we wrap things up?
My pleasure Kyle, always great to chat with you. Nothing revolutionary to add, just looking forward to seeing people back dancing this autumn/winter, and be sure to check out our next release from SJUSH on October 21st.