Marc Mac

Mark Anthony Clair, known as Marc Mac, is a British DJ, broadcaster, producer, promoter and label owner in the UK electronic dance music scene who was influential in shaping dance music of the 1990s.^[1][2] Mac was instrumental in creating several new genres of music including hardcore breakbeat,^[3] UK hardcore, darkcore, jungle, drum and bass, downtempo, broken beat and nu jazz.^[4][5][6][7] He is one half of the group 4hero, founded in partnership with collaborator Dego (Dennis McFarlane), and a co-founder of Reinforced Records.^[8][9][2] Mac's other solo projects include The Visioneers (jazz/hip-hop), Nu Era (techno), and Nature's Plan (Afro-Latin).^[10]

Marc Mac
Mac in 2014
Background information
Born	London, England
Genres	EDM Jungle Drum and bass
Occupations	DJ Record producer
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Reinforced Talkin' Loud
Member of	4hero
Website	marc4hero.bandcamp.com

Early life

Marc Mac was born and raised in London and attended school in Harlesden.^[11] His family emigrated to England from Jamaica and are part of the Windrush generation Caribbean-British legacy.^[12] His parents were active in the community creating programming to support and advocate for local youth and their families. His family was instrumental in founding the Black Parents Movement and Black Cultural Archives in collaboration with other community members.^[13]

Among the works Mac and his siblings grew up listening to were those by Bob Marley, Johnny Clarke, Two Sevens Clash, Elvis Presley, Elton John, and the gospel records of Jim Reeves;^[11] while visiting family in the United States, he would listen to underground music from Detroit and Chicago, the early hip-hop of New York City and works by Big Daddy Kane, and works by Roxanne Shanté, Public Enemy, Zulu Nation, and the label Cold Chillin.^[14][11]

Because we're living in a country where – people don't like to say it – there is institutional racism. When we signed to a major label, when you're going global, it's going to be harder for us, with our faces on the cover of magazines. We always wanted to be faceless because we had that knowledge. All the early records on Reinforced were faceless; people didn't know we were Black until we turned up at the rave. We're driving through parts of England and people are maybe seeing Black people for the first time. We were always aware that showing our face might be problematic. That's how it was – it's not like we've gone past it, we're having similar problems but in a different way.

Marc Mac speaking with Kwame Safo in October of 2020 about the origins of Jungle music^[1]

Mac's early works were "faceless" in an effort to circumvent institutional racism.^[1] Following in the foosteps of his family and Harlesden community context, Mac steeped his musical practice in anti-oppression practices advocating for equal rights and the protection and continuation of Black cultural legacies.^[15][16][17] His productions pay tribute to past musical greats, Black visionaries from the Civil Rights movement, Black Panthers, Afrofuturists, and the early days of hip-hop, electro, folk and jazz.^[18]

Sound engineering and music production

Sound systems

Mac started his career in music in sound system culture. Around 1985 or 1986 he and his friends created sound systems called Solar Zone and Midnight Lovers. His family's involvement in organising the local anti-oppression community afforded him the opportunity to practice and play in the professional context of a large concert hall in Alperton near Wembley.^[11][19] Solar Zone eventually gathered enough of a fan base to sell tickets and perform in blues clubs (then-illegal clubs, often found in suburban neighbourhoods). Like the Jamaican sound engineer/producer King Tubby, Mac experiments with aspects of DIY sound production.^[20][21][22] Experiments with building speakers led him to create fully fledged mobile sound system rigs for radio and carnivals.^[11]

Pirate radio

In 1989, before 4hero and Reinforced Records had started, Mac and Dego founded a pirate radio station called Strong Island Radio,^[23] based in Dollis Hill where they attended college.^[24] Its name came from the station with the same name broadcast from Long Island, New York. Mac and Iain Bardouille also played on the Girls FM station in the midnight slot.^[25]

Reinforced Records

In 1989, Mac and Gus Lawrence founded Reinforced Records,^[25][26] which featured a diverse selection of sounds including breakbeat hardcore, jungle, drum & bass, and a roster including Goldie, Doc Scott, DJ Randall, Nookie, Tek9, Grooverider, Kemistry & Storm, Wings (aka Roni Size, Krust and Die), A Guy Called Gerald, Peshay, J Majik, Photek, 4hero, Manix and Tom & Jerry.^[27][28] Reinforced Records has supported new musical genres and emerging artists, pioneering the sounds of 90's British dance music scene through mentorship, networking opportunities, collaboration and music production.^[29] The Dollis Hill studio that Mac and his Reinforced Records collaborators established had an atmosphere and function similar in spirit to the community centres that they frequented as youth.^[30]

4hero

Main article: 4hero

In 1989, Mac, Dego, Iain Bardouille, and Reinforced co-founder Gus Lawrence founded a rotating musical collective called 4hero, which later included only Mac and Dego.^[24] 4hero's sound experimentations resulted in pioneering new music genres in the UK rave scene including jungle, drum 'n' bass, breakbeat hardcore, broken beat and nu jazz.^[24][31][32]

The earliest 4hero releases were produced by Mac and Gus Lawrence. As 4hero developed, Mac invited Dego and Iain to join the production collective for the album "In Rough Territory". The earliest 4hero productions were influenced by heavy sub bass, bleeps, Detroit sounds and UK hip hop, and their first album included rap.^[33] The collective spent its early years playing soul, boogie, electro, house, and 2-step soul.^[34]

Mac and Dego met the Phildelphia-based American producer and DJ King Britt who was visiting London in 1989 and was working as a buyer for Tower Records. Britt arranged to meet the group in 4hero's Dollis Hill studio, and was also introduced to Goldie, who happened to visit the studio at the same time.^[29] Britt and Mac later collaborated on several musical productions. Britt separately interviewed Mac and Goldie for Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music, a course at the University of California, San Diego. The Blacktronika archive is a freely available audio-visual resource honouring and preserving the legacies of electronic music creators of colour.^[35]

In 2010, Annie Mac, an Irish presenter and DJ, called 4hero "iconic producers of UK dance and electronic soul", and listed their remix of Nuyorican Soul: I Am the Black Gold of the Sun in her top ten electronic music tracks of all time.^[36] In 2011, music journalist Richard Vine listed the same single among "50 key events in the history of dance music".^[37] In 2023, 4hero (Mac and Dego) remixed "Lost" by Ada Morghe, an award-winning German composer, who referred to 4hero as "pioneers of drum 'n Bass".^[38]

Collaborations

In 1989, through their work as Reinforced Records, Mac and Dego were introduced to Goldie by his partner DJ Kemistry at the dance music club, Astoria.^[39] Goldie was first involved at Reinforced Records as A&R staff, then later started collaborating with the duo in their studio.^[40][41]

In 2002, Mac, in partnership with Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick of the acid jazz band, Incognito, produced and arranged Speak Your Peace by Terry Callier.^[42]

Mac has multiple independent projects and collaborations exploring a variety of musical genres outside of the group 4hero including Brazilika, Visioneers, and All Power to the People.^[43][10]

Discography

Albums (listed most recent to older):

• Marc Mac presents Visioneers – Def Radio - Omniverse - 2024 (6 versions)
• The Invisible Soldiers - Omniverse Recordings - 2020 (2 versions)
• Blue Tape Instrumentals - Omniverse - 2019 - (LP, Album, Ltd, Mixed)
• Red Tape Instrumentals - Omniverse - 2019 (LP, Album, Limited Edition, Mixed)
• All Power To The People - Omnniverse - 2019 (LP, Ltd)
• Generation-X - Omniverse - 2016 (LP, Album, Ltd)
• Extend The Knowledge - Omniverse - 2016 (LP, Album, Ltd, Marble Black/Grey)
• Message From Soulville - Omniverse - 2013 (2 versions)
• T.R.A.C. Prodcued by Marc Mac - The Network - BBE - 2011 (15×File, MP3, 320 kbps)
• Beats From The Network (BFTN) - Omniverse - 2009 - (15×File, MP3, 320 kbps)
• It`s Right To Be Civil - Omniverse - 2006 (3 versions)
• Marc Mac Presents Visioneers - Dirty Old Hip Hop - BBE - 2006 (5 versions)
• How About A Game of Chess? - ABB Soul - 2005 (3 versions)

Singles and EPs

• Ike's Mood I - Omniverse Recordings - (7", Single, Ltd)
• Ja-Pan-Ah - Omniverse Recordings - 2023 (12", EP)
• Br-Azil-Ah EP - Omniverse - 2022 (12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP)
• Ja-Maye-Ka EP - Omniverse - 2021 (12", EP)
• Ah-Free-Ka EP - Co-operation Recordings - 2019 (2 versions)
• Marc Mac Presents Visioneers - Apache / Shaft in Africa (Addis) - BBe - 2011 (7", Ltd)
• Marc Mac presents Visioneers - Dirty Old Remix EP - BBE - 2007 (12", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP)
• Headspin - Twisted Funk - 2007 (12")
• Dilinja / Marc Mac Dominator (remix) Untitled - Not On Label - 2003 (Acetate, 10")
• Mark Mac* + Swift* – Shadow Boxin / Feels Good - Integral Recordings - 1997 ( 2 versions)

Compilations

• The Power Tapes (Expanded) - Omniverse - 2020 - (3 versions)
• Vintage Bruk - Omniverse - 2019 (9×File, FLAC, Album, Comp, Stereo)
• Extend The Knowledge / It`s Right To Be Civil - Omniverse - 2011 (2×CD, Comp, Ltd)

DJ Mixes

• Forgotten Treasures Mix #13 - MusicIsMySanctuary.com - 2013 (File, MP3, Mixed, 320)
• Hipology - 101 Apparel - 2012 (2 versions)
• 4hero / Marc Mac – Brazilika (An Eclectic Brazilian DJ-Mix From Marc Mac) - Far Out Recordings - 2006 (CD, Mixed)