The mix master
As far as zany DJ aliases go, Mobin Master is right up there with Fatboy Slim or Mylo. The prospect of a chat with Master himself, however, raises a vexing issue -” does one refer to him as Mobin? Mr. Master?
Or does one try and use one’s investigative journalistic skills to discover the man’s hidden identity? Any such plans were deflated early in the Star’s chat with the Melbourne-based DJ.
It’s my real name. I think my parents had a plan for me, he laughed, acknowledging his ready-made DJ moniker.
Despite the lack of a mysterious alias, this mixer does have a touch of the superhero about him: by day, Master is a mild-mannered radiologist, and by night, a club-hopping DJ.
I’m a workaholic, I work seven days a week. Everyone wonders how I do it, but I work it out -“ I just have to be very organised, efficient and disciplined.
Master recently found time to mix one disc of the latest instalment in the Ministry Of Sound Housexy series, turning in a smooth set that encompasses a surprisingly wide array of genres -” everyone from indie band Kaiser Chiefs to UK grimester Wiley appear in the mix.
I think house music lends itself to a huge variety of styles, he said.
I wanted it to appeal to a broader audience, and not just be bleepy electronic music, which I really don’t have an interest in. I like electronica, but I like it to have some musical element to it.
Being the workaholic that he is, Master often knocks together bootleg remixes on top of his official, record company-sanctioned work. These bootlegs are testament to his wide taste in music -” even Katy Perry’s inescapable I Kissed A Girl gets the remix treatment.
Young girls of that late-teens age group are starting to experiment -” most of them have kissed a girl at one time or another -” and all boys have kissed a girl and I’m sure they like it, he said, before realising the nature of the publication he was talking to.
Well, most have.
Having worked as a DJ since the 1990s, Master has observed a lot of changes in the clubbing scene –” not all of them positive.
I think the younger generation going out nowadays is not as interested in the music itself, but rather the scene. The promoter/DJ entity has become so widespread, he said.
You don’t even have to be able to mix; you just have to go out there and party. I don’t think it’s as exciting. That’s why I always have three CDs going, and at larger gigs I always play my keytar so I can run out the front and play a few riffs to get the crowd going.
People like that more than a DJ standing up there looking like he’s checking his Facebook!
info: Housexy (Ministry Of Sound) out now. Mobin Master is touring the country in March and April. Visit mobinmaster.com for details.
