Hanging With Tony Soprano

Mark Ronson has had a decent streak of good luck. He claims he didn’t mean to make an album that turned hip hop into mainstream-friendly music. Nor did he anticipate that Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen would go on to sell millions of records. Oh, and he didn’t mean to collect three Grammys along the way either. This all happened, but in Mark’s world, it certainly wasn’t planned that way.

“My earliest memories were of being around my parents listening to music. And then waking up in the middle of the night to listen to music and pretend to play drums. So I got a mini drum kit and played and played them and that sort of got me into hip hop when I was about 17.”

A musical upbringing didn't hurt, given he wasn't classically trained in the strictest sense of the word. Perhaps being astute is more an apt description for the music legend.
“So from there, I started learning to DJ and playing on the radio. I made a name for myself playing in clubs in NYC and I was getting into production and because I was a DJ in those clubs guys like Q-Tip, Puffy and Mos Def - guys like that were around and my first production projects sort of went from there. I got my first deal with Elektra, then there was a song with Ghostface and the big break happened about five years ago when I did the record for Amy Winehouse.”

It was those kaleidoscopic talents that have ensured Ronson's continued success. He isn't a one genre DJ, nor is he confined to one small space within the production business.
“I was definitely always into hip hop - that was what always made me want to produce beats. Even on my first record I was lucky to have ?uestlove from The Roots play drums, so by the time I met Amy I was really ready to produce a bit of a band type setup. They were a bunch of guys who were into funk and soul but grew up on Wu-Tang. So the five or six tracks I did on Amy's record, I always wanted to make it sound like the RZA would sample it if he heard it - I've always wanted to keep the sound dusty, if you know what I mean?”

Yet has all of this success created the ongoing pressure to succeed? Or merely the desire?
“Well, there is kind of that pressure in a way, so there is a bit of me that says that success affords you a bit of freedom and you think that people might hesitate like; the whole point with record selection is to make something new. Music that is equally rooted in hip hop and stuff. Between the stuff I did on Virgin, with Daniel (Merriweather) and Amy; I really got comfortable with a soulful sound so discovering the sound of the 80s sounds and synthesisers and working with Duran Duran, it made it easier for sure.”

No minor feat, producing the great Duran Duran for what was their 13th studio effort. Then there was his own album - ‘Record Collection’ - along with everything else that is on his somewhat prolific agenda.
“The past year was really spent working on record selection and then finishing the Duran Duran album which will be out at the end of the end of year. They were one of my favourite bands as a kid and it was a mission to return them to what made them so great.  Then I also finished the album for the Punk Lips which is a band that I really like; and then another side project with a few guys that conceptually I want to align with some 60s stuff; that will be interesting too.”
So there is no letting up for the busiest man in electronic music right now. And for Mark, the accolades and the attention are a gentle reminder that he is in the right place at the right time - now.

His cavalier approach to his success makes it all the more refreshing: “I mean the thing is that at the end of the day I'm just a producer. More so than as an artist; if you're a producer, people respect the fact that you can have your own idea, so it has been really cool to make records with Spank Rock and Boy George. All these collaborations are great because they've got my name on the front of it. And the other thing I'm happy about is that I've made a conscious effort to make something new and I know I didn't really fuck it up.
“There are guys hung up on a formula to make hit records, I'm not really into that - I go my own way and if it turns out well, then that's great. I don't really know what I like to do even; I know music isn't going to last forever so I'm really going to take each opportunity that turns up. When it's time to do nothing I just go and hang out with my dog or watch Sopranos and hang out with my girlfriend.”

Simple things for simple minds as they say. But the freight train that is Mark Ronson's brilliant musical mind is actually more like a refined Swiss watch. There is no heaving, thundering attitude that goes with all of that talent, that success.
“Man, I'm just excited about getting out there with the whole band. It's going to be a real show; that's what we do when we play live, we play stuff from all over. It's a combination of a bit of a revue, you've got all these vocalists and it's a real band. It's seven people on stage and everyone switches around. I love this band and we had a great time playing in Australia last time and this time will be no different.” It's the summer people; get those party shoes on!

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. perform at Future Music Festival, at Doomben Racecourse, Saturday March 5. futuremusicfestival.com.au