MARK RONSON | R.O.A.D.

Welcome to the R.O.A.D. Podcast. The show that gives you unfiltered opinions from the eyes and ears of 3 seasoned DJ’s from the Las Vegas and New York nightclub industry.
On this week’s episode of the @RoadPodcast, the fellas welcome Grammy and Oscar-winning producer and DJ Mark Ronson (@IAmMarkRonson). Mark reflects on his journey, starting with his first DJ names "Mark the Spark" and "DJ Old English" (01:34), shares how he got his first gig through @BillSpector (06:24), and admits he was a better DJ before @Serato was released (22:10). He acknowledges his mixed feelings about playing his own music (35:20), talks about his hit “Ooh Wee” (46:30), and discusses his first album "flopping" (51:35). Mark also delves into his influential production work with @LilyAllen (58:00), creating magic with @AmyWinehouse on their hit “You Know I'm No Good” (1:05:20), and collaborating with @BrunoMars on “Locked Out of Heaven” (1:24:02). Finally, he speaks on taking part in major performances at the #Superbowl and #Oscars (1:30:40) and his documentary series Watch The Sound (1:37:01).
HOSTED BY:
@djcrooked
@djneva
@jaimedagreat
@djgoldfingernyc
This episode is sponsored by @SoundCollectiveNYC, an industry-leading music school, musical space and community located in downtown Manhattan for aspiring DJ’s, Producers, Musicians and more. Take private Ableton lessons, practice DJ routines, experiment with different audio equipment and reserve studio spaces for just the day, maybe a week or sign up for their monthly membership. Check www.soundcollective.com for more info and try their Online Classes free for a month by entering the code “ROAD”. If you’re in the New York area, visit them at 28 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 and tell them the Road Podcast sent you!
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[@DjMbezzle]

I LOOOOOOVE hearing someone as legendary as him talking for two hours straight about how at every step of his path he thought it was over and felt like a failure. That hits home lol.

[@SunnyLicious]

What a great episode!

[@djrincon]

Great episode 10/10.

[@Crump1980]

Excellent episode and yet another mention of FLEX!. It can't be long before we get the Funkmaster on ROAD??

[@MrGruv1]

Thank you for the fantastic Mark Ronsom interview. Enjoyed the whole show. Totally music nerd out... Cheers

[@DJ-Justo]

Only party I promoted other then my own was one of his parties at the canal room early 2000’s. I can live with that lol

[@clandry138]

The ROAD podcast strikes again!

[@radientproductions9799]

legendary episode :)

[@vicrornavarro2013]

Legend

[@JohnDoe-vb4ps]

👍👍

[@joedriver2588]

To set the record straight, at 39:22 "Such a New York DJ wanting to do a 5 hours set". I don't know who this Dj Crooked is. I never heard of the guy before, but DJing a 5 hour set wasn't created in New York. Growing up in LA it was standard practice for most resident DJ's. I started djing in 83' and through the 80's, 90's, and even up till the EDM era started, most resident DJ's out in LA opened and closed the club. This guy talks as though New York was the center of the world. The reality is that there has always been simultaneous movements happening of the same kind throughout the world. And to say bring in a record on the one is some kind of thing that Mark invented is preposterous. I was doing that from the time I started DJing. That's how you excite the crowd and get the people screaming. I remember there were some DJ's who would clown on me for my DJ style, but the reality is that it worked. All these DJ's who think beat matching is where it's at are clowns. A.M. had skills, but all that scratching he did was irritating to the people trying to dance. The ladies want to hear the song. They don't want to hear some DJ scratching in and out. Mark is a great DJ because he understands how to play to what the ladies want. That is the key to being a great DJ. Just play to the ladies. As far as this Dj Crooked saying that "The Arc" is some kind of way of DJing that was created in New York is another preposterous statement. I started DJing in 83". By the time I secured my first full time residency in 84" I always played with an ARC. The crazy thing about the ARC is that it's actually not the best way to DJ for the club making the most money. As a DJ my thinking was very different than it is now as a club owner. As a club owner one hears thing from customers that one doesn't hear as a DJ. What I learned as a club owner is that if you play the hits early, the people come earlier to the club. As a result the club makes more money because people are at the club a longer period of time. Also, most people don't mind hearing there favorite tunes more than one time. So this whole thing about the warmup DJ not playing any records that the guest DJ would play is just flat bad thinking. No the warmup DJ shouldn't play any tunes that the gust DJ would play right before the guest DJ starts his/her set, but not playing any of the same records is actually bad business. What matters a lot in the early part of the evening is the volume level. The DJ should be playing at a level 9 when it's not a full house yet, but not playing the tunes people want to hear early simply because the main act might play some of those records is preposterous. There's a few things that are bad for business, and one of them is some DJ playing unpopular and/or not popular tunes and boring the hell out of people while they are waiting for the main act. As a matter of fact, the warmup DJ should play the most popular tunes, the tunes that to most DJ's are played out. What a high percentage of DJ's don't get, is that most people, especially the ladies, don't sit there and think that the DJ is bad because he's playing tunes that are 6 months, a year, or even 2 years old. A high percentage of DJ's are too busy thinking about what other DJ's might think of them. Mark is a great example of a DJ who did his thing regardless of what other DJ's were saying about him. All too often I hear DJ's cramming the newest tunes down peoples ears and the crowd looks bored to tears. As an open format DJ, you are doing a disservice to the club by not playing to the ladies.

[@pizzeo]

That sounds like a very LA way of thinking specific to LA nightlife. NYC and LA nightlife are two different things. This podcast is literally 3 NY DJ's talking about their NY DJ styles. I have lived and DJ'd in both cities (also simultaneously for a few years) and NY DJing is way different than LA DJing. if you do a 5 hour set in LA that means you are DJing from 9pm til 2am unless its a day party in which case the vibe is completely different. in LA clubs peak time is 12:30-1:30. In NYC clubs peak time is 12:30 until 4am sometimes later depending what part of town you're in or which club you're playing. When Mark was really cooking those 12-5am sets were all PEAK TIME SETS. you can't just glance over that fact trying to make whatever point you were trying to make. You might not know Crooked or have heard him DJ but he's been one of the best in the business for a solid 3 decades. He knows what he's talking about. As far as the arc is concerned. There is no ARC in LA. you literally don't have the time. Which is why AM was so successful in LA quickmixing bangers for an hour and a half. Las Vegas / Miami and NYC are the cities in the USA with the best nightlife mostly because those are the cities that you can stay out past 2 or 3am. therefore DJ those same hours...

[@PDot]

Sir, as a Los Angeles born and raised DJ I just need to say... BRO LOLWUT

[@joedriver2588]

​@@pizzeo Thinking there is no ARC in LA shows that you are not a good DJ. There is an ARC in every club if the DJ creates one. It just happens at different times of the evening. I thought just like you until I became a club owner. When you are the owner, not a DJ or a promoter, you think very differently. My clubs have an arc because I teach my DJ's how to make it happen. I never use DJ's with much experience because all you guys who have been at it for awhile let their egos get in the way from being taught a new way of thinking. What you fail to recognize is that DJ's like AM had a following because it was a scene. He was part of the in Hollywood crowd. I'm not saying he didn't have mad skills, what I'm saying is that all the scratching did nothing for anyone but other DJ's. Dropping records on the 1 is not a NY thing. I was doing it from the time I started. It's funny though because there would be these DJ's from NYC who would come to LA and I would always win the job over them because I knew how to move the crowd. I wasn't up there trying to see how smooth I could beat match. They were always trying to impress with there mixing skills. It never worked unless it was an underground House crowd. I didn't read your diatribe completely, but I assume your comment about how he's been at it for 3 decades, I assume you were talking about Mark. Go back read what I said about Mark. My point was not about that there weren't good DJ's put of NY. Off course there has been many. My point was about the Asian dude saying that dropping a record on the 1 was a NY thing. What a ridiculous statement that was. There has always been DJ's who have that style from all over the world. I was doing that before I ever heard any other DJ do that. That doesn't mean that there weren't other DJ's doing that in LA before me. I did it because I was always trying to invoke excitement from the crowd. We played records like Strafe - Set It off, Mantronix - Who Is It, MARS - Pump Up The Volume in LA too. We all got the same records in the record pools and at the local record stores. I remember playing those records in LA and DJ's from NY coming up to me to ask the names of the records. People like to say those were NY records. That's laughable. What makes a record a NY record, that it was pressed in NY. Lol. There are many records from artists based out of NY that broke in LA. My point is that this whole NY Vs. La is a small minded man's way of thinking. It's quite ignorant.

[@joedriver2588]

@@PDot I see you are LA educated. Can you use whole sentences? I don't understand what you are attempting to convey. I assume you are an uneducated youngster using this type of vernacular. You obviously don't know your history.

[@reskepa7028]

RIP NEVA

[@crowdmotivator9252]

anyone have links for ronson mixes?

[@seansines]

Check his essential mix. Came out when he was on the versions wave. It’s a classic