Mark Devlin
TALES FROM THE FLIPSIDE
Exploding the myth of the DJ lifestyle.
They say DJs are the new pop stars. It may be true of the elite, the chosen few at the top of the tree. It’s private jets, hotel suites, champagne, fame and fortune all the way. But for every Paul Oakenfold or Fatboy Slim, there are thousands of regular, unfamiliar DJs grafting away, and the reality of their daily situations can be very different!
In this honest, witty, and no-holds-barred expose into the darker side of the nightlife world, Mark Devlin gives an insider’s account of the problems, challenges, and just plain bizarre situations the average ‘league two’ DJ has to face. This is the untold and unseen side of DJ lifestyles, and the truth is often very different to the common perception!
APPRECIATION FOR ‘TALES FROM THE FLIPSIDE’ “I read it all and really enjoyed it. An extremely eloquent and well thought-out insight into the daily life of a DJ.”
Judge Jules, BBC Radio One DJ “
Well written and anecdotally funny and droll. A sort of cross between ‘Catcher In The Rye’ and the DJ's Handbook.”
Bob Killbourn, Editor, Blues & Soul Magazine.
“This sh*t's hilarious. Big up Mark for telling it as it really is!”
Tim Westwood, BBC Radio 1 DJ.
Mark Devlin works as a club/ radio DJ and music journalist, specialising in R&B, hip hop and reggae.
As a DJ, he has played in over 25 countries. As a writer, he has edited various trade magazines, contributed to Mixmag, Muzik and Touch, and currently edits the Clubhoppin’ section of Blues & Soul magazine.
From his early days in background production for Fox FM in Oxford, (where he won a Sony Radio Award, the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, for his work on a station promo,) Mark’s big radio break was on Galaxy 101 in Bristol, where he presented the flagship Friday night urban show for two and a half years.
From there, he moved on to Oxygen 107.9 in Oxford, where he presented two weekly shows with MC and co-host Kid Fury.
Club-wise, Mark’s early residency at The Park End Club in Oxford paved the way for DJ work throughout the rest of the UK, including The Southport Weekender and the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.
More recently, he has branched out internationally, spinning everywhere from Maputo to Melbourne, and quite a lot of spots in between. The resulting Diary blog on his website has come to rival any international travel magazine.
In addition to the DJing, Mark has drawn on his background as a magazine editor, and since 1998, has edited the Clubhoppin’ section of Blues & Soul, the UK’s market-leading urban music magazine, as well as contributing to other titles.
2007 sees MD returning to the radio waves with a new weekly show, ‘Just Buggin’, on Oxford’s 107.9FM. It also sees him adding author to his growing list of job titles.
TALES FROM THE FLIPSIDE
Exploding the myths of the superstar DJ lifestyle.
Being a DJ is the best job in the world. In what other profession do you get paid well for doing what you genuinely love? What other job allows you to indulge your love of travel – with somebody else footing the bill? You get fame, profile, fans, even groupies. You get offered free drugs and free sex. You get to meet and entertain thousands of people you’ve never met before. You get to see your name on flyers, posters and billboards all over the world.
Not only that, but is there any other way to make a living where drinking on the job is not only allowed, it’s virtually mandatory? Plus you can smoke. Plus you can wear what you want. With the possible exception of being a pop star or a sporting hero, does ‘working’ really get any better than this? ** So far so good.
But there’s a flipside.
A general rule of life seems to be that there’s always a price to pay. Besides, if being a DJ was that easy, everyone would be doing it, right?
From playing smoke-filled ghetto spots with only one turntable, to forcibly frogmarching promoters to the nearest cashpoint as your only apparent means of getting paid, the DJing world is never without a story or two to tell. It’s not your average business, and it’s certainly not for everyone. One thing’s for sure, though. Life as a DJ is never dull.
** (Actually, having written that, I’ve just been reminded of a little-known fact told to me by Rob Pascoe of Mercury Records. Apparently, there are men in Guam, in the Northern Mariana Islands, whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege. Seemingly under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry. It wouldn’t be right to talk about great jobs without giving this at least a mention!)
