His friends call him the “toasties king”. Who are we talking about?
Yes, him, Mark Sixma!
Upfront and straight to the point. Mark Sixma is a Dutch DJ/Producer who grew up in Breda and has spent his teenage years mastering the art of DJing. His first significant foray into trance music production saw him collaborating with Deft Tactical and at the same time, he released a “Project 6” EP at Five AM Records.
Due to his outstanding work, the release of his EP was later followed by another release titled “Destination 6” which received the “Tune of the Week” status on Armin Van Buuren‘s “A State Of Trance” (ASOT).
In addition, Mark has been on a tour globally as well as had played at some of the biggest music festival such as Ultra Music Festival, ASOT 700 and Electronic Family. In 2014, the incomparable DJ has released a train of remixes including an updated version of “Adagio For Strings” and “Shadow” along with Armin van Buuren’s “Save My Night”.
This is not the first but second time that Mark Sixma has dropped by Malaysia for a one-night-only gig. We managed to have a quick chit-chat with Mark before his show at Gravity Club KL.
Here’s what went down during the interview:
Hey Mark! It’s your 2nd feature show in Malaysia, are you excited to be back here?
Hello! Yeah, I’m very excited to be back here and I always love the crowd here in Malaysia. They go crazy every time I play here so it’s always very good to be back, especially here in KL.
It’s been almost a year since you last came, any unforgettable moments during your gig in Zouk KL?
I think it was when I played “Vendetta” for the first time, live. The reaction was really good and also my remix for “Falling Back”, I was playing it and everyone was singing along and when I turned down the volume, everyone was singing the lyrics so it was really good.
How were you brought into electronic dance music?
Well, let’s go back to where I started. When I was 12 years old me and my friends from high school, we had equipment and we started playing in our school parties and class parties. When I was about 16 years old, I went to a club and I heard a track from Ferry Corsten, “Out of the Blue” and suddenly it hit me that this is what I want to do. So I started buying vinyls at the record shop from Chester and that’s how I got into music. Those guys who were selling the vinyls are DJs from the local club and one day they invited me to come play at the club, so that’s how I got rolling in the dance music scene.
We know that 2014 has been a breakout year as you’ve released a number of remixes including an updated version of “Adagio For Strings”, “Shadow” as well as Armin van Burren’s “Save My Night”. So, do you have any plans to release a train of remixes as well for 2015?
Yeah yeah, I’m definitely going to release a lot more tracks in 2015, not only remixes. What I want to do now is to focus on vocal tracks by myself so that people will notice me not only the guy who does remixes but also produces original tracks.
Do you have any specific activities to trigger your inspiration?
Uhh, it can be very different things. Sometimes watching a movie and you get into a certain vibe. Sometimes it stems from listening to other music like classical music. It doesn’t have to be dance music. Usually when a new melody pops in my head, I’ll just go to my piano and start playing.
We’re impressed with your recent remix of “Another You” by Armin van Buuren feat Mr.Probz. Can you tell us more about it?
It all started when I finished a collab with Armin titled “Panta Rhei”, I was in the studio to finish the final version. He asked me like “Hey I’m working on a new track with Mr. Probz, it’s going be the first single from my new album, do you want to remix it?” And of course I said yeah! It’s a big honour to remix Armin’s music especially the first track from his new album. Also with Mr. Probz, a very big singer from Holland. So yeah, it was a big honour for me to remix it.
What are you working on currently? Any originals or album?
I can tell you who I’m working with, the things are not finished yet so it’s not set in stone. I’m working on a new collab with Andrew Rayel and I have a new original coming out probably in July. The new original is a trance track, a large theme, I think the people who are more into the trance-y kind of vibe would really like it.
Are there any hidden talents that your fans might not know of besides producing music?
I’m really good at making grilled cheese sandwiches. In Holland, we call them toasties and my friends would always call me the “toasties king”. My friends would come over to my house during school break time and I’ll bake for them.
I’d love to try them someday. So, what else is in the pipeline for 2015?
Just a lot of big festivals coming up. I’m most likely to play in TomorrowWorld, some other big festival in US, Creamfields in Europe, and lots of gigs coming up including a gig with Armin as well as working on a new US tour. I’m really happy and looking forward to those and those tracks that I mentioned which will be released soon. What’s coming up soon is a mix compilation for ASOT 2015 where 6 artistes did a mix and I was one of the artistes, and it’s coming out really soon. Also I’ll be releasing an unreleased track that I produced 3 years ago and people have been asking for it – its called “Connected”.
Lastly, how would you describe your first “A State of Trance” gig?
The first one was few years ago I guess. I’m not only playing for people who are there but also for people who are listening to the stream, so in the beginning I was a little bit nervous but as soon as I started playing my tracks, I saw the comments later on Twitter about how much they enjoyed it, it really makes me happy.
Awesome! Thank you Mark!
Thank you!
We had a good time interviewing Mark Sixma so shout out to our friends at Gravity Club for arranging interview session for us 😉
Till then, enjoy Mark’s remix of “Another You” by Armin van Burren featuring Mr. Probz:
Keep updated with Mark Sixma via these platforms: Website, Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram.
