Wall of Sound Founder Mark Jones on Acid House, Buddhism and Grace Jones

From boy band pin-up to Shoom legend and X-Factor reject: Mark Jones is one of a kind

To call Mark Jones a force of nature would be a cataclysmic understatement. He arrives in PHOENIX HQ like a pink-clad tsunami, zipping unbidden from room to room, performing schoolyard handshakes and making jokes before I’m finally able to herd him into a seat.

Crate-diggers will be familiar with the name – in 1994 Jones founded Wall of Sound and turned the music industry on its head. From synth wizards The Human League to the full-throated wonders of Grace Jones and quite literally everything in between, his London-based label had them all.

But it’s not just a genre-defining music brand Jones has to his name. Long before establishing himself as a pioneering independent label owner, he flittered between stints in the teen boy band Perfect Day, as well as being a major player in Britain’s biggest youth revolution in recent decades – acid house. We were obviously not going to be short of things to talk about.

We had girls sleeping on my mum and dad’s lawn…We definitely weren’t one of those manufactured boy bands.

Let’s start from the beginning. You were in a boy band during the 80’s – Perfect Day. You even graced the cover of Just 17. What was all that like?
Well, we had girls sleeping on my mum and dad’s lawn, it was crazy. We were signed to London Records, had four singles out in the charts and we wrote all our own songs. We definitely weren’t one of those manufactured boy bands.

And before that you were involved with formative acid house club, Shoom?
I worked on the visuals for lots of early acid house clubs, including Shoom in London. It was around the same time all the Perfect Day stuff was going on so it was difficult because those two elements didn’t really mix. I remember one day everybody randomly wore Perfect Day t-shirts to a Shoom night. They were all off their heads shouting ‘Yeah! It’s a perfect day!’ and they had no idea I was in the band.

It’s been 11 years, 8 months, 22 days, 6 hours and 22 minutes since I touched drugs or alcohol. Not that I’m counting.

What’s your take on contemporary clubbing?
It was better back in the day. People were just on the dance floor having fun. Nowadays it’s so different. But I don’t really go out clubbing as much as I used to because it’s been 11 years, 8 months, 22 days, 6 hours and 19 minutes since I touched drugs or alcohol. Not that I’m counting.

Has sobriety changed you?
It’s brought other parts of my mind and body to life. The early days were just too crazy. I once won Caner of the Year at the MUZIK awards, stealing the title off Brandon Block. After that happened I remember thinking: where do I go from here? Then I discovered SGI.

What’s SGI?
Soka Gakkai International is a Buddhist organisation. Someone first mentioned it to me back in the wild days. Once I packed in all the other stuff I was searching for a different path. Buddhism showed me the way. It’s all about connecting to your inner self. Changing things and helping people.

They say never work with your heroes, but I thought fuck that.

After Shoom came the scene-defining label Wall of Sound. How did that come about?
It all started with this mix we threw together in 1994. At the time, certain music had gotten diluted and didn’t have much meaning. The mix featured everything, genre-wise. After its release, lazy journalists who didn’t know what to call it invented the term big beat. They just wanted to put things into a box. But it wasn’t ‘big beat’ – it was just new music. Anyway, it all started from that mix.

What’s the label been up to recently?
Someone’s trying to make a documentary about the label’s history.

What three artists should we be listening to right now?
Denis the Night and the Panic Party. Lisbon Kid. Killaflaw.

Have there been any specific points in your career that felt monumental?
Finding and signing great artists like Propellerheads and Royksopp. Of course doing an album with Grace Jones and The Human League. They say never work with your heroes, but I thought fuck that.  

Any struggles that made you want to give up along the way?
The biggest struggle was just keeping things moving. But finding and breaking new music made it all worth it.

What advice would you give someone looking to start their own record label in 2017?
Don’t do it.

I heard you like to make your artists sign deals in peculiar places. Is that true?
Yeah, I’ve always done that. It’s happened in lots of weird places, like…toilets. There have been some fun ones. Why do I do it? Because they’ll always remember it.

What interested you sonically growing up?
My older brother was into rock and reggae, I went the opposite way and got my parents to buy me a synthesiser. I just sat in my room and made noises. That’s how I got into electronic music.

Is it true you once auditioned for the X-Factor?
Yes. I entered as a joke. I sung the Perfect Day song ‘King of Fools’ and a Propellerheads song directly to Simon Cowell but they never aired it. For Wall of Sound’s 20-year anniversary the BBC actually put me on air with Simon Cowell. Obviously, we’re polar opposites in the music industry. I told him that what he does isn’t about musical creativity and he was really rude to me. 

Tell me about your Ibiza residency…
Six years ago I started a party at Pikes, which is where Freddie Mercury had his 41st birthday party. I have an annual party there called ‘Freddie Rocks’ and all the proceedings go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust AIDS charity. People have to come to the party as Freddie, and the best Freddie wins an award.

Dream DJ to go B2B with?
My wife aka DJ Lottie. But she’s a professional DJ – she wouldn’t do that in a million years. So I’d have to say myself.

What’s the biggest misconception about you?
Some people think I’m on more drugs now than I was back then.

Any advice to your teenage self?
Be yourself, not someone else.