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The first time I met Mark Vity a.k.a. UK-DJ/producer Seghment when he was accompanying techno queen Nicole Moudaber on tour. Over a year later we ran into each other at Dhoem Dhaam Warehouse during ADE 2015. In a second, he recognized me and we talked for hours. In 2016 I interviewed him about his first gig. “Everyone and no-one were there.”
“The first time I played in front of an audience was in 1986 at a special location: a disused airport in Norfolk East Anglia. I was sixteen years old.”
Music was an outlet
“I was incredibly nervous before that gig. At the same time, I was apprehensive as we were doing things and playing music that the locals didn’t understand and to which they were quite uptight and averse at first. The younger generations and people my age were embracing the energy. It had and has the thrill of being outside of the box. It was new music and a generation of anarchy that was developing especially against the current government. So, music was our tool and release, since they were very troubled years in the UK.”
Farm
“Had I prepared my set? Yes and no. A local pub had closed down, so we bought all the PA equipment from there. Before the event we had been testing it at a friend’s farm. We had a mix of vinyl and cassette tapes, so we went with what sounded good. Every day we got home from work, we practiced and at weekends we just stayed at the farm and played. It was good as we had a lot of friends come hang out and party.” (laughs)
Local policeman’s son
“The support at that first gig was enormous. The audience was very cool indeed, that I can say. Everyone and no-one were there. My family, my friends… The local clergy man’s family was present and the local policeman’s son came to party. I think he was making a point to his dad.” (laughs) “We had local solicitors, businesspeople, farmers, travelers of all sorts. Even my boss came to see what all the fuss was about. it was great to see everyone just coming for one thing and that was to enjoy themselves and have fun without answering to anyone.”
Pure addiction
“We continued for over two days. At the time, I wasn’t dealing with relationship issues at all, so I didn’t want to impress one specific person. I just wanted to party and enjoy the music. It was and is to this day something I cannot explain. The pure addiction of its power to make you feel so many emotions and make amazing memories.”
Wonderful life journey
“I think that first gig went well. Especially when you consider that now, thirty years later, I’m still in the game. I still play and work with some of the most amazing artists in the world to this day. In the end I was happy but also totally exhausted after my debut. Of course, I’ve made some mistakes – we all do – but I’m pretty sure I’ve learned from those mistakes as well. Just as we all do on this wonderful life journey we are on.”
“What I learned from that gig and from all gigs after that, is: don’t be angry in life and always be humble. But most importantly: stay true to yourself and look beyond what you see as there is a lot more to a book than its cover.”
This interview with Seghment is originally published on DJMag.nl on Thursday March 31st 2016.