DJ Ron Slomowicz: How did you get started as a DJ?
MC Mario: That was like over twenty years ago. I started on a French network called Energy and I worked for them for about six years and then moved to an English network, Mix 96. From there, I developed my own network. We're on over twenty-five different radio stations across Canada and a few outside, in the United States, Antigua, Brazil and I hear Greece is coming up soon. We are also carried on Air Canada. I moved from radio to club and then club to compilations, that's how it happened.
RS: So you started DJing on the radio and then you got into clubs?
Mario: Yes, exactly, I did the opposite.
RS: May I ask, what's the first record you ever bought as a DJ?
Mario: My first twelve inch was "I Will Survive," Gloria Gaynor.
RS: So what's the difference between the Mixdown and the Party Mix?
Mario: The mixdown is a top ten that reflects what's going on in the clubs in Canada and the party mix is a mixshow.
RS: How are your radio sets different than your live club sets?
Mario: Very different. The TV show and the radio show is programmed based on requests to the website, www.mcmario.com and what I see happening around. We try to maintain a crossover sound because some stations are Hot AC and they need to hear the a Janet Jackson remix and the Britney Spears "Toxic" remix and all that. When I'm live in clubs I play nothing like that. I play more underground and newer stuff, I don't have to play anything mainstream.
RS: When you do your radio sets, do you spin them live or are they prerecorded?
Mario: All prerecorded.
RS: Going from that, how do you choose songs for your mixed CDs?
Mario: For the mixed CDs, it's a combination of what's going on in the club and what's going on at the radio level. In the MC Mario CD series there are three different releases a year: Sun Factor, Back to School and Mixdown. The Sun Factory is like a summer CD, so it has pretty much everything like remixes of "Suavemente" and "Papi Chulo." I remember last year I played "Ever Blazing" by Sean Paul, so I put it on there and that CD reaches pretty much everyone. The Back to School CD, the September release, is a lot more clubby, and the Mixdown CD, which comes out at the beginning of each year, is more of a top twenty of what's going on at that point.
RS: Have you spun outside Canada before?
Mario: Yes, I did a few gigs. I go to Midem ever year so I try to book myself at the same time since I'm on the other side. Because my sound is a bit more European, it's easier to get bookings on the other side. Here in the States, we're so close, we're neighbors. For some reason I never make it to the states. Let's put it this way, I have my hands full with covering Canada right now, but I would go play in New York in a flash, but I guess I never had the chance so far.
RS: So right now, what is your best selling CD?
Mario: The best selling CD so far has been Mixdown 2000 which has sold over 135,000 copies.
RS: That's incredible.
Mario: Thank you. The whole series has sold 2.5 million so far and we're still counting. With what's going on in the industry with mp3s and the CD copying, it's going to be very hard to compete with these numbers.
RS: Are you selling your stuff online as well through an mp3 store or something?
Mario: Yes, we have a service here, Puretracks.com, and I have an album of all original stuff on the site. It's funny because there's a track on it called "Blackout," which was serviced on vinyl pretty much everywhere. It's being remixed right now in Germany by a guy who's from Dos or Die. The track "Blackout" was written right after the blackout happened in New York and the chorus goes "who turned out the lights." This song went up to number one in Canada for six weeks on the national dance chart and I never had any release in the States, so that's how crazy it is.
