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In a house music scene desperate to pigeonhole artists into narrow sub-genres, Mike Monday has refused to be marginalised by one sound. Over the last 10 years, he has chalked up a diverse catalogue of more than 100 original productions and remixes. But despite the genre-hopping, one element remains common to all his work - the funk.
Monday's approach is explained by his early musical life. A classically trained pianist and bassoonist, he completed a music degree at Oxford before coming to London to find his fortune as a jazzfunk saxophonist.
But it wasn't long before he was bitten by the electronic bug in the melting pot of the early 90s London dance scene. There, it was with Andy Cato of Groove Armada that Monday first made his mark. As much loved seminal house act Beat Foundation, they were one of the first bands to have the courage to take a truly live show into clubs including The End, Ministry Of Sound and the infamous Bristol club, Lakota, where they had a residency.
A major record deal and two underground club smashes later, Monday struck out on his own and it wasn't long before he was gaining plaudits for his solo work. His first release on Whoop! Records, "Can You Play Bass?" was an Essential New tune on Radio 1 and was invited to do the "hot mix" slot on the Essential Selection. The remix offers duly came flooding in. But it was during this period that he came to a number of important conclusions.
While Monday was carving out a formidable reputation for his distinctive funky prog sound, he quickly realised that he was fast getting pigeonholed and his creativity stifled. "The problem with that scene back then was that it was all too serious," he says. "People lost perspective and forgot the most important thing about dance music, which is to make people dance."
So in partnership with Whoop! Records he set up a new imprint, Kinky Vinyl, to develop a more funky sound without the pretension of the prog scene. "The ethos of Kinky reflects my own, and that is to release house music regardless of whether it be jackin, electro, techno or prog - as long as it's funky". This formula seems to have worked, as DJs from across the board from Roger Sanchez to Annie Mac have cited it as one of their favourite labels. DJ Magazine described Kinky as "a label that has never failed in selecting the best in forward thinking house music".
That inclusive approach to house music can also be heard in Monday's DJing. "I love to mix it up when I play out," he explains. "Playing just one groove all night long just doesn't interest me". His lively and energetic style has ensured that he has played every major club in London - the End, MoS, Fabric, 333, the Cross and Egg - as well as throughout Europe, Miami and Eastern Europe, India, Kazakstan and Russia.
But it is with his Playtime residency that Mike feels he has truly landed as a DJ. First booked as a guest two years ago, when Playtime was a tiny night in a tiny bar, Mike rocked it so hard that promoter Big Daddy G asked him to come on board full-time. Now Playtime has graduated to Egg and has a fiercely loyal, clued-up crowd. "That residency is probably the single most important influence on my studio work," he says. "The ability to try out new tracks and ideas at a club with an incredible sound system in front of a crowd who trust you is like gold dust. Add to that the benefit of DJing with other DJs and producers who inspire me gives me an unrivalled perspective. It's definitely given my productions an edge and confidence of which I previously only dreamt."
Playtime has also yielded some fantastic collaborative ventures, such as his Paradise Soul project with Stretch Silvester - a duo whose tracks have been hammered by Laurent Garnier, Tiefschwarz, Freaks and Xpress 2. More recently, the Paradise Soul remix of Sucker Djs 'Lotta Lovin' on Kinky Vinyl was made an Essential New Tune on Pete Tong's Radio 1 Ibiza weekend show, described as being 'well and truly tried and tested on the emerald isle'.
Now Mike's solo productions continue apace. Releases are forthcoming on labels he respects such as RIP and Freerange, as well as plans for an Asian tour in 2005 and continuing with the Kinky Vinyl label.