A: I started writing and recording E/M back in 1977 using very basic
    equipment.At that time a guy called Martin Reed was running an excellent
    magazine called Mirage,he asked if he could release my music on his cassette
    label.The truth is that I had no real expectations at that time-I just did
    it for love(still do). After a few cassette releases a guy called Tormod
    Opedal from Norway called me and asked if he could release some of my new
    material as the first vinyl product on Uniton Records.That album was called
    "Thoughts of War".

Q: Soon afterwards, you got your real breakthrough when Assassin was an
    enourmous success at the UK Electronica. How did you react to that ?

A: "Success" in E/M is always relative,it is a very small and generally
    unnoticed area of music.Yes,the audience at UKE 83 did like Assassin,but you
    must remember that there were only about 500 people there.It was also my
    first ever live Performance which made it very exciting for me.
 
Q: Your first LP-album 'Thoughts Of War' seems to be somewhat forgotten if you
    look at the rereleases of your other albums. Was this deliberate ?

A: There are 2 reasons for this....l. I don't believe that it would transfer
    well to CD,it was the last album I did on my old basic equipment and...2. I
    don't know where the master tapes are!!

Q: You signed a contract with Jive Electro in the 80's, which made you one of
    the few electronic musicians who could earn a living through their music. Is
    this something you alwavs wanted to do ? How do you feel about all the other
    projects you have done: film music, your pop-career with Samantha Fox, the
    library albums...Is there any of these projects you prefer(ed) or are/were
    they more or less side-projects ?

A: I have been earning a living from music full time for 13 years now, I'm
    getting paid to do what I would probably do for nothing anyway.I feel
    very,very lucky to do this--very few people get the chance to spend all
    their time doing what they love. The Samantha Fox stuff was great fun(and
    very difficult!)but writing pop songs is a lot harder than writing EM,there
    is much more discipline involved.EM is one of the easiest forms of music to
    create. I did 3 soundtracks,I'd like to do more in the future....again,very
    hard work. I've haven't done a library album for about 5 years now,maybe I
    should. I don't consider any of these things as  side-projects.Whatever I am
    working on is the most important thing at that time.

Q: Both stylistically and technically there is a giant leap between Assassin
    and Legion, was it a conscious decision on your part to begin composing the
    rhythmical/heavy/powerful music you quickly became known for ?

A: No, basically it came down to equipment availability. I recorded Assassin at
    home on 8-track with 3 synthesisers and a few FX.With Legion I had the use
    of one of the best recording studios in London(Battery Studios),I also had
    access to virtually any kind of instrument I wanted to use,thats why there
    was so much Fairlight on the album(don't forget,sampling was still a fairly
    new thing back in 84/85,at that time the Fairlight was the best).As a
    result,Legion became a much richer/heavier album than Assassin,there were
    many more layers of music,a  wider variety of textures.But there was no deliberate
    decision to do this-it   just came about naturally.

Q:The Franke Factor ;-). While with Jive, Christopher Franke co-wrote Icon
    from the album 'Legion', later when you were looking to release Nocturne,
    you ended up on Sonic Images, Christopher's label. What's the connection
    between Chris and yourself ?

A: Initially,the contact came about because both T/Dream and myself had signed
    up to Jive Electro at about the same time,and, as you say,we worked together
    on a track for the Legion album.After Christoph left T/D I lost contact with
    him until he phoned me in 94 saying he had heard the planned Nocturne
    album(Ash Prema sent him a copy)and that he would like to release it on the
    Sonic Images label

Q:Recent releases have been on Champagne Lake productions (Ash's label), do
    you plan to continue releasing your albums on this label, or are you still
    signed to Sonic Images for the general releases of your music.

A: My own live album(Collide)was released on C/Lake because Sonic Images did
    not want to release a live album.The first Redshift album is a BAND project
    and therefore has nothing to do with Sonic Images.If I release another Mark
    Shreeve studio album(like Nocturne)then Sonic Images have the first option
    to release it.I don't yet know what label the next Redshift album will be on.

Q: Mark Shreeve concerts are known for their powerful performances. How do you
    approach playing a live concert, and how do you feel about playing live in  qeneral ?

A: Live concerts of modern style E/M are usually a forced compromise.For
    example,if we take the track Storm Column from the Legion album and decided
    to play it live,how would you do it?.There is so much going on that if we
    tried to recreate it on stage with 3 guys playing synths and a drum machine
    it would sound ridiculous.The audience would soon get bored.What I do is to
    pre-record the bass/drums/general rythymn parts along with some sound FX put
    at particular points to remind us of key changes etc.,then we play all the chords,
    lead lines,harmony lines live over the top.I should say that I do completely start again
    when I prepare a live track-I don't just use the original multitrack tapes-this is why it
    takes about 3-4 months to prepare  for one gig!
    Doing it this way we can retain the power of the music but also
    add a live "edge" to it.I remember seeing T/Dream in 1982(the Logos tour)and
    they were clearly miming everything,as does Jean-Michel Jarre.This seems
    pointless to me-if you don't play ANYTHING live then you are not going to
    feel "tense"-therefore there will be no excitement to the performance(at
    Klemdag 1995 I made a few horrible bum notes which 1000 people
    heard!!!).And,despite the fact that we use drum/bass backing tape,I had over
    60 patch changes to remember for one gig!

Q: The live versions of your tracks have some more 'raw' power in them than
    the studio versions, which have a perfect finish on them. How do you go
    about composing a song ? You seem to spend a lot of time both on the basic
    melody line as well as choice of sounds, samples and rhythms?

A:One of the major problems with most current E/M is that musically it sounds
    so bland. Somebody sent me a tape of a recent T/Dream album
    and....aaarrgh!!..it sounds like lift music---totally devoid of any emotion
    or daring musical ideas.Even the sounds were crap,they just play the same
    old presets as everybody else who can buy the same synths.I'm afraid I think
    that they are ripping people off...some people buy it only because it has
    T/Dream written on it,very sad.

   To create music that people will remember you have to "connect" emotionally
    with them.With albums like Legion or Nocturne I tried to do it but using
    strong themes/melodies with a powerful rythymn base,then switch to a more
    sparse/darker mood---this is the key with music--- you need light and
    shade.In the early days of E/M you had such beautiful albums such as Phaedra
    and Mirage....they both had so much intense emotional contact with the
    listener....now all you get is washing powder advert music.I try to create
    layers of sound,a 3 dimensional audio picture--it is very difficult,from a
    technical point a view,to mix so many different sounds and make them
    cohesive.I was fortunate that I had the opportunity to learn studio craft
    from some of the best producers and engineers in England,I would say that
    99% of E/M musicians who produce music in there bedrooms don't have a clue
    how to sculpt sound.They do it by themselves,and because they have nobody
    else around to pass any knowledgeable critique,they are convinced they're
    doing it right.This is why so much E/M sounds so amateur.

Q:Your recent project 'Redshift' sees you return to the old analog synths.
    This is quite the fashion these days, but I know you've been playing with
    the idea for a long time already.What made you want to compose in this style ?

A: Simple---I got the chance to purchase an old Moog 3C modular synth,I just
    couldn't stop playing it.The sounds were so rich and powerful that I felt
    compelled to create music with the Moog at the core of it.Like everybody
    else I have been buying all the new and latest synths...but...I started
    getting really bored with the dead sounds they all had.With the Moog the
    sound is alive,constantly moving and unpredictable.It seems to have a dark
    and menacing prescence that no other synth can even get near to.Unlike,say,a
    Roland JD800 or Korg-whatever,the Moog has an inspirational sound,you know
    that any sound you come up with is totally unique and not some awful preset that
    everybody else has used.

Q:What is the general idea behind the 'Redshift' project ?

A: Mainly to create an album of dark,flowing and true electronic music. I
    wanted to use heavy "synthesised" sounds rather than trying to get a shit
    acoustic guitar type sound from a JD800 or whatever.I wanted to capture an
    atmosphere of organic but somehow "other-worldly" music---therefore that
    wouldn't be many overtly strong tunes as such,but more in the way of
    atmospheric frontier music(hmm!).

Q: What can we expect from 'Redshift' in the future ? I've heard about some
    live releases and also a new album. Does this mean that your work as 'Mark
    Shreeve' solo is currently on hold?

A: Redshift is,at the moment,a 4 piece band.We played our first gig at the
    Jodrell Bank Planetaruim last December.The difference between doing a
    Redshift gig and a Mark Shreeve gig is that the music is 100% live using the
    Moog Modular with analog sequencers and many other analog synths.obviously
    the music has a considerable amount of "free expression"...we don't have any
    rigid arrangements to follow,just a rough outline.We actually recorded the
    gig to digital multitrack any we were so happy with 2 of the tracks that we
    are going to include them on our next album along with some studio tracks.
 
Q: How did Ed Buller and Martin Newcomb get involved ? They also were involved
    with the band Node, if I'm not mistaken.

A: Ed rang me a couple of years ago,we became friendly and he helped me out
    with all my questions I had about using the Moog 3C.Martin is not in Node,he
    runs the Museum of Synthesiser Technology which has easily the largest
    collection of old synths in the world.It was Martin that found a Moog 3C for
    me in the States and he also lent me some extra modules when we played live.

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