Mark Wise has been dropping experimental Techno music from his New Jersey studio since he made his debut as a producer in 2017 with the Mark Stein collaboration, ‘Loco Motive’ EP. That record introduced an adventurous, genre-bending artist who mixes hard Techno and Tech House beats with Progressive House moods and deep Trance vibes.
In the five years since that first record, the prolific producer has amassed a remarkably deep catalog. Over the course of 16 EPs he has explored sounds and styles from all corners of the EDM world. His music has connected with Techno audiences worldwide and earned him some top spots on influential playlists. On January 24, 2022 Mark Wise dropped a whole new genre on his fans with the two track “Heavy Metal” EP on ‘LETS Techno’ records.
The track “Heavy” opens the set. A driving four on the floor beat moves the track forward as Mark Wise marries elements of Acid House with synthesized Metal guitar power chords and an aggressive lead. The song is a hypnotic mix of hard Techno and Trent Reznor style hard Electronic Rock. “Metal” follows with a powerful Industrial groove and rockin’ speed Metal riffs. The track a high octane mix of hard melodic Rock and fist pumping, adrenaline fueled Techno.
You can find Mark Wise’s “Heavy Metal” currently on Beatport. The EP will be released worldwide to all major streaming services on January 24, 2022. We had the chance to chat with Mark about the new record. Check out his answers to our 8 questions below. Follow the links below to connect with Mark Wise. Get on his socials and get in the loop on all of the music to come from this talented and adventurous producer.
8 Questions with Mark Wise
Where are you from?
New Jersey
How long have you been making music?
More than 20 years. I’m 34 now, started playing percussion in 5th grade, did 8 years of school band, played in a rock band w/ friends for 4 years, started producing electronically at the end of 2010, and learned guitar a few years after that. I started focusing more seriously on techno in 2017.
Who are the musicians involved in your project?
Just me
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Tough question. Specific to my techno, probably my two biggest techno influences overall are Umek and Jay Lumen, and on a more recent level there are a bunch of other techno producers I’ve learned about in the past 6-8 months who I feel have similar styles that have really been inspiring me. Lilly Palmer, Sara Landry, Alex Stein, HI-LO, Cosmic Boys, Xenia (UA), Giulia (IT), and Paxtech. Those last two remixed my other recently released track “Rumble in the Jungle” and did a killer job!!
What is your greatest non-musical influence?
No idea!
What inspired you to create this project?
This heavy metal techno thing honestly feels like the culmination of my entire musical journey. The first music I ever got into was grunge in the mid-90s through my older brother, and from there I got into classic rock, hard and prog rock, and metal. I was into Nirvana, Chili Peppers, Dream Theater, Metallica, Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, etc. so I was listening to metal long before I knew techno was even a thing. One of my early Mark Wise releases, a track called “Blacker Hole,” was the first time I ever tried making leads that were like guitar riffs, but I wouldn’t call that one heavy metal techno.
Fast forwarding a few years to when COVID lockdown happened, I went through a period of malaise where I wasn’t motivated to produce anything, and I was listening to almost all music that wasn’t techno. Snarky Puppy, Royal Blood, Dirty Loops, and Harry Styles to name a few. None of it was heavy metal either, but funnily enough these non-metal, non-techno artists were what got me thinking back to “Blacker Hole” and put the idea of heavy metal techno into my head. I’d say Royal Blood was really the biggest influence there.
I would listen to their track “Typhoons” and find myself shuffle-dancing during the chorus a lot like I would dance to techno, and that’s when I really felt like I could put heavy rock riffs over techno and still make it danceable.
What are your plans for the future (musically)?
I already have another heavy metal techno song finished where I’m looking for some remixers to put together a release. That one is really crazy and totally one-ups both tracks on the Heavy Metal EP. I even improved my faux guitar sound more and even included a solo in that one. And now I’ve been looking at guitarists on Fiverr to record some real, live guitar riffs for me to take this heavy metal techno thing to the next level.
I’ll keep making more normal peak time and melodic techno also of course. I’ve actually just found a vocalist for a track called “Stellar” that I made over a year ago. I couldn’t believe how tough it was finding someone to sing on it!
I also have a release lined up through a producer named Horatio, who’s track “Calypso” has been getting a ton of play from Carl Cox so I’m excited for those tracks to come out, but he hasn’t set a date for the release on his label yet. He’s still finding remixers.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
I have a podcast series called Technobabble. I’ve done 3 mixes so far that you can listen to on my YouTube and Mixcloud channels, and the 4th volume will be debuting on Italian radio station Why I’m So Different sometime this month but I don’t have the date/time yet.