Whatever your thoughts on the transatlantic DJ one thing’s as obvious as the star’s newly-acquired platinum blonde quiff: the box doesn’t seem big enough. As he digs hungrily into his noodle soup and slurps over his whirlwind pop career thus far, the infamous accent isn’t the only contradiction on offer. Hailing from both New York and London, moonlighting as both DJ and solo artist, and, having ditched those serious brown locks, Ronson has now thrown another spanner in the works. He’s only gone and changed his name…
The nature of Mark Ronson’s (now re-dubbed Mark Ronson And The Business Intl) celebrity isn’t something that is lost on the man in question. Nor are his past mistakes made – mistakenly, perhaps – in the limelight. But with a new electro-popping album in tow (namely ‘Record Collection’) and a denunciation of the two words that are synonymous with the star (“covers” and “lounge jazz”), Ronson is now keen to clear a few things up. And it starts with the media.
“People didn’t like me for a little while, ” he shrugs…People’s opinions of you seem to change fairly regularly. I think because I was linked to Amy [Winehouse] and Lily [Allen], I also got thrown into the tabloid stuff. It was a drag because I wanted it to be about the music – I never wanted to get myself into these papers and become famous. Somehow you just wake up one day and you’re in that and you can’t really change it.
Do you regret those decisions now you’re such tabloid fodder?
The thing is, I never really make any decisions personally. I like going out to clubs and I’m not going out to these cheesy Mayfair clubs every night, but so what? I got my picture taken coming out of somewhere in Soho late at night with a Klaxon, they run that picture in The Sun or whatever…
Do you think with this new record ‘Record Collection’ people were expecting ‘Version 2.0’?
I don’t think people really stay up too much thinking about those things, but I guess you’d have more reason to have thought that it would sound like ‘Version 2.0’ than something else. There are sounds and rhythms I’ve experimented with that I’ve never used before. I think that’s a good thing – it would be unfulfilling if the creative process didn’t take that many unexpected turns. That’s the exciting thing about this record.
Do you think ‘Version’ stereotyped you?
To be honest, I didn’t know I was doing a covers album with ‘Version’. I started making those songs because I was painfully tired of all the songs I was playing in my DJ sets. Zane Lowe started playing ‘Just’ and I ended up getting a deal. It never occurred to me to do another covers record…
Picking The Smiths to cover was always going to court controversy with their fans…
I understood why there are certain kids – especially The Smiths fans – that so vehemently hold their stuff dear. Morrissey is like this voice for the disenfranchised internationally – of course they’re going to feel like I’m hijacking something dear to them. I think it’s much more encouraging for me to know as a fan of music that music still really does have the power – that you love The Smiths so much that you send a death threat to someone you don’t know that did a cover.
Why have you chosen not to do covers on your new record?
Not doing covers on this record was a given. It didn’t mean that it was any less daunting cos I’ve never been in a position of having to follow up something that was a success before. I’m never going to be able to come up with thirteen songs that can be judged against the songs of Radiohead, The Smiths, The Jam and The Kasier Chiefs, that’s ridiculous. So I really had to convince myself in my head that this is a new record and a new project.
When did you decide to change your name?
Well, it became evident to me as the record was getting on that to call my record “Mark Ronson” would be full of shit because ‘Version’ was essentially a bedroom record, but what brought this record to life was the musicianship and different people collaborating. To just call it ‘Mark Ronson’ is misleading.
Why ‘The Business Intl’?
I wanted something that wasn’t just a pluralised word like “Mark Ronson And The Tank Tops” – The Business was kinda cool because it’s quite strong but I don’t want anyone to get it wrong and think that we’re trying to be like Reservoir Dogs in our suits. I think people can have any impression they want but at the end of the day you go into the studio fourteen-hours-a-day and you roll up your sleeves and it is work.
The title track on the new record deals with the nature of celebrity – perhaps the nature of your own celebrity. You’re portrayed as a bit of a playboy in the tabloids…
[Interrupts] Which is like, crazy, because I’m like this serious monogamist in long-term relationships. I think people are disappointed that I’m not a playboy…
It sounds like this stuff bugs you.
The stuff I find more annoying is “The Best Connected Man in Pop” – as if I turned up at the record industry one morning and someone gave me this golden phone book. I don’t know anyone who’s DJ’d nearly as long as I have in clubs in New York who hasn’t at one point had a Jay-Z or a Puffy in the club. It’s just New York.
Were you surprised by that media backlash after your 2008 BRITS win?
Do you know what? I don’t really remember any of that and to be honest I was so taken aback that I had won a BRIT Award. Especially as I’d moved to New York when I was eight – to me that was you saying: “you may have an annoying accent but you’re one of us”.
Read a review of Mark Ronson’s latest album ‘Mark Ronson and the Business Intl Record Collection HERE
Words by Kat Lister
 |
Clash Magazine Issue 55
This is an excerpt from an article that appears in the 55th issue of Clash Magazine. Pick it up in stores from October 12th. |
