Mark Farina

All Music Guide:

Making a name for himself mainly as a DJ, Mark Farina has had a large hand in the building of San Francisco's house music scene. Originally from Chicago, Farina is in the same generation of Chicago house music legends Derrick Carter and Cajmere. Mostly associated with the Mushroom Jazz series of releases, Farina is known for his down-tempo but dancefloor-friendly style of mixing jazz, house, and hip-hop.

Farina started DJing at the age of 15 in his hometown of Chicago. The city's large hand in the creation of house music had a strong influence on Farina and acted as a large source of inspiration for his DJing. At Northwestern University's radio station, WNUR, Farina and his airwaves partner Derrick Carter produced a Friday night radio show for two years. During this time, Farina released Mood as part of the trio Symbols and Instruments.

Shortly after his time at Northwestern University, Farina relocated to San Francisco. Using his musical influences, Farina made a mix tape of down-tempo house tunes called Mushroom Jazz. Soon after, the album's title spawned a type of sound and grew popular due in part to Farina's weekly residency at a local club called Jazid Up. The local notoriety of the mix tape eventually resulted in a CD of the same name on Om Records in October of 1996 and led to a global tour, which Farina headlined. In 1996, he also produced another continuous-mix CD, Seasons One, on Domestic Records. The second installation in his original series, Mushroom Jazz, Vol. 2, was released in 1998, once again resulting in another promotional tour lead by the now seasoned DJ. Farina released two more mix CDs in 1998, United DJs of America, Vol. 9 (Moonshine) and Imperial Dub, Vol. 1 (Studio !K7). After the string of mix CDs, Farina released an original work in 1998, "Midnight Calling." The track went virtually unnoticed due to the fact that Farina's mix CDs and DJing appearances were receiving most of the promotional attention. In 1999, the first in a series of CDs by Om Records meant to highlight San Francisco DJs, debuted with Farina. The CD showcased Farina's style of mixing jazzy down-tempo and disco vocal-oriented tracks. The CD was also released as a triple-vinyl pack containing, in their entirety, all the songs Farina used for the CD. In 2001, Farina continued with the Mushroom Jazz series, releasing the much-awaited third installment.

Wikipedia:

Mark Farina (born in Chicago, Illinois, USA on March 25, 1969) is a disc jockey and musician, known for his Chicago house, acid jazz and downtempo works. Notable releases include Mood (KMS Records, 1989) and the Mushroom Jazz series (Om Records, 1996–2011), and recently known also from house compilations El Divinio. He is primarily identified with the house music scene in San Francisco, California, where he resides, but DJs widely around the world.

Shortly after Mark befriended Derrick Carter in 1988 at a record store in Chicago, his passion for House music, and sharing it with the world, exploded. Mark experimented with a deeper style, dropping De La Soul, disco classics and other jazzy soulful stuff that wasn’t being played in the main rooms of nightclubs. While exploring his love for the purist forms of House Music, Mark developed his trademark style, known as "Mushroom Jazz": acid jazz infused with the West Coast’s jazzy, organic productions along with urban beats. Fans embraced Mark’s downtempo style so much that he started a weekly Mushroom Jazz club night in San Francisco with Patty Ryan. In 3 years at the club, Farina and Mushroom Jazz established a very strong following. When the club closed, Farina continued the tradition by releasing a series of CDs under the same name, Mushroom Jazz. Since then, Mark has been traveling the globe performing hundreds of shows each year. His House sets have been described as the jazzy side of Chicago House mixed San Francisco style. Some of his sets have been known to last up to 8 hours. Sometimes Farina will play two different rooms at the same party, showcasing his range of talents. URB, MUZIK and BPM Magazines have all had him on their Top DJs In The World lists.

Discography (Selected Releases)

Others

There is another Mark Farina in Perth, Western Australia, he is also in the music industry but not as well known as his American namesake.

There is also an Italo Disco/Eurobeat artist named Mark Farina (real name: Mauro Farina) who runs his own studio in Verona, Italy named Team Factory (Factory Team). Team Factory studios produced and still produces the majority of popular dance tunes that come out of Italy, including "What's Up" by DJ Miko, Hey Hey Guy by Ken Laszlo, "If You Say Goodbye" by Kate Project, and plenty others. Team Factory studios has been around since 1982.