60 Seconds With... Mark Wilkinson

Going under several names including Dab Hands, Problem Kids and as one half of the outfit Kidstuff, Mark has worked with some of the best, including Rocky from X-Press 2. His remix of Lou Reed's 'Satellite of Love' propelled him to the top of the charts and he's been riding high ever since. The new Kidology 'London After Dark' album is available now through www.kidologyrecords.com.

The 'London After Dark' album has some real feel-good summer tunes on it, do you see it as a direct reflection of the Kidology parties or some individual Mark Wilkinson-styled tracks?

"A bit of both actually, there's a lot of records on there that I play in clubs, at our nights, but I like to feel there's enough dirty house music for the boys but also enough melody for the girls. I think that's kind of what I'm about, keeping dance floors busy. I would say the CD is a tiny bit tougher than some of the music that gets played at our nights. Our next CD is going to be called 'Ibiza After Dark' and I'm going to make that a bit more girl friendly."

What was the inspiration behind the Kidology brand, how did it come together?

"I've been doing Kidology nights for some time, the record label has been running from 2001 and I've been doing the club nights at Ministry Of Sound, The End, really hot London clubs and loving it. It's been great to do for some number of years but what has happened over the last year and a half is Alexandra, my creative director, has come on board and she has a background in fashion, she loves bright colours, girls stuff , having fun and that's what she's tapped into, that girls love to dress up. We joined together about a year and a half ago and then we took a residency at The Cross last April. Its just fun, fun, fun, it's not just about a couple of fat old DJs turning up with banners and saying 'we're having a club night'. It's about a movement, it's about the girls leading the charge and it's great, I love it! I mean, what more could a DJ want than to have a dance floor full of women having a great time?"

This year sees you take the Kidology brand to Ibiza for the first time, what are the plans?

"We will be doing four free parties at Es Vive hotel, which we're really excited about on 20th June, 18th July, 15th August, 12th September. I've got a real thing about Ibiza, I know what I like and where I want to be and El Divino was a big aim for me, it's a great club, I love that terrace, it's stylish, beautiful and I just knew it was the perfect place to have a Kidology night. The owner of the club actually spoke to us, myself and Paul from Kinky Malinki, and asked if we'd host it together, so it's Kidology Vs. Kinky Malinki every Thursday, every single week, from 26th June to 18th September."

The London parties' not-so-secret ingredient seems to be the girls - the Kidology Kidettes - are you taking them out to Ibiza with you?

"The Kidettes are really, really important to us and while we're in Ibiza we'll be doing what we always do, offering free guest list to anyone who is dressed as a Kidette, or a kid, can be either, I'm not being sexist! We're totally happy if anyone wants to come and dress up, get into the theme of the party, we'll look after them."

What other nights are you looking forward to checking out while you're out there?

"Well I must admit I'm going to Ibiza but I'm going to be working there, it sounds a bit crap really but I don't really want people to get a false sense of what I'll be doing out there. Alexandra wants to go to a couple of gay nights while we're there, Privilege for sure. I always enjoy El Divino and Pacha, that's my side of the island, the Ibiza town area. I prefer to be on the sunset area, just with some mellow music as the sun goes down before the madness begins and the excitement builds up. It's all about that side of the island for me, I think Ibiza town has more of a Mediterranean feel."

What's your tune of the summer going to be this year?

"Ibiza-wise it's got to be the Laidback Luke and Steve Angello mix of Robin S, 'Show Me Love'."