TUBES & VALVES

Mark Acar:

I was born in the UK in 1973. I grew up there and went through all my schooling and University between Nottingham and Newcastle upon Tyne, respectively. My relationship with music began in the 80s, an iconic decade for Goth Rock, Pop, Indie, 

New Romantic, Post Punk, to name but a few. I also discovered Motown, Blues and the Rock Classics from the previous decades. These were the seminal years of record shopping, dodgy haircuts and alcohol fueled school parties, where i would play my music by overlapping cassette tapes without a mixer.

The 1990s were great times music wise in the UK, as well as the music scene that brought the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Jamiroquai, Prince, Nirvana, Portishead, The Fugees, Ice T and NWA. This decade was the beginning of what later became known as Dance Music. Repetitive beat, Electronic, four to the floor mayhem. I wasted no time getting involved in this fascinating scene; bought my first set of SL 1200s and that was it.

I taught myself how to beat mix and sample and perfected the technique of not sleeping unless hell was freezing over. At this time, my thing was House, Big Beat and Electro, served up in an endless stream of underground house parties. 

The 3 years spent at University in Germany, in the mid 90’s, saw me get involved in the then blossoming Drum & Bass and Trip Hop scenes, playing various seedy venues as a regular to earn my beer and record money.

My music tastes have always been diverse, to say the least, spanning almost every genre imaginable. 

I've always had the firm belief that there are only two types of music: 'good music and shitty music' and this is what helped me to amass an immense collection in various formats, from Vinyl through CDs, Mini Disc, DAT, DCC, all the way to WAVE.

Music was always an utter pleasure for me. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what aspect of music gets me. I think it's rarely the same thing twice. A hook line, a build, a melody, a killer bass line, a drop or a chugging rhythm. 

I came to Lebanon in 1998 and brought everything I owned at the time with me in 6 cardboard boxes. Basically a massive HiFi, my decks and my records. 

I tried to introduce dance music back then to the people around me, but it was nothing more than an underground eccentricity at the time.

At the turn of the century, l managed a Lebanese hip hop crew, Kita3 B for 3 years until they moved to France. RGB still works as a solo recording artist today. This experience switched me on to hip hop culture; Kita3 B were one of the pioneers of Arabic rap music regionally.

With an eclectic love for rock, funk, blues, jazz, reggae, as well as hip hop and electronic music, I bring a wide variety of flavours and layers to the mix, which can only be acquired from years of music appreciation.  Our aim today, is to share this gift with you.