Lotus Magazine Archives

By Sergio DiazGranados In the last five years, the San Francisco underground has undergone some serious reconstruction. Along with Chicago and New York, San Francisco was once held as a national house capitol. But, like Chicago and New York, the San Francisco community was ready for something new and different. Michael Robbins and Eric Newman (MARS and Mystrë) have spent the past five years working to accomplish their goal of bringing trance to San Francisco (an uphill battle for sure). Opening their Haight Street record store, Frequency 8, and throwing events under the same name, MARS and Mystrë have been paving the way for a whole new generation of San Francisco dancers. Promoting the cybertrance sound that they love so much has not only proved to be successful in opening people's minds, now MARS and Mystrë have founded a record label as well. With singles from Oliver Lieb , Commander Tom, Nostrum, and the dynamic duo themselves, there is no telling how far these guys are going.

I wanted to do this interview for Lotus not only to introduce our reader into their lives, but also because I have known both MARS and Mystrë since I was a kid. MARS and Mystrë have grown up together since they were on skateboards. Living through each other's ups and downs, it's interesting to see how these two men relate with one another--it's almost as if they are one entity. Throughout the interview you will notice that either frequently speaks for the both of them.

Lotus: What is the message behind Frequency 8?
MARS: This is a very complex network of teachings from the spirit world, the Tao te Ching and true faith. To give a small introduction, part of Frequency 8 is a sound, often times not even audible. It is an innate sound energy that gathers people who are tuned in around the world. To best explain this sound, you would have to imagine yourself out alone in the desert. It's nighttime, and the air is warm and electric. Suddenly you look up, and the Mothership is hovering 50 feet above your head. The "sound" that the ship makes is the eighth frequency. The frequency is the sound, and eight is the number of enlightenment and the metaphysical, according to the Torah and Eastern philosophies. F is the first initial and 8 is the last, this spells F-8. This is the catalyst of enlightenment. These initials were not planned, it was random, or as we say, fate.

Lotus: How did you guys come up with the names MARS and Mystrë?
Mystrë: A long time ago we threw a small break-in warehouse underground. I wanted to play an old school techno set for it. I had never played at a "rave" type event before, even though I had been going to them. I had been DJing for quite some time, but never playing techno. I played my first set and didn't care about trying to be "someone." I also didn't want anybody to know who I was, so I decided to wear a clear plastic facemask. I just wanted to be a mystery. Later on I started working at a pizza restaurant and the main kitchen staff were Cambodians who had strong accents. They could not pronounce my name, so they called me Mr. E. From that point on Mystrë was who I became in life and as a DJ.
MARS: As long as I've known Eric, he has always been a person who would rather be unseen, living in the shadows of life and mysterious in his ways, closest in personality to the octopus. Originally Mystrë was spelled Mystr-E, but because of the strong drug connotation not realized when the name first came into use, and because Eric has never used ecstasy, he changed it.
Lotus: And how about your name MARS?
MARS: When I first started DJing I was playing music that was like the New Age music I had been listening to since I was a child, except you could dance to it. It was very meditative and trance-like; it was "Mars music." I met someone at a party and she was into astrology. She told me that because I was an Aries, Mars is my ruling planet. At that point I felt as though this was my name, since I always had a lot of fire in me and I felt so close to this particular planet. About one year later I was driving back from a party and I was randomly thinking about the name Mars, and my personal connection with it. I was thinking about the initials of my birth name and putting it all together, I realized that M-A-R-S were also my initials. It was pretty crazy when it all happened. I feel as though I now truly understand my name and who I am. So when people ask what my "real" name is I say MARS. This is another example of what we call F-8.

Lotus: You have recently started Frequency 8 Records. What was your motivation and how do you feel it will help the trance movement?
MARS and Mystrë: F-8 is working hard to bring a European sound to America through San Francisco. We started the record label because the particular style of music we play is sometimes difficult to find, even with our store. A lot of old-school artists from the days of '94-'96 Frankfurt, Germany, have moved on to other sounds. Our label is bringing these artists back and it is helping them to re-experiment with this cybertrance sound. It is exciting for them as well as ourselves.

Lotus: Any thoughts on the future state of trance?
MARS and Mystrë: It would be nice if somehow trance could incorporate a more direct message of awareness. Sometimes we feel it's hard to get our message across to people. Unlike rap or reggae, trance rarely has any spoken words and so communicating a direct message can be difficult. We have to do it through sounds, similar to how whales and dolphins communicate. Perhaps trance is powerful because there isn't anyone telling you how to feel and therefore your mind is free to go wherever it wants to. But we need more music with the right sounds for communicating this awareness to people. In terms of the future of the scene, it would be nice if people starting tuning into their higher selves, using dance events as a meditation. We feel it is happening and that this awareness will continue.

Lotus: With all the negative hoopla that has been going between "raves" and city officials, especially in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Florida, if the promoters in the U.S. wanted to better the politics that exist within the culture, what would be a good way to go about that?
MARS and Mystrë: It's hard to say. A few years ago there were lots of meetings in SF to create some kind of unification between promoters. In the end, it all seemed to end up the same way; people in disagreement. Politics are politics no matter where you are. People think perhaps it's different because we are in the "rave scene," but from the movie industry, to the music industry and to the rave scene, it's all the same. Do it yourself, become a good person, try to stay righteous and set an example.

Lotus: The community in the US, for the most part, is younger. Do you feel that this helps or hurts the community?
MARS and Mystrë: It's just all the facets that make up this scene. Each dancer helps in their unique way. We feel that there is a very strong sense of community, respect, and love for each other that is predominate in the rave scene.

Lotus: We need moderation in this community. Any suggestions?
MARS and Mystrë: Love the music, not the drugs, and stay tuned into yourself.