(Markus Löffel)
(27.11.1966  - 11.01.2006)

"To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition."
Albert Einstein

"I am Rock’n’Roll"
Mark Spoon, 1997

 

 

Every person is a world unto himself, and not many can say their life is an exciting, multifarious, extreme and vibrant rollercoaster as was Mark Spoon’s (aka Spacy Trancer). A classification all by himself, one thing was certain - life was dynamic when Mark Spoon was around. His reputation for partying and living life to the full often preceded him. He defied all clichés, could be provocative, direct, vociferous (especially with the media) and played the backstage casanova. He emanated strength and was the rock’n’roller of the dance music world to the core.

But with all the tough exterior he was really a big softie at heart. Those closest to him knew him better, knew the more important side – the intense but massively generous Mark, abundant with ideas, free in his expression of love for those he most cared for, namely his friends, family and the colleagues, many of whom he respected. Like a rough-cut diamond his greatest value was within. He personified energy while playing the jester to Jam el Mar’s sage, and was his friend’s connection to the club world. In the studio he knew what sounds fitted with which beats. A gentle giant then, blessed with a big heart, a giant ego and an even more gigantic talent.

Let’s reverse back a few years…

Mark first started DJ’ing when he was 13 and in this capacity found himself ever more regularly performing sets, slowly gaining recognition as time went on. He was raised by his grandmother and it broke his heart when she died. He escaped from home and got into all sorts of trouble with the police, collecting a few juvenile sentences along the way. He left school and qualified as a chef, quickly abandoning that career behind to focus on music, At 16 years old he discovered the advantages of hiding behind a mask of his own creation, an exterior image as a protection of sorts from the outside world. Mark met with a 16-year-old Moses Pelham (Moses P) to form a Hip Hop project, using his size and facial demeanour to command respect. He fell into a gig when an act pulled out and he took over. It was to be the start of a meteoric rise and having tasted the scene, fascinated by the hedonism and atmosphere, he moved ever closer to being with the right people. He knew what clubbers want to hear in the developing Trance movement in Frankfurt. Most of all, he knew his worth while his ambition knew no limits.

In 1990, Mark was hired as the first A & R Manager for Logic Records (established by Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti aka ‘Snap!’). As the ‘Artist & Repertoire’ manager, he listened to demos all day and likened this role to a ‘virgin giving birth to a child’ – a comment that clearly defined the hard work but also the rewards associated with finding new and original artists. He spoke good English and was a fast learner though also noted for his manner as somewhat abrupt and concise. A producer once called him to ask if he had heard his tape, to which Mark transmitted the rattling tape in the bin down the phone line!

One of Mark’s most famous ‘discoveries’ picked up and cultivated was the talented Dr.Alban (Nwapa Alban), a Nigerian dentistry student living in Sweden, and working as a DJ to pay for his studies, who had sent a demo to Mark. He also arranged and did remixes of Dr.Alban’s tracks, as well as other artists, when the very concept of a ‘remix of a song’ was still in its infancy. He left the A & R post at the end of 1991. Concurrently in the early 1990’s he celebrated early success as a (predominantly) Techno DJ at Sound Factory in Frankfurt. These were mostly warehouse parties based on the British club scene model at that time, organized by music producer and DJ Alex Azary. It was Mark in conjunction with Alex who opened the XS Club (now known as The Box) in Frankfurt in 1991.

It is also in 1991 when the hitherto Markus Löffel becomes ‘Mark Spoon’ and one of the ‘Holy Trinity’ in Frankfurt comprising of Sven Väth, DJ Dag and, of course, Mark Spoon. He never had a larger grin on his face than when he was dropping hard and unrelenting beats sending clubbers into oblivion. It is the same Mark Spoon who would later play at mass raves with 100,000 people as well as the legendary Loveparade, controlling the crowds with his great big beaming grin. He had found his Mecca.

Mark sold the XS club two years later in 1993, having established in the marketplace common terms such as ‘intelligent’ and ‘ambient’ techno, to move onto other projects. From these, of greatest significance was becoming the most famous resident DJ at the legendary Dorian Gray club from 1993 to 1997 when DJ Dag stepped down to move to the Omen club. Located underneath Frankfurt am Main’s huge airport, Dorian Gray was very special. It had the kind of atmosphere that allowed you to ‘bathe’ in the music and was incomparable to any other club before or since. Thanks to his ever-growing reputation, Mark drew a huge crowd coming to hear him play his Sunday morning shift, earning him a front-row place in Frankfurt’s DJ Hall of Fame.

Early trappings of success rewarded him handsomely -  a bathroom at his apartment designed by Phillipe Starck, New York artist Rodriguez painted the canvas that hung next to a collection of platinum discs. He bought the pinball machine featured in Madonna’s “Sex” book at an auction and owned Frankfurt’s biggest poster of Jimi Hendrix. He drove to gigs in an aluminium Audi with his right-hand man Fedi Choukair, his devoted assistant and protector for 10 years, aged 18 when he met an earlier incarnation of Mark determined to become a star.

Mark’s vocation as a career DJ sent him globe-trotting on a regular basis, highlights of which are many. He was in every place, and at every event that mattered: Tribal Gathering in the UK, numerous Mayday appearances, the Berlin Loveparade year after year (and with millions watching him on TV, plus the 200,000 at the Grosser Stern witnessing his historic three sets at the last one ever).As a resident DJ in Germany alone, he appeared on a regular basis at: The Omen in Frankfurt, Kraftwerk KW in Munich, the Pleasure Dome in Augsburg, Mach 1 in Nuernberg, the Airport in Wuerzburg, the Tribehouse in Neuss, the U60311 in Frankfurt and the Kalkscheune in Berlin. His sets were more original than technical – attention grabbing chops and drops, he would mix different styles into a mosaic that made for an authentic repertoire. He shared Jam’s approach to applying his attention to music by studying it, even making notes and deriving his inspiration from a plethora of original sources. His ten-hour sets were stuff of legend, and most of all he loved it every minute of it.

With all this going on he also found time to produce and remix. After the huge success of Jam and Mark’s remix of “The Age of Love” remix work had started flooding in, and each one treated as a creative musical venture by the duo, as opposed to just a simple re-arrangement. Typically turning up at the studio 15 minutes late, he’d be a fountain of original and sometimes almost anarchic ideas that would feed and complement Jam’s inspirational force. The result was pure magic. These were two friends that had a spiritual connection, two artists that would understand each other beyond words, combining in an eclectic force to be reckoned with.

From 1994 to 1999 Mark’s life was perpetual work and play. I recall Muzik mag from around the year 2000 in which they announced the “Caner of the Year” award should go to Mark Spoon for his ‘hard partying’. It’s true that this phase of his life was one of non-stop engagements and a lifestyle pushed to the maximum. He lived for every moment, he chose how he lived it and made no apologies. There was the often a fine line between where the work ended and the fun began. He didn’t care about the media comments, his mission was the music, and thus emanated a fierce persona and great charisma. Especially fitting as he was in full-swing promoting the pumping ‘Time to Burn’ around this time.

Let’s keep in mind the big softie inside, the eloquent and quick-witted but also often shy Mark, for example turning up at a club discreetly watching people from the side. He was sensitive and charming and always worried that as a human being he could be so much more. He looked after his friends well, took them to the best restaurants, cooked for them with great panache, opened his heart to them. His list of friends reads like a who’s who of the music and film worlds. He drank and partied with the best of them, and when it was time to go to Ibiza (his ‘second home’ as he called it) he would leave club land, where he always considered it a privilege to play, to take a trip around the island where solitude welcomed him with open arms. If he had lived longer he probably would have retired to the island.

With dance music changing and new blood taking the helm, these DJ’s playing something he did not regard or respect any more angered him, and he made it known publicly in 2003 at the German Dance Awards. It was a Mark that felt the innovation had left the music, that it had become bland and formulaic. As a driving force behind Jam & Spoon it was his strong philosophy, shared with Jam, to always challenge themselves, their writing, and their own image as perceived by others.

As a resident DJ, in Germany alone he appeared on a regular basis at: The Omen in Frankfurt, Kraftwerk KW in Munich, the Pleasure Dome in Augsburg, Mach 1 in Nuernberg, the Airport in Wuerzburg, the Tribehouse in Neuss, the U60311 in Frankfurt and the Kalkscheune in Berlin. His ten-hour sets were stuff of legend.

Now he dropped out of the limelight and moved to Berlin flicking the reset button and starting afresh. As he had been ill previously with malaria (delaying his input with Jam & Spoon projects at the time such as ‘Tripomatic Fairytales 3003’) he had lost 30kg and now took himself to his new place of work on foot or on bike. His new job was organizing music for a fashion show and he started cooking for his friends again, as well as for charity. He started dreaming of opening a restaurant and even talked of having children with his new life partner. But it was sadly not to be.

Mark died in his Berlin flat on 11th January 2006 at the age of 39. He was found by his girlfriend Sinje, his heart had stopped beating during the night. His death was undoubtedly an accident, and against a backdrop of a new and happier life unfolding before him, particularly tragic.

Perhaps he was called to service on another plane of existence but when I heard of Mark’s passing away, the feeling was indescribable and frankly remains so to this day. Unbelievable then, so it remains deeply unreal now.

"We reap what we sow" - the motto Mark had tattooed around his neck a year before his death, remains a poignant intimation.

His funeral was attended by a line-up of celebrities, paying their last respects to the talented 'rock star' from Frankfurt-Sossenheim.

He is missed by the great many who never met him, but most of all by those who did. A man whose hallmarks were creativity, vitality and quality, a warrior who vehemently fought against the tirade of formulaic dance music emerging on the backbone of innovation he himself had participated in. It’s fair to say he managed to achieve more in his short lifetime than most ever will in theirs.

His spirit is, and always will be, in the very heart of dance music, and it lives on in the great halls of history and our memory.

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with objects it loves."
Carl Jung

RIP dear Markus.