DJ Theo Extreme Takes The Underground By Storm
  (courtesy Teen Meat, printed December '98)

DJ Theo Extreme isn't some skinny guy from France who wears leather pants, 
unbuttoned Calvin Klein dress shirts, and glasses with green lens. He's a 
boring songwriter/trumpet tootler from  Orangeville who wears homemade 
t-shirts, and 50's style girl sunglass he bought from Dollarama. The only 
thing Theo and the guy from France have in common is music. After writing 
punk rock and ska songs for the past 2 1/2 years Theo decided to release a 
techno album. In this interview with Teen Meat, we find out what makes him 
tick and skank.

Why did you decide to start making techno music?

The ideas has always been in the back of my mind, ever since I was in fourth
grade. But, after producing the last FuzzMen album (the FuzzMen are a cutting edge
industrial band) that really put the wheels in motion. Then in Novemmber I  
took it upon myself to remix a few songs by Smells Like A New House (found on 
the Lamestain Records album No Sameer), they really liked them. Instead of 
doing another album like that I decided to do a full on dance album. But 
first to place my feet firmly in the ground I did a three song EP (Instant
Rave). Afer practicing with my equipment for a while, I recorded "This Album 
Will Make Money". And the rest is history, as they say.

Why did you choose the name DJ Theo Extreme?

The DJ part comes from the common dance music title DJ. Theo is my name.
Now the extreme part is rather difficult to explain. I do a singer/
songwriter/trumpet player solo project called T>T>M>X, which is short for
The Theo Markou Xperience. I wanted to keep a close tie to T>T>M>X so a 
picked extreme because the first two letters are like experience. Hopefully
you can figure that out.

There are a bunch of samples played before and after each song, why is that?

Well that's just a little cival disobedience. As of January 1st 1999, a new
copyright tax comes into effect which will raise the price of blank tapes
and CDs 200% to cominsate artists for revenue lost to piracy. My label uses 
blank tapes to make copies of the music we sell, big record labels and their
artists will be making money off of my music. If they want to steal from, 
they better expect to have their stuff stolen as well.

Do you use samples in your songs?

No, samples just take away from the music.

What have you learned from doing these recordings?

Well, I've gained a new respect and a new hate for techno and dance artists.
I learned that making techno isn't as simple as I once thought. I've heard 
some techno that just blows my music out of the water, and I now respect 
those artists a great deal. But on the other hand you have Daft Punk, Fat Boy 
Slim, and Tricky who've made millions just sampling peoples stuff. That's 
wrong, and their music is pure shit anyways.

You're a punk rocker and a skank at heart, will you ever mix those elements
into your music?

Well, I have. "Skank It Up, Brother" on No Sameer was ska. And on my next
EP, I'll be working with Punky from the FuzzMen. He'll be playing guitar on
one track.


Here's the last question. Where do you see DJ Theo Extreme in one year?

Probally retired or just bored.