A HARDGATE DJ will be kicking off a left-wing shindig next month to mark US Independence Day — or “Capitalism Day” as he calls it.

Mark Robb, 43, is a crowd-pulling DJ and political activist, known for his northern soul parties, which come with the tunes, dancing and mod style alike.

The former nightclub boss is pulling the show together with fellow colleagues in the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and friends in a bid to celebrate the anti-cuts movement.

A father-of-two and husband-to-be, Mark is set to combine his two passions, music and politics, on July 4.

Mark said: “I started off my political life in Clydebank in the ‘80s, when the reality of Thatcher’s deindustrialization was all around me. Now, I’ve come back to the politics of my youth through my work as a community development worker in Scotstoun. I can’t wait to combine the two, political activism and music, on Independence Day for the SSP’s northern soul party.” Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged independently in northern England, the English Midlands, Scotland and Wales in the late 1960s from the British mod scene.

The genre mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s motown sound.

Largely a working class movement, northern soul goes hand-in-hand with the left-wing message to be celebrated next month at the Socialist Summer Party, said Mark.

The DJ started gigging as a young man in the ‘90s and had his first ever set in a pub in Paisley, playing latin and funk music.

His passion was truly ignited after experiencing the aftermath of a club night in Dingwall’s in London by legendary DJs Gilles Peterson and Patrick Forges.

Back home, nights out in now defunct Volcano to see Glasweigan DJ Nick Peacock also left a lasting impression that still inspires Mark today. After that Mark began enhancing his record collection and amassing rare jazz, soul and funk records which would pave the way to him becoming a regularly playing DJ.

Mark said: “Nick Peacock’s Wednesday nights and my ‘almost experience’ of Dingwall’s left a yearning for a regular Saturday night soul, jazz and funk club in Glasgow.

“Edinburgh had some weekend stuff on and there were scatterings of northern soul dos — but I really wanted to do my own night.

“So, in 1999, I started a regular Friday night club in the Buff Club at the Kelvingrove side of Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.” Handing out free Russian cigarettes and thin cigars in the 1960s style social club, the night soon became “very popular”, Mark said.

He would have bands such as the High Heel Sneakers, Boogaloo Investigators and Mark’s idol Nick Peacock himself.

“This lasted till 2005 when I moved the club to Bath Lane and named it the Buff Club,” he said. “I had a successful year there but due to inexperience in business I had to leave the club and its name behind. The club’s still there today with the original decor intact which pal Paul Cassidy and I designed.” After that, Mark continued to promote the club and founded Buff Records and Starla Records. The latter was a project between Clydebank musician and producer Marco Rea, who still works at his recording studio The Barn on Cochno Road.

“I loved working there and we had some success years with Starla,” Mark said. “One highlight was a recording called ‘Takes’ with Emile Sande on guest vocals.” The most memorable moment the 43-year-old DJ has was when he supported James Brown as warm up DJ for the crowd at the then Carling Academy in Glasgow.

“I have so many amazing experiences and can name drop lots of artists I have worked with. But the best thing about DJing, whether or not it’s the coolest night club and a funky location, a festival, a basement, a party or a wedding is seeing people let go and take part in the universal gesture of joy and happiness — which is dance.

“I love to entertain people and when they have been working hard all week there isn’t anything better than being part of the magical process of these wonderful recordings, liberating the mundanity and drugery of every day life.” Mark reiterated the importance of music in the working class movement and told how it resulted in him joining the SSP last year.

He added: “Come along to the bowling club on Capitalism Day, or Independence Day, next month and join us for a night of dancing and partying in the name of political struggle.” Mark Robb will be playing at the Socialist Summer Party 2015 at West of Scotland Cricket Club, Partick, on July 4.

Tickets can be purchased for £5 at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/socialist-summer-party-2015-tickets-17290942675