These days DJ and producer Mark Farina is most associated with the sound of West Coast house – think hip hop influences, jazzy horns, "real" instruments and upbeat summery vibes. The association has been built up particularly through Farina’s work on San Francisco’s Om Records – for the most party his latest mix CD on the label 'House of Om' sticks to the Left Coast sound with the pride of someone locally born and bred. But the big surprise is that Farina is not a San Francisco native; he’s a Chicago transplant. Take a closer listen to the CD and there's a more jacking influence on a number of tracks, the Kerri Chandler and Freaks feat. Robert Owens cuts in particular. To cement the hometown connection, Farina has also recently set up a new label called ‘Great Lakes Audio’, which he intends to be an outlet for more Midwestern sounds. "Yeah, I wanted more of a Midwest feel, " Farina explains. "I always wanted my own label, and the tracks probably go for a little more of a Chicago-ey, weird type feel."

Farina might have lived in the Bay Area for fifteen years, but his Chicago roots run deep. He once roomed with Derrick Carter, and his famous Mushroom Jazz style, which fuses acid jazz, hip hop and house, was forged in the back rooms of Windy City clubs. It's a sound that conquered cocktail bars and lounges during the nineties, but it's not a sound that particularly suits the main rooms where Farina spends most of his weekends these days, and so Farina finds his career on a double track: On one hand celebrated for downtempo innovation, but all the while cultivating his uptempo side, not to mention his garden. There are other advantages to sunny California other than music it seems.

RA caught with Farina during time out from him tending different kinds of roots.

We hear that you're into skateboarding. What else do you get up to when you're not Djing?

This week I have been working on producing a few tracks, which is a bit different from DJing. I've been doing a lot of gardening recently because I have moles in my garden at the moment. They are putting holes in my grass and stuff and it's pissing me off.

What's your garden like?

I have got a bit of lawn out back with a succulent kind of garden around the edge, where the mole is putting holes in my grass. There are like five holes out there that I keep filling. Pain in the ass. I have got succulents, and there’s also a cobblestone path. It's pretty small but private. It's got like a little kind of coverage and stuff and gets good light although it's rainy today, rainy and foggy. The dog is out there right now barking away. It's a nice little yard.

It must be easier to tend to your garden in San Francisco than in the cold winters of Chicago. What prompted you to move from Chicago to San Francisco all those years ago?

[The cold] was part of it. I had two apartments for a couple of years. They were pretty cheap, the total cost of both of them was about $500 a month. So for two or three years I had two apartments and I was living with Derrick Carter for a bit, then coming up to San Francisco. Then when the rent went up in Chicago, I found a place here. Growing up in Chicago, everybody has the urge to move away from home at some point.

So it wasn't so much to do with the difference in music scenes?

I guess at first, but my reasons for moving were silly reasons. I guess outdoor stuff was a reason too. San Francisco is more naturey whereas Chicago is not so nature oriented.

What do you like to do that is nature oriented, apart form gardening?

I like to hike, go to the beach, I go to the beach everyday, I live two blocks away from the ocean. I snowboard in the winter, which I can't do in Chicago, as it is really flat, you have to drive pretty far.

You are generally known for house, but last time I saw you in Australia, you played a lot of hip hop. Your Mushroom Jazz series also involves a lot of hip hop. How did you get into hip hop in the thick of the Chicago house scene?

Chicago was kinda all house. Back then I would play all night, like a nine-hour set. You get the room and you play from open to close. Now you have gigs where you play two or maybe three-hour sets, where you have multiple DJs. So back then, because everyone was playing house, I just thought that because I was in a different room that didn't have a very good sound system, not the main room, I played some other music. That is what evolved the Mushroom Jazz sound. I played a bit of early De La Soul, Soul to Soul and stuff from the Talkin' Loud label and a bit of Acid Jazz all mixed together.

What do you think of the Bay Area hip hop?

There is still a good underground hip hop scene, and when I arrived in San Francisco they had a bigger acid jazz scene in the Bay Area than Chicago. Chicago was all house but here in San Francisco there has been a big acid jazz scene for a long time and now it has evolved into different forms of hip hop. Oakland has its own sound and the Bay Area is good.

How did your existing fans take to you fusion sound of hip hop, jazz and house?

They liked it. People didn't normally dance to it, it was more like couch, or lounge music, or what ever you might call it. As opposed to San Francisco where people would dance to down tempo and acid jazz and hip hop a lot more. Chicago had a good hip house scene, which is the fusion of hip hop and house, so they liked that kind of stuff, but they just liked it a little faster tempo.

What do you think about the 'bumpy' sound coming from Barclay Crenshaw and Justin Martin at Dirty Bird?

Yeah, I like that kind of stuff a lot. Lots of great music that's coming up that's called different names. There are all kinds of names for stuff these days.

"I don't think that America has got super genrefied. There are a lot of places that are either house or techno."

What do you want to do with Great Lakes Audio, apart from getting back to your Chicago roots?

I just want to do some weird stuff, maybe not do the straight formula club tune like chorus breakdown and whatnot. Just more experimental sounds that might be more underground than I would normally put out on Om. Maybe Om stuff is a little more deeper, smoother sound. With my own label I can do my own thing and maybe put out some other people’s music. Like Dirty as well I am in the process of transitioning into the digital label format.

You’ve just released a compilation for Om. Did you have any difficulty in choosing the tracks or had you had them in your mind for a while?

Yes, I always try and get a lot of new stuff. In this day of age it’s pretty easy to get a lot of files and stuff on CD before things comes out. You just need to search around and I am lucky to know a lot of people from all over so I just try and get really new stuff because sometimes the whole business end of making a CD takes a little while. I want to try and make it current. I try to feature good new stuff that I am into. It doesn't matter if it's out or on another label, which makes it hard to license sometimes.

Have you had much difficulty with getting licenses in the past?

On my CD with Derrick Carter, there was one track that I had to cut because I played it at the party but they couldn't get permission for it. That happens. It is definitely harder to record a CD and then licence afterwards because there is always something, and even though the person could be a friend of yours you might not be able to get it because of legal and licensing issues. It can happen when you least expect it, even though I like to think that I have got some kind of 'pull' with people to get tunes.

For any DJ, you have to think about these issues when making a mix. You just can't get whatever you want, especially when you are releasing something where everything is fully licensed. On a proper level you just have to take extra precautions because you don't want to piss anybody off or get anybody in trouble. Which can happen. I just try and pick new stuff from a new underground label that I know I can use and luckily because I have had experience doing CDs I know what I can and can’t pick, It helps when you stay in touch with people. With most of the tunes I use, I know the label or the person doing the track, which helps.

How do you feel the US dance scene has changed since you started in Chicago, in terms of the types of music that you hear out and the venues?

I think in America the scene changed a lot in around 2002. There was a real boom period and things have maybe mellowed out since then. In the club scene there used to be maybe more of a rave, all age party scene, as the drinking age in the States is 21 and usually that is all the DJs play. Now there are no 18 and up places where DJs play because there are a lot of legal issues. I think that has changed club life a bit. Everything is more of an older age, where in Canada and Australia, where the drinking age is 18 or 19, the crowd tends to be a bit younger than the US scene now.

Music wise, like you said about over-categorising, I don't think that America has got super genrefied. There are a lot of places that are either house or techno. it’s not so much minimal electro categories or tech-house or those type of things. Maybe San Francisco or NY and LA might know those sub genres but other than that it is a mixed bag of house and techno.

Does it ever frustrate you when you get typecast sometimes as a deep house DJ even though you spin a diverse range of genres very well?

Sometimes. I think that things get over-categorized. Being from Chicago, I just find Chicago-style house, more than other kind of house, very diverse. It has all different styles within it, which could be anything from minimal to electro to vocal tracks to disco sample loop tracks. The San Francisco sound is more deep house than Chicago. If you want to break it down, Chicago house is more 'jacky'. But it can mean a bunch of different things depending on where you are from or whatever terms you are calling things at the moment. It can be good or bad. There are worst things to be called. I mean sound evolves and places evolve but the house undertone is still there.

"You could spend forever on a track. It’s hard just knowing when something is done, as opposed to playing somebody's finished project, which you don't question."

Do you ever get the chance to chill out and listen to music passively or do you always take an active role, thinking about what you can do with a tune, or how it was produced?

There is some stuff I listen to for relaxing. I have a lot of old reggae records. I like eighties industrial music and all kinds of stuff. I guess sometimes I am thinking maybe I could use this. It’s true though I am always thinking that maybe there is a part of this that I can use somehow. Either when DJing or producing I am kind of always thinking about it.

What was the last track that you listened to on vinyl that you were just chilling out to?

The Police’s ‘Ghost in the Machine’ album. I just pulled it out. I definitely listen to stuff like that passively. I would never touch or sample it – I’m just going to listen to it.

Who was the last group or person you went and saw in concert?

Good question. Let’s see. Who did I see at Miami? I saw Heather & Collette at Cleveland Hotel. I saw Spinna play when I played in London. At Fabric. DJ Spinna.

What do you think of the music scene in London?

I think London is great. I think there is tons going on there. It’s kind of one of the electronic music capitals. It’s good to see everybody out. I have lots of good friends there and Fabric, I love. It is an amazing club. There was Spinna in a room and Terry Francis was in a room two. It was a good night. London is always rocking. Deep house is coming back in London so that is a good sign.

Have you been asked to do more gigs in the UK and Europe recently?

Yeah, I’ve been back at Fabric. I find that you have to have allegiance to clubs. I don't play all over when I am there; I play for Fabric. Sometimes I play for MoS, but they can be territorial there so I can only play for the clubs that I regularly play for. To be nice to them. They like having me back. I try not to play a bunch of different smaller clubs so much.

Apart from being on the road all the time what do you think is the worst thing about being an international DJ?

Sometimes you are not able to eat good food all the time and that takes its toll. The usual things like being up late. Like tonight I have to play midnight to 4:30 so I have to make sure I chill in the evening. On gig nights I like to stay low key. It’s evolved from me always being on the road. Many years ago I used to go out for a big dinner before the gig, but now I just like to focus and listen to music in the room and get ready for the show. Even when I now play in San Francisco I don't hang out with my friends before a gig. I am like "I need to do stuff".

Aside from DJing, you have done a few albums of your own, for example ‘Air Farina’. How was producing that as opposed to compiling or DJing? Do you find it harder?

It is definitely more difficult. I find that producing stuff and making an album can be a big undertaking. I have a bunch of stuff started, but it’s easier to play other peoples tracks and just keep throwing stuff on. That is kind of second nature to me. In the end, producing takes more time and you could spend forever on a track. You can just sit down and tinker away and it’s hard just knowing when something is done, as opposed to playing somebody's finished project, which you don't question. When it is your own, you just keep adding things, especially in this digital age.

I find it more challenging making downtempo than house. On the production side, house is a little easier than mushroom jazz hip-hoppy style stuff. For downtempo stuff, less is more. It takes a little more discipline. You get a different pleasure from production than DJing. Even though it might be crap, you can say “I made this!” That’s got its own therapeutic value. For anybody, making a track is fun.