DJ Solitare is Mark Ainley, a psychedelic trance DJ classically trained as a pianist who has been active in the world of psychedelic trance and electronica since his exposure to the art form in Tokyo in 1994. Inspired by the now-legendary Odyssey and Equinox events, and particularly by two events where Olli (Space Tribe) DJ’d all night, Mark moved to London in 1996 to become more involved with the scene.

Mark’s regular contributions to Dream Creation magazine – including interviews with Cydonia and Quirk, and detailed international event reviews – won the appreciation of several of trance’s top artists for his clearly articulated perspectives on the state of psychedelic trance music and events. Some of his unofficial DJ training took place by being in the DJ booth watching Tsuyoshi mix at the monthly Return To The Source parties and by performing weekly at the Daniel Poole shop in Soho.

Mark moved back to Tokyo in early 1998 after a quick visit to Vancouver, where a short set behind the Art Gallery on a Sunday afternoon introduced a number of local clubbers to psychedelic trance.

In Tokyo Mark became a resident DJ at three regular parties and developed an underground following as DJ Solitare before moving to Vancouver late in 1999.

As DJ Solitare, Mark has played in Goa, London, Zurich, Bangkok, Tokyo, Bali, Portugal, Hungary, Playa del Carmen, Montreal, Calgary, Victoria, and Vancouver, sharing the stage with a variety of international artists that include Space Tribe, X-Dream, Juno Reactor, Tsuyoshi Suzuki, Stefan Holweck (Total Eclipse/Digital Mystery Tour), Etnica/Crop Circles, Slinky Wizard, Psychaos, Dick Trevor, Burn In Noise, Laughing Buddha, Domino, Masa (Space Gathering), and more. Starting with his 2015 performance at the ZNA Gathering in Portugal, where he played a 2-hour-40-minute set after the Etnica/Lotus Omega side project Crop Circles and before the legendary Slinky Wizard, Mark has become a regular fixture at the premiere retro festival, becoming a headliner at all subsequent editions of the celebrated event.

Mark has produced award-winning compilation CDs and written liner notes for various international classical labels as well as feature articles for International Piano and Classic Record Collector magazines (he became a regular columnist for International Piano in 2023), evidence of a broad background with classical music that supports his programming of electronic music. Mark blends a wide harmonic, melodic and structural range of music to maximize the impact and message of his sets, pitch-matching in alignment with classical theory to add an extra sense of integration and balance.

Always interested in the latest and best music, Mark receives unpublished hot-off-the-press tracks from many of the top producers worldwide. With a strong understanding the roots and evolution of psychedelic trance, Mark often balances his sets by including the best older tracks into his programming, among them obscure favourites and unreleased alternate mixes from his extensive DAT collection – hence his being a co-producer and a label DJ with the retro label DAT Universe (formerly DAT Records). Mark is also an international representative of Tsuyoshi Suzuki’s Matsuri Digital label. He plays both entirely new and completely ‘retro’ sets with a unique twist (depending on the event), blending a variety of psychedelic styles with the aim of integrating different musical languages and keys into an experiential story with a palpable identity.

Mark has also expanded into production, releasing his first EP on Maia Records in collaboration with BC-based artist Blue Lunar Monkey in 2014. He has also been on the production team for the Mind Rewind series of retro trance compilations, which include vinyl-only and unreleased Goa tracks as a fundraising effort for the children’s charity Mango Tree in Goa. Mark also co-produced a new series of three retro compilations on DAT Records as well as having coordinated the rerelease of Doof’s classic 1996 album Let’s Turn On alongside an entire parallel album of alternate mixes (read the background story here) and the first ever release of the ‘lost’ French artist Opale. 

Starting in January 2023, Mark launched his YouTube video series Retro Goa Explorations, in which he shares his observations about classic Goa tracks from the 90s based on his classical music training and his personal recollections from events at the time. In February 2024, as he entered his 30th year in the scene, Mark played at the second edition of the retro festival VER – Exploring the Roots, where his Saturday sunset set was a huge success.