Mario Sounoglou is the man behind the DARKSHIRE project. A native of Athens, Mario studied computer science in Lamia, in central Greece, and there he discovered psychedelic trance when he began to go to parties and festivals throughout Greece beginning in 2000. His love for the music transformed into efforts toward production in Summer 2004, under the guidance of his friend Dimitri (Dark Elf) at KGB Laboratories, who showed Mario how to use machines to create psychedelic sounds.

Around the same time, Mario met the legendary Viktor Zolodrendko during his visit to Greece. Mario and Zolod worked on a track together, which helped Mario to learn new techniques in creating intense psychedelia with minimal electronics/machinery. This track became Mario’s first release, a collaboration with Zolod on Vertigo Records.

Zolod’s music became Mario’s greatest influence as he launched the Darkshire solo project, but he also looked toward other Russian innovators for inspiration and sonic guidance. Still in Lamia at that time, Mario worked closely with friends Stefano (Detonator), Dimitri (Dark Elf), Gregory (part of the Kokobloko project) and Dimitri (Aenaon) to develop new partnerships and explorations in sound. All of these collaborations led Mario to better levels of production and new ideas about psychedelic music.

Mario is now hard at work on an album, intending to showcase both his morning and night sounds. Darkshire is one of few projects today focusing on truly psychedelic morning psy alongside the project’s intense night-time tracks. Darkshire’s morning sound is an inheritor of the bright-sounding “Goa Trance” tradition of the 1990s, but also demonstrates a dedication to the driving intensity of true psystomp and forward-looking layers of creativity. His night-time works are pure driving dancefloor stompers with beautiful complexity and clear production.

Check out our downloads section for both night and morning psystomp tracks from Darkshire solo and from his collaborative projects. His album is coming soon!