Mark Lobensteijn has been a producer since the late 1980s.
Born and raised in the Hague region of the Netherlands in 1969, he
grew up surrounded by many different kinds of music, ranging from
jazz, bossa nova, classical and folk to early electronic pioneers such
as Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Tomita, Giorgio Moroder and Gino Soccio.
In the early 1980s the first synthesizers and drum machines entered the family home through his older brother and Mark secretly started experimenting with them. He taught himself how to work with what we would now call vintage synths and drum machines, and before long his first tracks began to take shape.
One of his earliest releases was “Abo Road” by Global Dance Project, released on vinyl in 1993. It was quickly followed by “The Rising Sun” in 1994 on Native Dance Records, a label where Mark would later become A&R manager.
That same year he had a modest club hit with “Violins”, released under the alias Pleasant Chemistry on the renowned Belgian Legato label which still appears in the House Top 1000 after all those years.
Around 1996 Native Dance Records became a more serious venture and Mark joined as A&R manager and co-owner of the label. Shortly afterwards he signed Ferry Corsten as Moonman to the Sci Fi sublabel, to name just one example.
Other aliases from that era include Mark’s & Henry’s, which appeared on the famous Café del Mar Vol. Dos compilation, as well as Synthetic Realm and Applethree, both featured on the Unpaved Roads 3 compilation on the EDM sublabel Nutrition.
On many releases Mark also created downtempo versions within the same musical theme. One example is “Jill” by Mark’s & Henry’s, which has now reached over 2 million streams on Spotify alone.
This inspired him to produce a full album in this more ambient groove style. In 2000 another alias was born, Mark Moon, with the album “Contrasts”. After more than two decades the album was re-released on all major digital platforms, introducing the project to a new generation of listeners.
Under the Mark Moon name Mark also produced remixes for artists such as Gouryella, Chew-Fu Phat, Roger Goode and Comanova.
In 2025 he released a new Mark Moon album titled “Music for the Illusive Mind”, a downtempo and Balearic influenced project featuring ten tracks and running just over an hour. The album further explores his signature blend of atmospheric electronics, ambient grooves and melodic storytelling.
The project also led to renewed collaboration with the legendary Café del Mar Music label, known worldwide for its iconic chill-out compilations and sunset sound.
Just recently this resulted in the release of the “Sundown EP” on Café del Mar Music, featuring several tracks including “Maison Du Jouir”, as well as the original versions of “Jill” by Mark’s & Henry’s and “Abo Road” by Global Dance Project, bringing two early highlights from Mark’s catalogue back into the Café del Mar universe.
Mark’s love for 1980s electronic music such as Italo disco, synth pop, synthwave and electro has always found its way into his productions, whether in house, techno, trance or ambient groove.
Inspired by Michiel van der Kuy, known from Laserdance, LA Style and Nymphomania, Mark released his first Marco Di Luna album “Shimmering Stars” in 2017, a project reflecting his musical connection to the sounds of the 1980s.
In 2021 another album followed titled “Electro Disco”, once again showcasing the eighties as his major source of inspiration.
In 2022 the 12 inch single “Manna Machine” was released on vinyl by Random Vinyl, followed in 2023 by the digital releases “More Energy” and “No More Revenge” on his own Marlo Productions label.
Over the years Mark has worked under a variety of aliases, each reflecting a different side of his musical identity. Projects such as Mark Moon explore the deeper ambient and Balearic side of his sound, while Global Dance Project represents his early electronic roots. With Mark’s & Henry’s and Pleasant Chemistry he created melodic and atmospheric dance music that found its way onto iconic compilations and club floors alike. Other projects such as Synthetic Realm and Emagic Nation allowed him to experiment further with electronic styles and textures, while Marco Di Luna reflects his long lasting fascination with the electronic sounds of the 1980s. Last but not least there is Bill Sender, an alias under which Mark focuses on house and progressive house, continuing his journey through electronic music with the same curiosity that started it all in the late eighties.
