Mark Baker: From the Godfather of New York Nightlife to the Wolf Man of Bali
Circus runaway, Dogtown skater, the man who ran New York after dark, and now a quiet force for good in Bali, from organic food to a sanctuary for wolves.
Some lives refuse to sit still. Mark Baker has been a circus runaway, a world-class skateboarder, the man who ran New York after dark, and now a quiet champion of clean living and conservation in Bali. This is the story of how one of nightlife's most legendary figures found a very different kind of purpose on the island.
From a Brighton circus to the Dogtown crew
Baker's story begins on the streets of Brighton, England, where as a boy he ran away to join the circus. Then came skateboarding. By his mid-teens he was one of the most fearless vertical skaters in the world, a speed-record holder who fell in with the legendary Dogtown crew out of Venice, California, alongside names like Tony Alva. Decades later, that chapter earned him a place in the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
The Godfather of New York nightlife
New York was the natural next stage for a man with a bottomless appetite for life. Baker arrived with little and worked his way up, debt collector, waiter, promoter, until he was running the rooms that defined the city after midnight. Across thirty years he created some of the most talked-about clubs, lounges and supper clubs in the world, and produced events around film festivals and fashion weeks. To those who lived it, he was simply the Godfather of New York nightlife.
A change of pace in Bali
In the early 2000s, Baker traded the velvet rope for the rice fields and moved to Bali. The same instinct that made him a tastemaker turned toward wellness and clean food. Having helped pioneer the cold-pressed, organic juice movement, he brought that ethos to the island with In The Raw, celebrating organic, raw and locally grown produce, and the Balinese farmers who grow it. The king of the night had become an advocate for living well.
The Wolf Man of Bali
His most surprising chapter is also his most tender. At Nuanu Creative City, Baker is the force behind Alpha Wolf Lodge, the southern hemisphere's first wolf sanctuary. It is home to a pack of wolves, Loki, Thor, Merlin, Nimue, Artor, Lelou and Luna, cared for and given a place to thrive. Visitors can learn about the animals, walk beside them and come to understand a species too often misunderstood. From the king of the night to the keeper of wolves, it is a fitting next act for a man who has never done anything by halves.
Why we love this story
Bali is full of reinventions, but few are as vivid as Mark Baker's. It is a reminder that the best of the island is its people, the characters who arrive, fall for the place and give something back. At SHO VIP, the world Mark has built, from the wolf lodge to the table, is exactly the kind of experience we love to open for the people we look after.