Interview number three with the legend that is Marky. Conducted mostly by Jude with eloquent input from Ian Fraher. Cos I is a bit uninformed when it comes to the techie stuff innit?

M: First of all let me say I only speak a little bit English!

JS: Oh that’s ok we’ll be fine don’t worry! Well that was a pretty amazing set, did you enjoy it as much as the crowd seemed to be?

M: Yes! I really enjoyed it. At the beginning I was thinking, it’s going to be only alright but I was really surprised.

JS: You got a great reaction.

M: Yeah it was really really good, the tent is really nice and the sound system is amazing, so I’m really happy.

JS: Good stuff. First of all talk to us a bit about what kind of music you listened to growing up in Brazil before you discovered drum ‘n bass?

M: I listened to a lot of Brazilian stuff, jazz, and I started playing records a long time ago! I started playing hip-hop and then I changed to new wave and rock stuff. Then I started playing acid house, then house. Then I started working in a record shop and I saw a magazine and discovered new stuff like hardcore, breakbeat and jungle and I started to play this. Then I just followed the UK scene and started playing jungle and drum ‘n bass.

JS: So was it drum ‘n bass that really struck a chord with you and made the most impact out of all those styles you mentioned?

M: Well, when I started playing drum ‘n bass and the more hardcore sounds I just thought these were really interesting sounds because I was just tired with 4x4, all the main music is 4x4 So I was like, I think I need something different, especially because in Brazil every single DJ played 4x4 and I said I have to be different to get the attention of the people. Back in the day I used to play techno or house with three decks and do scratching and everything. Everyone came to see me and said “yeah you’re really good” but people were not like “YES!”. Then when I started to play drum ‘n bass people didn’t like the sound, so I started to build up a different crew. Then a lot of people came to see me play and it started going really smooth. Then we came to the south side and played for the main people, the people who had money and everything and it started to go really well. The only thing I don’t like is that people associate me with drum ‘n bass and I don’t like just drum ‘n bass. I like every single style of music. I want to play everything sometimes.

IF: You will see Fabio playing house sets sometimes, the door should always be open to play what you feel like playing.

M: Yeah, everyone thinks that just because I play drum ‘n bass I don’t know other styles of music and this is wrong cos I know more about jazz, funk and soul than drum ‘n bass!

JS: Do you think it’s a genre that comes across as a bit inaccessible for people and takes more time to get into and appreciate?

M: I think these days it’s very hard because people don’t care too much about music, any music. People want to go to the party, get messy, find the girls, kiss the girls, take them home and then Bye Bye! And the next day someone says, oh did you see the DJ and they’re saying “what DJ?”!! I say this not especially about Europe but especially in my country at the moment. Cos at the moment no one cares. If the media or the press say this is wicked, everyone follows but that’s not right because people forget about talent. So talented people now got less success. That’s what I think sometimes.

JS: Do you remember your first ever gig in Movement? The first time you played there as a complete unknown in the UK and blew everyone away, that must have felt pretty amazing!

M: It’s really crazy. If you ask me how do you think your career is growing up and look now you’re a famous DJ in Europe, I say to you “I don’t know!” The same as if you say to me your tune is in the charts at number fifteen, you came to Top of the Pops, how do you feel about that? I don’t know. Because everything came so fast. I remember the first time I came to England, I just wanted to see the DJs and see the scene and what’s going on. Then I gave a couple of people a couple of tapes, but no one is listening. Then Patiffe came to London and brought a video tape of our party in Brazil, of me and Patiffe playing. Then my manager saw me, my manager now that is, and he said “who is this guy, I wanna see this guy!” Then he came to Brazil, and I don’t speak any English then and he saw me play and say “What the fuck? You have to play in London. And I was scared and said I don’t want to play and Patiffe said “no you have to play, you have to play” and I said “I don’t want to play” and then Patiffe bought my ticket!

JS: So you’d no choice!

M: No choice, and the rest is history.

JS: You’ve been working with your partner XRS now for a long time, what’s the secret to this great partnership, are you still making music together?

M: Well actually that’s the thing, we stopped making tunes together!! It’s so weird because we are really really good friends, I’m the godfather for his son and I know him for about fifteen years. He is the first guy to start doing drum ‘n bass things on a computer. He got me in to the studio. I said ok I’ll go to the studio if you start being a DJ. Then he taught me a couple of secrets, I teach him a couple of secrets, then he started playing he started enjoying DJing more and I started enjoying the studio more! Then he just wanted to do different things. He went to Germany and stayed there for a year and now he’s doing this thing.

JS: So who are you working with mostly at the moment then?

M: Now I’m working with a lot of people a lot of really cool people, different all the time. (Forgive me on this one but I can’t for the life of me figure out what he’s saying so these really cool people must remain nameless!!)

JS: So you’re playing an end of season party at Ibiza this year are you looking forward to that? Last year was pretty crazy!

M: Last year was amazing, incredible. I remember I was really really paranoid because it’s not drum ‘n bass in Ibiza at all. My manager said, Marky can you start playing House and blah blah. I said I don’t know. Then I talked with Carl (Cox). We talked a lot about the scene and music in general, he’s such a lovely person and then I said to him, “What do you think of me playing House?” and he said “Listen I booked you to play whatever you want. If you believe in what you play, then just play it and let’s do it.” And I said you know what “I’m gonna play drum ‘n bass.” And I just did it. And in the beginning the people weren’t sure they come in they go out they come in they go out again, and then after about forty five minutes, the dancefloor where I was playing was full with 2000 people going crazy. Even a couple of DJs from Brazil who play commercial music – they were shocked! I’m really happy to play for Carl, he has vision about good DJs and good music. He still thinks that talent is everything, you have to be talented to play for him, so I’m very glad to play for him in Ibiza again.

JS: Excellent. Finally then, when you eventually hang up your headphones what do you hope your legacy will be, what do you want people to remember you for?

M: The only thing I hope people think is this guy Marky he made me happy when I came to see him. That’s all I expect.

JS: Performance is very important to you isn’t it?

M: Yeah it’s really important. When the decks is a little bit jumpy I stay a bit more quiet but when the decks is very solid I go crazy. Because I really like these sounds and I hope people are going to say to my son “Listen your Dad is wicked!”

JS: Good stuff. Now over to Fraher for the techie stuff (Not my strong point!)

IF: I understand you were using Serrato tonight?

M: It’s so crazy yeah. I went to New Zealand and the guy from Serrato said to me “I work for Serrato, I develop the software blah blah” and I say “I think it’s wicked, but I used a little bit of Final Scratch and I didn’t like it so I don’t want to use Serrato I think it’s the same thing.” And he said “I’ll give it to you and you just try it and if you don’t like it just let me know.” And I said “OK” Then I started playing all the special tunes, exclusive tunes on Serrato and everything else on vinyl. Then I decided I don’t want to spend the money on vinyl anymore. I would spend like £15 for one play. I would rather spend £15 for a DVD of Thomas the Tank Engine for my son! And I’ve got a record label as well remember. Then we’re back on the question again that I spoke to Carl about. I said to him “Do you feel comfortable playing CDs?”, he said “Marky I really feel comfortable. I still love vinyl but it’s hard to travel with it. Sometimes you want to play an old tune and you don’t have it cos your record is in your house. And the other thing is that people are so fucked they don’t care at all what you’re playing. So there’s a lot of DJs playing CDs. So I said “You know what I’m going to start using Serrato” and it started getting really really good.

IF: You can get the music you want straight away and play it that night if you want to.

M: Exactly. I still carry records, but how much records did I play today? One! It’s so crazy, really crazy cos I’m a vinyl addict and I still buy vinyl cos I love it. But I got 5000 tunes in my itunes librabry so if I want to play Prodigy, like I played Prodigy today I can do it. And also I don’t have a problem anymore if my luggage goes missing, every single gig is going to be perfect, everything is sorted.

IF: You’re not worrying about carrying around a bag of records that might get lost.

M: The thing is I don’t mind carrying the records, ok I mind! But the thing is every time I carry my vinyl with me and check it in at the airport, they lose it. So since I started using Serrato I don’t have any problems.

IF: Audio wise do you hear a difference between the two?

M: Well, of course I hear the difference but when you play you see people jumping, you see people dancing, no one cares, that’s the thing. Serious now, I’ve got a record label and I play my own records but if I play records or MP3s or CDs they really don’t care, everyone’s is dancing anyway. It’s hard for me to say this, don’t get me wrong it’s really hard but at the end of the day my job is to entertain the people so what am I gonna do? I played a gig a couple of weeks ago and one guy he came up to me and said Marky you’re wicked you’re a legend you still play vinyl, but 2000 people say Marky you play an amazing set. They don’t notice how I play it! For me the best thing is I make people happy with my music.

JS: And you certainly did that tonight. Thank you so much for staying back to talk to us.

M: No problem, my pleasure.

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fraher1 @ 24 Oct 2007 7:52

One of the most enthuiastic people ive ever met, absolute gent and serious Dj.