In the second part of D.M.M's interview with Marco we continue where left, jumping straight into his quest for musical perfection:
“Right now I’m currently redoing Scenario for re-release as its first go didn’t do for me what I really wanted. This time my aim is to give it a more edgy flow, in a more similar theme to Predator.”
In taking this evolving ‘it ain’t over till that fat lady is belting it out to the back row’ approach to a seemingly new level I questioned this. What I got back was a typical Marco like humble reply, “This is actually the first time I’ve ever done it this way. Normally I do a track, release it, and tweak it here and there like I did with Predator.”
“But with Scenario I was unsatisfied. I love the vocal so what I’m doing now is taking the voice and putting it into something totally different, to see how it works. Musically there are always so many variables, and when you really believe in a song you’ve got to go back and hit it from another angle.”
It seems music to Marco V is an everlasting ephemeral paradox. In what sounds like a personal growth experience he continued, “I’m always reading feedback on my website and analysing what people send me. I never dismiss it. I’d been getting many remixes of this particular track and it made me take notice, so instead of letting the track go and focussing on something else I delved back into it.”
And back into he is. With a helter skelter schedule of studio and gigs Marco is always on the go. “I’m really busy but I’m really disciplined with it. You’ve got to be. I’ve just had a studio built in my house so this keeps me from sleeping the day away but I’m doing something I really love so I don’t really work a day in my life.”
It’s with these wise words that Marco V reinforces his integrity as a DJ. His dedication it seems is to never rest on his laurels but to openly embrace a never ending edict of improvement. An improvement it seems that has us finally being aurally gobsmacked by the musical force that is Creamfields. Look out dance dudes and girls this field of dreams is uncovering something entirely new.
The Creamfields festival juggernaut hits our shores next month and flying its flag high is none other than Dutch DJ Marco V.
In a two part series D.M.M. interviewed the Netherlands native to find out what he's most pumped about and to chat on his latest album release Propaganda V2:
Should the sound of racing dance be your thing then Marco V is your Formula One driver. Encompassing a heady fuelled mix of electro-house, progressive house and progressive trance he combines a soundscape which rides as smooth as a Prius wrapped in muscle car like handling. Spinning into Australia next month to celebrate Creamfields inaugural tour D.M.M. went for a few laps with The Netherlands native.
“Creamfields is going to be mammoth. I have a great history with the festival and to be involved in bringing it to Australia for the first time is a 2010 highlight. It’s been 12 months since I was there last for Trance Energy and I had a blast. I’ve been doing a whole lot of smaller club gigs so it’ll be nice to cut loose again with a big room ambience.”
The contrast of playing the festivals versus the more intimate club gigs is a balancing act on most DJs turntables and I asked Marco on their differing dynamics and how he approached them. “When I play on the big stage I like to quickly pump it up with the big sounds, while in the clubs I trend towards a darker edge. The big room energy gives me a magical peak but equally the smaller club is a nice change as it allows me more creativity. Together, the combination works well as it emulates my manner in many ways, and I naturally like to travel these two roads in my production style.”
It is this reputation defining production style which has the likes of Above & Beyond and Armin regularly dropping Marco’s tracks with stompers such as When The Night Falls that keeps the unassuming DJ in the CD wallets of an esteemed crew. Much more, it has culminated into him winning the prestigious ‘Best Tech House DJ’ at the DJ Awards in Ibiza last year. “That was a total surprise. I have always tried to play as many styles as possible in my sets and radio show and I guess the tech must’ve been loudest,” he quipped.
The tech house Marco describes lives large in his latest release, Propaganda V2, and in addition to this moniker one could easily double tag it as an album of collaborations. Predator and Scenario are two such tracks fitting this bill with Marco describing the peculiar way in how he teamed up with English vocalist Khashassi. “It’s very funny story. Ben, my studio mate, met her playing World of Warcraft online. They got chatting, she ended up sending us some demos which we really liked, so we invited her over and these tracks are the result.”
For me, Predator is a killer, with Khashassi’s voice having a Nadia Ali like wispiness (think Rapture by iiO) devoid of the usual trance vocal cheesiness common to the genre. The solid bass also dimensionally delivers mid through to give the piece some real hypnotic substance. Asked on its big room feedback Marco said, “Everyone loves her voice and a lot of people are asking me who is that girl? I’ve also just done a new remix which is more in tune with the dance floor than the album version and the results have been great. I’m really looking forward to dropping it in Australia.”
Check back real soon, or simply subscribe to the RSS feed, for part two of D.M.M.'s interview with Marco V, where we continue the chat on his album and on what he's mixing next.
Until then enjoy some boom crash moments with Marco and Khashassi's collaboration Predator:
Posts
