DJ Marky: South-American Junglist

By Natalia Hussain  •  in Interview
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He’s been plowing his way through the decks from as early as 1998 and now he’s about to brush his way through KL once again. Marco Antonia Silva aka DJ Marky spent his early days ambitiously lurking Rio’s nightlife, proving his talent behind the decks, until one night his energetic scratches and Brazil-inspired sounds caused an attraction to legendary drum & bass enthusiast, Bryan Gee. Since then he’s stepped up his game as he hijacked the UK scene with his jungle d’n’b tunes. Before he spins tonight at Vertigo for Livescape presents NSFW, JUICE speaks to the man as he dishes out deets on the Brazil-UK culture clashes, climatic spin sesh’s, and individuality.

What was your first reaction when you heard that you’d be making your way down to KL?
I was really excited! I don’t get to come to KL too often so it is great to be back.

We know that you were originally Brazilian, but very shortly after you began your DJ career, you had a chance to bring all that you’ve got to the UK. Did you fear that the some of your Brazilian-inspired sounds would clash with the English culture?      
Oh most definitely. I was really into the UK hardcore sound and was listening to it back in Brazil so when I went to the UK I definitely felt the pressure. But at the same time I knew that if I was going to be successful I had to stay true to myself and the music I was into, so that’s what I did.

From past interviews and articles, it is always mentioned that you just have this boom of energy that comes out in every performance. When spinning, is it the music itself that gets you pumped up and motivated or something else within you?
It’s a combination of the music and the crowd. I live and breathe the music so it is really important to have some good tunes in my library, but at the same time I really take a lot of cues from the crowd about what to play, when to switch it up and things like that so when the crowd are feeling it it gives me even more energy to do what I do.

You’ve played from city to city, clubs to clubs, where is the one place, that’s hands down, been the best place to spin at or most memorable?
There are really cool venues everywhere, but two of my all time favourites are WOMB in Tokyo and Fabric in London.

Your single ‘Yellow Shoes’ stayed in Beatports Top 10 for a while, did you expect that tune to go that far?
I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as successful as it was. Also the b-side ‘Mystic Sunset’ was a surprise as well. Of course if I didn’t think the tracks were good I would have released them on any label, but all I knew was that I really liked the vibe from the tracks and when I played them out before releasing them the crowds really liked them too.

We’ve heard you say that, every DJ must have their own style. For young aspiring talents today who are struggling to find their niche, could you give a sneak of to how you landed the style that suited you best?
It took a while and I went through many different genres to find my niche. I started as a techno and hip hop DJ and then moved through house, hardcore and hungle before I came upon d’n’b. It is actually more important for a producer to find their sound as this is what becomes their identity that the fans recognize.

On a similar note, which young talent or rising star today, do you reckon will go far in this industry?
There are some new faces around like Total Recall, Dialogue, T>I and more that are making some really good music at the moment. Thankfully I managed to sign some of their tracks to my label.

Lastly, at the end of the day what is more important to you, the crowd or the satisfaction of playing what you like instead of what the world wants you to play?
The crowd are the most important thing. The crowd and the fans buy the tickets to the show and buy my music and allow me to do a job that I love, so satisfying them is always the number 1 priority.

Livescape pres. NSFW feat. DJ Marky is happening tonight at Vertigo. More on the veteran d’n’b DJ here.