DJ Marky
May 31st, 2007 by rui
DJ Marky is already a veritable superstar DJ in his homeland Brasil. Based in Sao Paulo, the clubbing and dance music capital of Brasil, Marky is well established as one of Brazil’s biggest DJs and producer talents.
Today, around the world, DJ Marky is considered one of the most exciting DJs/producers in dance music. His phenomenal technical skills and Brazilian flair, his enthusiasm, dedication and character took the world by storm a few years ago; now fully established, he continues to have the same whirlwind effect on dance floors as he did when he first arrived in the UK.
Hooked on music from a young age, it was the record shop where Marky worked in the early 1990s that allowed him access to the hardcore sounds that were coming out of the UK at the time. Although it wasn’t immediately well received by the clubs in Sao Paulo, Marky started playing these records out, and as Marky followed the evolution in to jungle his work began to pay off and a scene began to develop. Alongside his close friends Patife and Koloral they pushed this sound until it became one of the country’s strongest music scenes, as it remains to this day.
In August 1997, Marky made the most important move of his career by travelling to the UK with Patife, intent on meeting their drum & bass heroes and showing them what Brasilian drum & bass artists could do. A chance meeting with the Movement promoters and Marky had made an impression. His first set for Movement was as a total unknown playing at the Mass in Brixton, Marky tore the roof off and after finishing his set in the main room was marched in to the second room to play again!! Since then his international career has gone from strength to strength. Building a reputation for his blistering sets at Movement, Bar Rumba, it wasn’t long before he was touring nationally, and internationally.
In 2000, media recognition began as DJ Marky was asked to present the One World show on Radio 1. In February 2001 DJ Marky won Best International DJ at the Knowledge Magazine Awards in London beating off stiff competition. He quickly followed this by being nominated as Best New DJ at the Ericsson Muzik awards and was added to 2001s Top 10 DJ List for Ministry magazine alongside such luminaries as Danny Tenaglia, Timo Mass, EZ, and Paul Oakenfold.
2001 was also the year when Marky’s career as a producer really began to take off with the release of the Brasil EP on V Recordings. This highly acclaimed EP contained the massive ‘Samba Raro’ by Marky that really showed the world that not only was he one of the most exciting DJs to emerge for years, but was also a highly accomplished producer.
Later that year his mix album, ‘The Brasilian Job’, was released. Hailed as ‘the best Drum & Bass mix album ever’ (DJ Magazine), it went on to become one of the biggest selling compilations of all time in the genre and was accompanied by a worldwide tour.
In 2002, the accolades continued to rain in for Marky, as he was voted by the public into 52nd place in the highly prestigious DJ Magazine ‘Top 100 DJs in the World Poll’. He was again nominated at the Muzik Magazine Awards for ‘Best Breakthrough DJ’ as well as appearing in the HOT 100 poll in URB magazine.
Summer 2002 was also the year of ‘LK’. Massive on the underground, this track, produced by DJ Marky & XRS, went on to reach the dizzying heights of number 17 in the UK singles charts, and got Marky a spot on ‘Top of the Pops’! ‘LK’ put DJ Marky & XRS firmly on the producer’s map, and it wasn’t long before they were releasing tracks on a host of big labels.
As Marky & XRS spent more time in the studio together, they found they were accumulating a lot of tracks, and in 2003 they made the decision to launch a label together to give themselves an outlet for their work, and they named it Innerground Records. They decided to release a joint artist album and release it on Innerground. Their first release on the label came in November 2003 a 12′ containing two tracks taken from the album ‘In Rotation/Rudebwoy’, two more 12′s followed in Spring 2004, and in March of that year they released the album ‘In Rotation’. Containing high profile collaborations with the likes of Vikter Duplaix and Brasilian Minister for Culture Gilberto Gil ‘In Rotation’ received wide critical acclaim and support from the public.
Today, Marky is still tearing up dancefloors the world over, but is still managing to spend a huge amount of time in the studio with XRS. He also devotes a lot of his time to the label, Innerground Records, building up the label by signing great tracks by other big names. His DJ schedule is always packed, with regular European and world-wide tours as well as continuing to play to packed clubs and sell-out crowds at festivals in Brasil.
Upcoming shows…
1/12/07 – The End, London
2/12/07 – Warehouse, Manchester
3/12/07 – The Junction, Cambridge
4/12/07 – Air, Birmingham
