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Interview with Marco V
Reported by Harderfaster
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Submitted 29-11-04 22:41
Marco V, real name Marco Verkuylen, was born and raised in a small town in Eindhoven, Holland. From an early age music became a huge passion in his life, taking over all of his spare time. He started on his path to DJ superstardom by making mix-tapes in his room as a young boy and sending them off to local radio stations. At 14 he moved on spinning records, three years before pitch controls were first invented! It wasn't long before he started playing put in his home town and before long, his future was set.
His rise to prominence began in 1996 when Marco attained a long-term residency at "De Danssalon" in Eindhoven. It was this regular exposure to the Dutch dance scene that helped establish him as DJ; but it was his move into production that confirmed him as a star. Both "Godd" and "Simulated were huge success in clubs all around the world, and with his release in 2002 of his first album "Con:Fusion" he was awarded the "Best Dance Artist Album" at the BBM awards.
It would be wrong to assume that any of his success happened overnight. Marco's achievements have been a long, slow process over time that has helped create strong firm roots with loyal fans, and sense of strength and surety in his work that comes from many years experience and in-depth understanding of one's talent.
What helps him stand out is his individuality as an artist. Marco V is one of the few international DJ's whose sound is not easily categorised and can be found championed by DJ's across many genres. His unique blend of tough beats, hypnotic bass lines and funky synths has been responsible for some of club lands biggest anthems this year. With dance floor smashes such as Cafe Del Marco and his re-rub of the seminal Loops'n'Tings he has received critical acclaim from all over the dance music world.
Having toured the world Marco V has fans all over the world from Hong Kong to the USA, and this Saturday December 4th he will be showing London audiences just what it is that marks him out as one of the best of his generation when he plays at Twisted alongside Ian Betts, John "00" Flemming and Daegal Brain. Knowing that this is a rare opportunity not to be missed, we managed to get him to answer a few questions about his career to date.
Along with many successful dance music artists you were born in the Netherlands, where did you grow up and what are your first memories of music? Who were your earliest musical influences?
I grew up in a small town close to Eindhoven called 'Heeswijk-Dinther'. When I was young I used to lock myself in my room, but instead of doing my homework, I would listen to the radio and make my own remixes on my tape-deck.
What was dance music like for you when you were growing up? What was
the main style in clubs when you were a teenager?
At that time the 'house sound of Chicago' was very big, and later on hip-hop became popular.
You have said in previous interviews that "I don't care if it's progressive or trance or techno. I really like beats, I really like bass driven beats", is this a reflection on the influences you had when growing up?
When you are younger you listen to a more 'commercial' sound, and as you grow older your taste starts to turn to the deeper music. Maybe that's why trance is so popular with younger people.
Trance isn't as big in the Netherlands as some people may think, yet they have produced some of the world's best Djs and producers of the genre - why do you think Trance hasn't become more popular amongst dance audiences in your home country?
The audience in Holland is very picky, also because we have had a very healthy 'dance scene' for years it's not so easy to satisfy them. Dutch DJ’s learn how to work the crowd pretty fast  Trance used to be very big for a year or so (like hardstyle is at the moment) but this changes often. It always seems to return to a more underground sound in the end.
Towards the early stages of your career you held a residency at "De Danssalon" in Eindhoven, which brought you national success in Holland and really helped establish your name. Do you think that residencies are still important to a DJ's career or would you say that production is now the only way forward for an artist to get true global recognition?
"De DansSalon" was a big help for me in the Netherlands in that time, but it didn't get me anywhere outside the borders. My productions helped me to get more well known worldwide. I think that at the moment, the only way to get worldwide recognition is through your productions.
UK audiences are still falling in love with trance and we are seeing a huge rise in up-and-coming trance artists and producers. How do you think audiences differ between the UK and Europe and what do you think of the growing UK trance market?
I don't really know about the UK market growing, but i always play more trance on the bigger stages in the UK than anywhere else in the world. I also think that trance is still biggest in the UK.
You have been involved in the dance music industry for a very long time, and yet it has only been in the last 6-7 years that you have achieved worldwide levels of success. What, to you, was your first real achievement? What event in your life made you feel that you had broken into the music world and made you feel that you could make a success out of Djing and production?
My first real achievement was my first production. It was called 'Phoney Fables - Spring is in the air' back in 1994. The first time I experienced success in the dj-world, was when the 'Marco V' tracks came out and I had the chance to play at Innercity 2000 for a crowd of 20,000. I also mixed the compilation live.
When I asked people what it was about you that made you stand out the general response was that you were unique in that your music transcends genres and has a universal appeal to followers of house, trance, techno and even hard house. Yet in previous interviews when asked you always say you play what you like. Has it always been important to you to have such a wide and eclectic spectrum of music in your work? Is this a reflection of your personality in your music?
It is true that I like a lot of different things, and I do get bored easily. I think this does influence my musical taste, but it is something that happens spontaneously. It's not like going to a record store and saying "Give me some different tracks." I just listen to all of the new releases and pick whatever i think fits my set.
What changes have you noticed in the clubbing scene over the last few years - do you feel that it is a strong as ever or has it become too commercialised and driven by money?
I think so. The good thing is that this triggers a lot of promoters to put back together some really nice events that are not all about money (everybody has to make some money of course), and producers to create more original and authentic material. The record stores are filled with quality music again, which is much better than it was before.
. As someone who started DJing at a young age, did you ever think that one day you would be able to earn a living from music?
No. When I was young it was even unthinkable that i would ever earn a living from it. Back then DJing was more of a 'hobby' thing. You could earn some money to cover the record-cost. I think in America there were a few Dj’s making big money then, but that wasn't something that was going on in Holland at the time.
You must be quite a busy man at the moment, with the release of
Combi:nations, Loops and Tings being a huge success and playing the Essential mix on Radio 1 being some of your recent successes. It seems as if your career continues to rocket forward, what has 2004 been like for you?
Looking back, every year seems to be better than the one before. With that in mind, I'm really looking forward to 2005. 2004 was a great year, playing more globally in some of the best clubs I’ve ever seen, and met a lot of new people. I also did some great festivals like SkolBeats in Brazil and Dance Valley and Mysteryland here in Holland. I did 3 remixes and 2 releases which all had great response. At the moment I'm really looking forward to my performance at Innercity where I will play for the 5th time. That will be a great way to conclude the year!
You worked on combi:nations for a considerable length of time – how happy are you with the results and the public reaction to your work?
This was one of the projects everybody seems to like. I was very happy too at that time. Looking back it's always easy to see what could have been better, but that creates a nice goal for the next compilation. But I still think this is the best compilation I’ve ever done.
You have been working alongside Benjamin Bates since the 1990s and
have managed to successfully produce some of the best dance tunes around - how did your working relationship first come about and what have been the highlights of your production career to date working with each other?
We met at "De DansSalon" and worked together there for a long time and had some great nights. We became friends and production partners at the same time. I had a studio already and some releases to my name that Benjamin liked a lot. We got together in the studio one day to see what would happen, and 8 years later we are still trying to find out For me the highlights of our working-relationship would be my "Con:fusion" album and more recently the "n.e.v.e.r.l.e.t.a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.k.i.l.l.t.h.e.p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e" we did for Benjamin. I hope that in 2005 another highlight will be my new album, which we are working on in the studio at the moment.
We are seeing the bigger name DJs tailoring their sets by editing and remixing tracks that are on general release to fit their style more, thereby creating a very individual and personalised sound - is this something you do, does it add something to you as a DJ?
What I do is taking tracks I like and making bootleg versions of them. Most of the time this is more than just changing the beat.
How do you go about undertaking a project such as your Cafe Del Marco
remix? Was it a challenge to tackle such a universally loved track?
I didn't want to do the remix at first, because I was afraid of burning my fingers. But after a conversation with Benjamin I decided to give it a try and test it in my sets to see if it could work. That's something I still do when taking a remix offer. The main challenge was to keep the original 'feel' while making it sound like a real Marco V production.
Did you learn anything that helped you when you produced your Loops’n’Tings remix? Have you got any other similar projects in the pipeline?
The funny thing about Loops'n'tings is that is was one of those bootlegs I did for my DJ sets. I have a lot of ideas for similar productions, but I don't want to use the same trick over and over again.
Loops ‘n’Tings has received major critical acclaim by some of the world's top dj-s - how does it feel to have your work and successes recognised by your peers within the industry?
It's nice, but for me this is still just a 'cover/bootleg/remix' version of an already great song. It's always nice to get recognition, but I enjoyed the success of tracks like 'Godd' and 'Simulated' much more.
How do you feel about your career progression? Have you achieved most of what you set out to? What, if anything, would you still like to achieve?
My ultimate goal is to have a gig where 100% of the people inside are there for me, like when U2 or Robbie Williams have a concert. It's not something I see happening very quickly though... I am happy with the way everything is going at the moment. As I said, every year is still better than the one before.
Where would you like to go with your career in 2005?
I try not to over-plan my career, I just want to keep doing what I am doing. There are plans for next year of course, but those are mainly about when to put the album out and what promotion we will do, where to play and things like that.
You were recently voted 16th in the world DJ Mag awards – how does it feel to have your work recognised and celebrated on a global scale? Did you ever imagine when you first started making mix tapes for local radio stations back in 1982 that you would reach such a level of notoriety as a DJ?
This is something I think no one ever expects. I can't describe the feeling it gives when you realise there are people worldwide who like what you are doing.
It has been said that you learnt to mix before pitch adjustors were even invented! How did you perfect the art of mixing when equipment was still so rudimentary, and how do you feel about the massive advancements in technology over the years, with vinyl becoming more and more obsolete alongside the introduction of CD Decks?
In one of my old biographies, someone made a mistake by stating one of my friends invented a pitch control for me before they were available on record-players. We corrected it in the bio, but the story lingers on. My friend did make a pitch control for me, but that was because I didn't have enough money to buy a real one :o) As for the advancements; I still like playing records, but I'm very happy with the new CD players that are available. I can remember having to play DAT's with new productions to try them out, and I can tell you this is much better...
What goals have you still yet to achieve - are there any gigs that you want to play that have so far eluded you?
I would like to play on a beach in Thailand or anywhere in that area. I heard those parties are awesome.
On December 4th you will be playing for Twisted at The Fridge in Brixton, one of London's most famous dance venues, alongside John "00" Fleming, Ian Betts and Daegal Brain. John "00" Fleming has said in a recent interview that the only reason he is playing is to play alongside you! Are you looking forward to playing out alongside such a great line up?
From what I have heard it’s going to be an amazing night, I’m really looking forward to it. I like John a lot, and for me he is the best trance DJ in the world. To have the two of us playing together, one after the other is a real treat and the result should be magic!
Many thanks for your time and look forward to seeing you December 4th!
Photos courtesy of Most Wanted
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Other Features By Harderfaster:
HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2014 - The results are in!
Lashes, Dimples and the Brighton Music Conference
HarderFaster Awards 2013 - The results are in!
HarderFaster Awards 2012 - The results are in!
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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What an experience the 4th of December should be.. 
Wicked interview too!!! 
I'll be dropping in a few of his tunes at TILT on Sat arvo in preparation for Sat night. Can't wait!!