DECKS WIZARD KING MARCO LOCO TALKS WORLD TOUR & PRODUCTION!
After rocking the summer season in Ibiza, Marco Loco is back in Thailand this winter, enjoying gigs on the party circuit from Koh Phangan to Koh Samui to Koh Tao. He has upcoming gigs in the next week at ReEarth Festival on Koh Samui and is back to Koh Phangan for Jungle Experience's epic line up on Jan 25th:
Marco Loco, Marcus Bailey, the enigmatic Berlin duo Marcus Meinhardt & Empro, + resident island DJs Darragh Casey, Lady Oh, Skunky & Peter G for support. A night which is shaping up to be an all out Jungle Experience musical extravaganza!
Filling us in on his gig-fuelled few months around the world between Ibiza & Koh Phangan, Marco explains: "There was no end-of-season rest this year unfortunately! Days after Space Closing Party in Ibiza, I went to Seoul, Korea, to play a Space on tour date.Then it was back to Ibiza for a few days and on to Amsterdam to play my brother's Fiasco event at ADE.
"After a few gigs in the UK, I headed to New York and Florida, followed by an incredible 5 weeks in Mexico. I had a couple of gigs in Tulum - the most gorgeous chillout paradise I've ever been - and the rest of time was focused on my production. The phenomenal end to the tour was playing at the new Space Brazil.
"Then it was back to Glasgow for a few weeks in the studio, finished off my new tracks and came straight back here!"
And his plans for returning to Koh Phangan this seaon?
"To be honest, Priority One was The Jungle ! I had such a great gig there last year and I was so excited to get back here. I was also excited to be invited back to Loi Lay - both were up there with my best gigs in Thailand last year, full of cool people who really appreciated the music I was playing. Aside from the gigs I was also really looking forward to seeing all the amazing people I'd met on Koh Phangan last year."
This year he's already been storming the parties with the best of underground house & techno you'll hear anywhere. Add to the mix his latest productions - and you are sure of an evening of musical dynamite wherever he goes.
"I actually started producing long before I started DJing when I was about 13 - almost 20 years ago now, crazy to think about that! I had a keyboard synth back then and I made a load of tracks on it. Looking back, the tracks were not amazing but I was learning how to make music! It’s only the last 5 years or so that my tracks have reached a decent standard that Im happy with and now I really look forward to playing them out during my sets."
All his releases so far have been with Celestial Recordings, 'a great label building in stature with every release they do', Marco says it is the man behind the scenes, Steve Kelley, who deserves the credit for Celestial, who also sign J'adele, on Koh Phangan for Jungle Experience's Jan 21st line up!
Marco's creative process for producing a new track is different every time. Sometimes he might start with a vocal or a piano, sometimes the beats or percussion. Enjoying trying different techniques all the time, he always makes sure his tracks never sound ‘same same'.
"I’ve previously made lots of chillout and downtempo, I've always loved making that stuff - but right now Im mainly focusing making more on house: from tech to deep to peaktime."
And the favourite track he's currently producing?
"Good question! Ive just completed 8 new tracks and I really love them all. I definitely had the most fun with ‘No Requests’, a kind of ‘nu-disco/funk-house’ track which Im really excited about. Very difficult to put a genre on this one! It’s the kind of track I would drop when going from funk to house, lots of attitude with a funk-fuelled bassline - but “Whatever you like” and “Hijack” are equal favourites!"
Tell us all about Hijack! The track that took me and Kat by storm that night at the Castle Koh Tao!
"I started working on Hijack in Thailand last year. I thought Id finished it but when I got to Ibiza and tested it out, I knew it was missing a few elements. I literally had no time for production in the summer but as soon as the season ended, I began finishing a few tracks from last year and making some new ones.
"Hijack was priority one as I'd spent so much time on it last year and had seen the potential. I wanted to do a ‘cool as fuck’ deep house track that I could drop on dancefloors, make the place come to a musical standstill then erupt shortly after.
"I’ve dropped it @ The Jungle and The Castle and both times have caused an eruption - so Im really excited about getting it on to the right label now - which I’ll hopefully have confirmed in the next month or so."
Just as his multi-decked wizardship sets him apart as a DJ, the music he is producing has a fun loving originality and unique quality that sets him apart from the crowd: There is an incredible joie de vivre and energy to Marco Loco’s music that lights up and animates both DJ and dance floor.
Producing 20+ tracks a year, and with a DJ career taking off into the stratosphere - is it only a matter of time before the world wakes up to the reputation of this still relatively unsung producer?
5yrs after Castle owner Aaron met this 'rough, unpolished diamond' at a Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan, are Marco Loco’s productions now the undiscovered gemstones just waiting for the next big label to snap them up?
Hold on to your pork pie hats when that moment arrives…
… And watch this space !
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