Marco V

If you were to define the term ‘dance music purist’, you’d take into consideration a number of factors... knowledge, passion and substance. Combine them together and you get Marco V.

Like many of the world’s superstar DJs Marco was born and bred in Holland. He is a modest and down to earth family man with an undying lust for music. Entrenched in the scene from an early age, it was clear right from the start which path Marco would take. This June that path leads him to the doorstep of Coloursfest!

Where in the world do we find you today?
At the moment I’m holed up in my brand new studio working on new tracks for the second part of my album PROPAGANDA. The album is in two bits, I just made too many tracks for one, I couldn’t help myself!

What has been your highlight of 2009 so far?
There’s been quite a few actually. The release of the first half of my new album PROPAGANDA in my home country was definitely one of them. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking releasing your work out there, especially when you’ve heard it for so long, giving it out to people and seeing what their reaction is, you can’t predict what they’re going to say. Luckily it’s all been really positive.

Then last month I went out to Australia for the Trance Energy tour. We did 4 big shows in 4 different cities in 4 days. That was a great tour, it was the first time that TE had been anywhere outside of the Netherlands and to take it to Australia, wow! It was a great few days and the crowds were amazing, I think it went down very well and hopefully there’ll be more to come next year!

Do you have any gigs coming up that you are particularly excited about? 
I can’t pick just one but there are a lot of great Eastern European festivals coming up, the vibe is always incredible over there so I really looking forward to the summer when I have those dates in my diary. I’d really recommend these festivals to people from the UK actually – although obviously don’t miss out on Coloursfest ;) They’re great events, the people are always amazing and incredibly friendly and the music is always first class.

What are your plans for the season in Ibiza this year?
I’ve got a couple of events lined up for Ibiza. I’ll be playing for Jules at the Judgement Sunday parties and then also at Privilege at the Juicy nights. It’s going to be great, I always love to play Ibiza, the sun kind of helps too ;)

Who were your musical inspirations when growing up?
Everything that I listened to on the radio or in the clubs to be honest. There was so much happening musically back then (it’s not THAT long ago though! ;D), a lot of new sounds, new instruments, dance music was happening everywhere, I just got infected by everything around me

Is there one DJ that you regard as the reason you started DJing?
Yes that’s Ben Liebrand, he was the first DJ that did remixes and had a mixed radio program here in Holland. For me at the time he was definitely someone I looked up to, respected and drew a lot of inspiration from.

At what moment did you realise ‘Yes! I’ve made it!’?
It never took off fast for me, every thing came bit a bit so I never had that feeling of being this massive overnight success. But now and then I would think “Wow! It’s incredible to be here” or the response I would get from people when I made a new track, that would make me realise that what I was doing was having an impact.

What can people expect from the new album?
Just recently somebody told me: “I heard your new album and it’s just like I hear you play a DJ set.” And that’s exactly what I wanted the album to be. I want my music whether it’s on CD or in the club to be a complete Marco V experience, I want you to feel like you’re right there with me, that we’re sharing a very special moment together and you know it’s me and what I do from start to finish. I want to deliver you an experience that nobody but me can.

How long did the album take to write?  What was the writing process involved?
It’s material from 2 years that I collected in a folder. The production took 6 months. I always have a lot of things that come up when I’m in the studio, sometimes they develop straight away, other times they take a bit of work, with some of them, I think they’re dead and buried and then a year later all of a sudden they’ll come to life for some reason. I believe in letting things happen naturally.

You’re playing Coloursfest on Saturday 6th June for the second time. Have you got good memories from the last time you played?
Yeah! First off, all the Scottish crowd are just one of the best to play for. Beside that Coloursfest is a great festival with a fantastic production. Really happy to be back again.

What do you think makes the Coloursfest crowd so passionate?
I’ve thought many times about that but I think they just like to party

Are there any new producers out there that have caught your ears recently?
I have a new producer on my label that makes great productions and he’s a fantastic DJ as well. Also DJ Preach is releasing a few new songs on my label that really rocks.

What’s your pet hate when DJing?
People in the DJ booth who think that they need to pump up the crowd is very annoying 

If you could trade places with one DJ for a night, who would it be and why?
Tiesto. I want to know how it feels to play for 25,000 people who all bought a ticket to see you. I think it’s amazing when you play for such a big crowd and everybody is there to see you and nobody else.

Tell us one interesting fact about yourself….
If I could trade with one DJ for one night it would be Tiesto

Finally, what can people expect from you at Coloursfest?
Many many many new tracks from the album and the forthcoming one!