I Was There – DJ Marky’s first UK shows, 1998
Carl Loben recalls a one man revolution in d&b
Carl Loben, editor of DJ Magazine and co-author of a new history of drum & bass, ‘Renegade Snares’, recalls how the arrival of DJ Marky in the UK turned the scene on its head….
“Drum & bass in 1996 and 1997 had suddenly become flavour of the month – it started getting used on adverts and shit like that. I suppose the natural inclination for non-mainstream producers in the scene was to go back more underground and I remember at that time there was some doom-mongers going on about the millennium bug. The reaction to its entry into the mainstream was the whole techstep thing — to go back underground
There were some amazing techstep tracks but the effect they had on the dances was to make them a bit moody sometimes, and a lot of female clubbers went off to the UK garage scene because it was seen by many as being more fun at the time. I remember some parties at The End where it became 80% or 90% men, whereas it had been pretty even or maybe 60/40 before.
Marky brought something different to the table. I met him with Oliver and Edo from Bulldozer who co-ran (West End d&b club-night) Movement in the late 90s. He’d been over to London once or twice before and just been to some parties and met people, but not really got a toe-hold in the scene. It wasn’t really until Bryan Gee went and played in Brazil at a party in Sao Paulo called Movement — set up by Marky, Patife and others as a tribute to the London night — that Marky was properly recognised. Bryan, who was a part of Movement in London, went over to Brazil to DJ and check it out, and Marky was rocking the joint in his inimitable way. Bryan was like, ‘We’ve got to get this guy back over to London or to England to play’.
So sometime in 1998 — I think — Marky had a gig at Movement at Bar Rumba on Shaftesbury Avenue, and I think it was either the following night or the following week he had a gig at (Brixton club) Mass. It was maybe a V Recordings night, but I’m not sure. I just happened to be there and I was blown away by Marky. He was just such a different DJ to most of the other people in the scene at the time, who would sometimes seem a bit moody behind the decks, whereas Marky was rocking and dancing and smiling and all sorts.
At this night at Mass, he stole the show for me. I remember writing in Melody Maker at the time, ‘Other DJs are going to have to up their game’ because he was scratching and doing tricks galore. His style was very musical and that’s what he helped usher in. Bryan had the foresight to help bring him through, and around the millennium there was the ‘Brasil EP’ on V Recordings with his mix of ‘Samba Raro’ by Max De Castro on it.
,Then a bit later (Marky’s track with XRS) ‘LK’, which got up into the Top 20 and he even got onto Top of the Pops with it, but also a lot of musical tracks that came up through the clubs and became hits on their own terms.
The show at Mass made a big impression on me — Marky definitely brought an extra dimension to the scene. A type of drum & bass where it was OK to smile. You can still play some kick-ass futuristic, sci-fi badass tracks as well, but you know, it was supposed to be fun.
Oliver and Edo from Bulldozer started managing him and that really opened up an international touring corridor between the UK and Brazil. The Skol Beats festival over there would have a drum & bass tent and all the UK DJs would go over there and absolutely love it. By the early noughties, after the world didn’t end with the millennium bug, there was a renewed positivity in the scene for me. There were a whole load of big tracks that had a kind of Latin influence that came through, like ‘Shake Ur Body‘ (Shy FX & T Power), ‘Love Is Not A Game’ (J Majik feat. Kathy Brown) and ‘Barcelona’ (D Kay & Epsilon). Soulful tunes, I suppose, but maybe just more sunshine-based. To this day, Marky is still one of my favourite DJs.”
‘Renegade Snares’ by Ben Murphy and Carl Loben is out now – for more info visit the Jawbone Press site
