Record Store Day on the 12th June is almost upon us. Once again, we've been working hard to prepare special releases for this celebration of record store culture. One such release is the second volume in our "Brazil 45 Boxset Curated by" series and for this one we have gone straight to the source, Brazil’s DJ Marky (Marco Antônio Silva). This boxset is a selection of his inspirations and favourites from the golden era of Brazilian music.
Reminiscing to the early 2000s, we can remember the freshness that DJ Marky and other Brazilian producers bought to drum’n’bass by taking two different forms of music from two different cultures and interweaving them effortlessly with a beautiful synchronicity and unity. This merging of the genres even produced one of the biggest commercial tracks of 2002, firstly on an underground level and then as a crossover chart hit, with DJ Marky & XRS's 'LK 'Carolina Carol Bela' which samples Jorge Ben and Toquinho. The importance and legacy of DJ Marky and his Brazilian contemporaries from this era are far greater than their productions and records alone, for many, they were also the gateway into the deep and rich world of Brazilian music.
For his boxset, DJ Marky has gone back to his roots and selected tracks by Brazilian music royalty from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Artists such as Marcos Valle, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, and Joyce all feature. To get a deeper insight into how the release came about we put some questions to DJ Marky and found out more about how it all started for him and the how these classics are perceived in Brazil nowadays...
You credit your parents for introducing you to music at an early age, what sort of music did they expose you to?
My Parents used to buy so many records; Brazilian Music, Funk, Soul, Disco…all the big hits at that time but Marvin Gaye 'What’s Going On', James Brown 'The Big Payback', Milton Nascimento 'Clube Da Esquina', Novos Baianos 'Acabou Chorare' and Os Mutantes' first album were my favourites at that time.
When did you start to collect your own records?
Very young. At 6 to 7 years old because I was listening to music all the time, at my bdays and Xmas time I always asked my parents for a record so my Uncles and Aunties always gave me records as a present too.
Did you have favourite record shops at the time?
Not really. Only when I turned 15 years old did I find the “Galeria 24 De Maio”, which was the shop of DJ’s and later I started work at a few record shops.
When and why did you start DJing and producing?
I learned how to mix at age 10 to 11 because I knew the breakdown of my records and I knew it that to put two vocals together was wrong. I had two terrible turntables and I used to play on the Reel To Reel Tapes and that was fun. Music production started with XRS because he was making music already and he invited me to go to the studio, but it took me ages to learn how to operate the computer. I had the ideas but I was terrible with the computers, but I learnt with a lot of people like A Sides, Makoto, Bungle, S.P.Y. and many others.
What period/genres of Brazilian music have you focused on for the boxset?
60’s 70’s & 80’s.
How did you decide what to include?
I sent a massive list to Dave Bongo (probably around 300 tracks) and unfortunately it’s very hard to licence tracks. What makes me sad is the fact that the Brazilian record companies don’t even know or care about their back catalogue so it was quite difficult to make a selection, but I’m very, very happy with it! I really hope that I can make a DJ Marky Brazil 45 box set volume 2 with Brazilian Boogie tracks at some point, hehehehehehehhe...
Which Brazilian producer/musicians do you most admire?
Too many… Marcos Valle, Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti, Cesar Camargo Mariano, Milton Nascimento, BiD, Antonio Adolfo, Arthur Verocai…
Do you ever play classic Brazilian Music from the 60s-80s when you DJ in Brazil? If so how do people react to hearing heritage music in your sets?
I play Brazilian Music at my night, DJ Marky Influences, where I can play all my musical influences and people love it! The Reaction is amazing.
What is the music scene in São Paulo like now?
We don’t have as many clubs as we used to, but we have some parties. D&B is still strong but its gone back to the underground, which is how I like it. DJ Nuts plays only Brazilian music on Sundays, many techno and house parties…Yeah still good! Let’s see when the pandemic finishes. I Can’t wait to play to my people!
You famously sampled a classic and had a major hit, how else do these influences find their way into the music you produce?
The LK sample wasn’t originally a massive tune. TBH not many people knew about that song apart from the people who lived in the 70’s and people who used to go to the Samba-Rock parties. I had the idea and chopped the samples on the Mini Disc and I brought it to XRS studios. I sampled from my Mom and Dad's original 7” of Toquinho & Jorge Ben, which the main track of the album is 'Que Maravilha'.
What are your favourite record shops now?
Eldica, YoYo Records, Reckless In London
Disc Union, HMV in Japan
Superior Elevation in New York
Chico & Zico Discos, Lado C Discos, Gringos Records In Brazil
Do you enjoy digging with friends or is it a solo mission?
I loooove to go digging with my friends, we always learn with each other.
Which Brazilian record would you have most liked to have produced?
Damn………Too many…….Maybe Junior Mendes 'Copacabana Sadia'.
Which Brazilian singer/musicians would you most like to have worked with (contemporary or from the past)?
Robson Jorge, Lincoln Olivetti, Junior Mendes, Paulinho Da Costa, Cesar Camargo Mariano, Emilio Santiago, Joyce, Gal Costa…..Too many hahahahahaha
Are there any contemporary Brazilian singers/musicians/ DJs we need to keep a lookout for?
Criolo, Baiana System, Iza
Many thanks to DJ Marky for the incredible Boxset and for giving us his time for this feature. This special limited Record Store Day 5 x 45s collection will be available in all participating record stores on June 12th.