Interviews
Marco Bailey: a true Dance Music legend returns to Brazil
He performs at D-Edge, where he is expected to play several tracks from new album NOCTURNO which will be released at the end of November
Q+A: Marco Bailey
Hello, Marco! It's a pleasure to do this interview with you. We would like to start by talking about your hottest news at the moment, which is your new album. Tell us what's behind this new LP? Will we see a Marco Bailey revisiting his origins? What is the guiding thread of this work?
Hello and thank you for having me! My album Nocturno will be released on my own label MATERIA at the end of November. This album allowed me to be completely myself creatively speaking.
There are of course powerful techno tracks on the album, but also some more harmonic, melodic, organic tracks as well as electro. I’ve been a big fan of electro for 25 years. I would say that the guiding thread of this new album is that it’s important to stay true to yourself.
Since when have you been working on it? In times of so many singles and EPs being released all the time, what inspires you to create a work as complex as an album?
Yes it’s definitely true, thousands and thousands of tracks are coming out every week, it’s insane. Many of the artists or tracks never get even discovered right because of the overkill of releases every week.
Some people even do not want to release an album anymore and just release one single after the other on their label, which is more like fast food compared to a quality market with variety and substance.
I produced this album because I wanted to show that I’m there’s more to my art than only straight up techno. There is so much music I like from ambient, electronica, drum n bass and also rock, funk and hip hop.
I started as a DJ in local pubs in 1989, so I guess you can imagine I have been through lots of genres and bought plenty of records in my life!
We imagine that you will present some (or most) of these tracks on your new visit to Latin America, right? What are your expectations for this tour?
South America has a very special place in my heart. I’ve been playing since 2001, as well as in Colombia and Argentina. Eventually I was able to expand my touring to other parts like Chile, Bolivia and up to Central America.
Brazil has always been my favorite country in the world to play. The people, the love, the unity. I expect the same type of feedback, but am also realistic about the current status of the scene in Latin America which is the case for some markets in other parts of the world too from Europe to the USA.
The influence of social media is undeniable and unfortunately, the influence is fake. It seems like it’s a popularity contest where it’s about likes instead of creativity and skills.
I’m not saying it’s all bad since these online platforms are great for building communities, but again, this is not always based on music or skills of the artist nor are they built on skills of the person who is not related to music.
There’s a deep heritage of techno fans and music lovers in Latin America, specifically in Brazil and I can’t wait to finally be back to perform.
On October 28th you will make a unique visit to Brazil, at D-Edge. Do you remember the last time here? And what are your best memories of Brazilian dance floors or our country?
Yes, I am very much looking forward to being back at the D-Edge. I think my last time there was in 2017… so already 6 years ago. I really love the club. To put it simply, it’s a perfect club & sound environment and one of the leading clubs in South America. The club represents a nice wide range of guests and artists all the time from techno to deeper to house and electro artists and most of all, I just love the crowd!
One of the best memories I have in Brazil is still one of my first gigs in São Paulo at A Loca I think it was 2001. The vibe was incredible. Raw, rough, sweaty and just only about music! No phones, no photos, no social media, no pretending to be amazing, but inside feeling like shit like many people do these days :)
It was just all about dancing to the music from open to close. I played 4 hours, I think only vinyl of course, and the vibe reminded me very much of the legendary Tresor in Berlin. Rick, Ana & David & I had a blast just like the lovely party people around us.
Later on I played Love-e club with Eli Iwasa, also great times! Never at Caos unfortunately. Then a few festivals and then a couple years ago finally at the legendary D-Edge with the boss Renato, Adnan and their amazing team.
You know my friends, my hero in car racing, Ayrton Senna said several times in his interviews: “It should be only about PURE RACING, no politics”. I actually think the same about our music scene. It should be more pure music!
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