Marques Wyatt

Deepsoul3 called up Marques Wyatt in Toronto, Canada...

The interview

DS3:

You made various trips to New York throughout the 80's and experienced such luminaries as Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles in action. Tell us how these trips inspired you and the lasting effects they had on you as a DJ?

MARQUES WYATT:

Ok, I guess the lasting effects they have had, have taught me to be observant to the scene, have diversity & really teach me not to be afraid to take chances & that's really what I got from Larry Levan. The thing that I really got from Frankie was to be very humble & keep the focus on the music, & being available to people.

DS3:

Your family's passion for music was clearly passed onto you throughout your upbringing in Santa Monica. Describe the importance of your family's influence and also how you plan to pass on your musical passion to the next generation of DJ's and producers?

MARQUES WYATT:

I think its very natural for us to be effected by music, so its just a matter of being exposed to it, that's all you can really do, & expose people that you care about to it & see what music will affect their spirit the most, because I could say my brothers had a lot of the similar exposure I did, although I took to different types of music that they did. So it was really important to have the broad introduction from various family members & people that were close.

DS3:

How did you go about promoting your first event in LA and what advice would you give to those wannabe promoters out there?

MARQUES WYATT:

Well, I would say be true to yourself because I think sometimes the reasons for people getting into promoting are varied, because my total need to promote, was to promote this music that I fell in love with, as it was from a DJ's perspective. Whereas someone just promoting the event might have different reasons for doing it, cause if you're just going to be a promoter & aren't into Djing or the music you may just want to make money, so you're reasons would be very different to my reasons for throwing parties. But those who are into the music need to stay true to it as people will see your commitment & support you.

DS3:

The success of Mac's Garage in the late 80's as an alcohol free establishment was a fantastic achievement. Tell us about the vibe of these parties and how does it differ from today's scene?

MARQUES WYATT:

I firmly believe that its very hard to re-create that initial intensity that a music scene has when it breaks a music for the 1st time, so I really noticed that Max Garage blew up in that way as it was the 1st of its time, & you know you cant really go backwards from that, at that time it was a bit of a phenomena as it was the only club that showcased house artists from all over the World & basically put a face to the music, that was my whole thought behind having that party, because the thing was we were playing all this music & I thought being from L.A. there wasn't as much musical history with this type, so it was important to educate people as much as I possibly could.

DS3:

In '94 Louie Vega asked you to NYC to play the opening set at the Sound Factory, how did you come about meeting & do you think that gig had any impact on your credibility?

MARQUES WYATT:

There's no question about that, it had a great impact on my credibility! I met Louie during the conference in Miami in 93 & it was just one of those things, as I initially knew Louie from playing freestyle, & I thought he was a great DJ playing freestyle, but that wasn't where my heart was musically, so when Louie 1st started to focus his attention on producing & playing House music, he really captivated me with his sets & so naturally for me, just being a promoter in L.A. I just wanted to bring Louie here to one of my clubs & so that's how our relationship started I invited him to come out & so he played the last night of a party I was throwing & our relationship pretty much blossomed from there.

DS3:

How did the L.A. Crowd take him? Did he get the same sort of respect he would have done in New York?

MARQUES WYATT:

You know what, it was really overwhelming, the response! I thought that people might know him, but the turnout was like nothing I have seen in L.A. for a DJ at that time, I mean we had him on a stage & there were literally 50 DJ's standing around him, watching him & I had never seen that before. I remember driving home & just thinking 'Oh my God this has just raised the bar' & was really incredible and after that I remember talking to Louie about coming out more often & Louie was aware that at the same time I was sort of wearing 2 hats, I was also doing an Acid Jazz party called 'Brassed' & my partners & myself managed to break acts like the Brand New Heavies & Jamiroqui in L.A. which we started doing in '90 so did that till '95 & then I would go to New York to play Giant Step, so whilst on those trips Louie invited me to play the Sound factory bar the night before & it just became a routine that every time I went to play Giant Step I got to do the Sound factory bar & I've got to say that after the Sound Factory I definitely got my credibility in New York, cause it really doesn't matter what you're doing to people in New York until you've done it in New York & proved yourself there & that's the bottom line. I'll give you an example, when I showed up at the sound factory, I was meant to be doing the room downstairs, but there was some sort of scheduling problem, so Louie said 'Well you're going to play upstairs with me then' so I went to walk in the booth & there was literally 15 people hanging out in the booth & they barely moved out of the way for me to get in! So Louie was like 'Let him in he's going to play' & so they were standing around & I put on my 1st record, I wasn't used to the rubber band on the turntable, so the 1st record that I played jumped! & I was sure the guys were rolling their eyes behind me, & so I mixed in the second & the third, & then all of a sudden the crowd was going nuts & the people that were in the booth started handing me records out of no where! They were from various labels & they had bags of records, but weren't going to hand me one until they felt I was worthy, and that was what really did it there & then. Then of course there was the conference in Miami, the following year & that's what really helped me.

DS3:

That was the year you actually played the MAW party wasn't it?

MARQUES WYATT:

Yes it was, & there is a story behind it, I was meant to be playing with Frankie Feliciano, but Frankie missed his flight, so I ended up playing for about 5 hours & Louie & Kenny just let me go till the end! It was really one of those things you could never predict & it was a real boost for my profile & me.

DS3:

Along with names such as Miguel Migs, Chris Lum and Jay-j (to name a few) you can be credited for giving the West coast of America it's own sound, a more deep, jazzy edge compared to the raw beats & Gospel rooted forms of house in NYC. Was this something you set out to do or has it been a natural progression?

MARQUES WYATT:

Its been a natural progression, because I still think that for the most part my sound leans more towards the NY sound than it does the San Fran deep house sound, I even find that when I play with the people you have mentioned, that mine is more culturally diverse I would say as far as more African, Latin & Gospel stuff in my music, although I guess I do have what is deemed as a West Coast sound, just from being there & just playing what I felt was good music, what ever music I found & was available to me & include my influence from the East coast which gave it a slightly different sound than Louie or Frankie or anyone else. & I'm actually proud that I don't have a total New York sound, but it's definitely evident that I am heavily influenced.

DS3:

Which is great as a lot of people are clearly fans of your sound, a couple of friends went to The Shelters last Birthday & said you were awesome...

MARQUES WYATT:

Yeah, Timmy always makes sure he pulls me to the side & reminds me that not everyone gets love from this crowd, & I'm lucky cause they really do show me a lot of love at The Shelter,

DS3:

I can imagine it's a tough crowd to break...

MARQUES WYATT:

It really could be, but people ask me 'What did you feel like going in there' but I never get caught up in that. Its really about going there to do, what Timmy has seen me do in L.A. I have seen DJ's make the mistake of going in there & try to play like Timmy, and you cant play like Timmy, because there is only one Timmy! And so when I have seen them do that it has looked like a disaster to me, and that's why we all have something different to offer expressing our own musical influences & journeys & telling a story, and if you're trying to tell someone else's story it doesn't really come across.

DS3:

Since becoming acclaimed in the DJ field, you have been working in the studio & releasing on labels such as Strictly Rhythm, Nervous & OM Records, what has been you're proudest moment in production to date & why?

MARQUES WYATT:

It probably has to be 'For those who like to get down' (OM Records) because it sort of reiterated to myself the importance of waiting to start producing & not to start doing it for the sake of being a DJ, and I felt that I was only going to start when I felt that I had something to say, because at the time I was a billboard reporter & received a lot of crap in the mail & I never wanted my record to be part of that crap! so basically the whole concept of what the song was about when I was in a club & Sasha was playing, I would hear people say 'I wish that was a little slower or a deeper' or be in a house club & hear 'I wish that was a little faster' & so I was like 'For those who like to get down' get down to it! And that's really what it was about, & the fact that when it did come out it connected with people the way it connected with me, that meant a lot & amazed me & taught me a little more on how people embraced that thought and let me know that people do care about it & that's what is important at the end of the day the music, not people criticising other DJ's or artists, if you don't like the music being played in the club then leave.

DS3:

You've created quite a buzz in the last few years over here in the UK. How does the crowd reaction compare in the UK to that at home?

MARQUES WYATT:

I cant really say that it compares with home because I get a lot of love at home & I mean don't get me wrong cause its been great there but once again we've arrived at a point, especially the DJ industry, where its not as open as it used to be, as a DJ, its more about their productions, so I noticed arms opened a little bit wider when 'For those woo like to get Down' came out if you know what I mean! Even at my club at home (Deep) I'll get emails from people saying 'yeah we want to book our DJ here, he's done this & this & this song' & I'd be like I don't care, how is he as a DJ, as I'm from the Old school, I wouldn't care if he's had 50 hit records, you don't have to have a record out! But then that's the nature of the beast, that's how it is more so in Europe than in the States.

DS3:

I totally agree especially in the UK, if you've had a hit you can get a gig regardless of your Djing

MARQUES WYATT:

Yeah it's a little backward sometime, I mean sometimes for the artist, if you're not ready to DJ don't let someone push you into it for the money or whatever, cause you're not only going to make yourself look bad, but also make the profession look bad. I've seen it before, guys will come over & I'd be like 'I didn't know you DJ'd!' & I mean I have known these guys for 5 years or whatever, and a couple of them even said 'Well you know they asked me to do it' But I don't really subscribe to that! I definitely have a great time though when I come to London, musically London is the best for acquiring records, it never fails when I go there to drop about £300 or so on new music to bring back.

DS3:

I definitely hear that! That's why I will soon have to re-mortgage my house!

MARQUES WYATT:

That's why I cant live there!! But seriously its really reliable in that way, whether it be Vinyl Junkies, or Black Market or wherever, I'm always finding stuff.

DS3:

Sum up Marques Wyatt in 3 words?

MARQUES WYATT:

About the Music

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