MARC VEDO INTERVIEW Marc Vedo has steadily been making a name for himself over the last few years. He plays both house and trance and has taken his emphatic style all over the world. With residencies at Miss Moneypenny’s and Slinky, Marc is clearly one of the UK’s hottest talents right now. At just 26, Marc has already started his own funky house night, ‘Something Fruity,’ and has been working hard in the studio. He is totally down to earth and has more enthusiasm than a great many of today’s top flight DJs put together. Here is what he had to say for himself. danny Hey Marc. For the benefit of those who may not know, could you tell us who you are, what you do and what you had for breakfast today? marc For the benefit of the tape, my name is Marc Vedo. My occupation is DJ and promoter. For those of you interested, my breakfast this morning consisted of a bowl of wheatabix and a juicy slice of melon – I’m a healthy eater, but only in the week. danny What is your musical background and how did this progress to you taking up the ‘ones and twos?’ marc Musically my background was quite average and my progression to DJing came from my early days as a teenager when I used to go round my mate’s house when his brother was working. We would go and get his records out and attempt to mix. Looking back, it was quite funny, but god, we were bad. From here I got myself some belt drives and I was on course. I actually got my first big gig in London’s famous ‘Heaven’ nightclub at a night called ‘Metropolis’ by telling the promoter I was a big name back in Portugal, and stupidly he fell for it. danny Do you think you’ve managed to live up to all the hype you were receiving a couple of years ago (I think it was Mixmag who coined the term ‘the new Sasha’)? marc Oooh a hard one! For me, yes, but in the eyes of public maybe not. Since that period in my life I’ve been working really hard, with 70% of my work coming from overseas. It’s been a fantastic roller coaster ride and one I hope continues for many years to come. danny How is Something Fruity going? Do you have any big plans for the near future? marc It’s going very well thanks. We’ve not had time to apply as much energy into this area due to the major overhaul of Koolwaters, but we’re looking to raise the game on Something Fruity. We’ve got a few tours in the pipeline as well as ongoing talks about a monthly event. danny How are your productions coming along? Will you have any new tracks out in the near future? marc Production work is going great, thanks. I’m currently working in the studio with Lee from The Conductor and The Cowboy duo (On Serious, remember ‘Feeling This Way?’ – danny). We’re working on a number of styles with the most prominent being trance, and so far we’ve had some great feedback from labels and clubbers alike! It’s hard to put a date on any future release dates as nothing has progressed that far yet, but we are taking steps to launching our own record label… so watch this space! danny Which of your upcoming gig dates are you most excited about? It looks like your going to be going to some pretty exotic places in the next few weeks. marc If I had to pick one right now it would have to be the current tour we’re doing in Canada (14th – 18th April) . I’ve been before and really enjoyed my time there but this time it is with Koolwaters and so it means just that little bit more to me. As a country it is a beautiful place and right now the scene is really evolving. danny You’re involved with both house and trance, so which do you prefer at the moment with the growing trends in both scenes? marc Easy – TRANCE! My love for this genre runs deep into my soul! Since the day (well night) I first heard it back in my early clubbing days until the last time I played my records; I get that sense of joy you only find in music you love. This is not to say it’s my only love, just my numero uno. House is, and always will be, a close second for me. House is, in fact, a style I play regularly overseas. As my set times tend to be longer than those in the UK I’m often found mixing the two across a larger amount of time. Whilst I still continue to play the vocal side of house, I would have to say my main style has been for some time now the deeper, darker side of house. Being from a trance background in general it’s nice to have a wider freedom when playing house because the styles aren’t the same in a mixing sense. danny What do you think about the state of dance music in general? marc The way I play abroad is very different from the UK as here our clubbers like to know the style the DJ plays. I wouldn’t say it’s a closed shop but they expect the DJ to be the very best in their field, which I can agree with. Dance music came under heavy fire last year. Whether right or wrong, it did suffer a blow and so did many of its clubs and clubbers – some of whom we sadly lost. Strangely, though, Koolwaters had its best year to date in 2003 and on the strength of 2004 so far I would say the scene is some way back to normal, with clubbers enjoying their clubs and music again. The problem for me was everyone began taking it too seriously. Yeah it’s a business, but so is football, and we all know that once you lose the passion you lose the drive. I felt the media hit the scene with some unnecessary blows, which sadly people believed in. A friend of my family who is well past their clubbing sell by date once asked me what I was going to do now my “dance halls” were dead. I found it strange that someone who doesn’t visit the places we call home can be so influenced by media propaganda. danny With the growing number of dance music magazines that have folded and with other magazines employing increasingly questionable styles of journalism, some people are going so far as to say that the dance music media is effectively dead? Do you think there is any place left for the likes of Mixmag, DJ and co.? marc I feel over exposure is partly to blame here. The scene needs a source of media, and we’d be fools to let it slip away, but I can appreciate its difficult for magazines to stay afloat in today’s current market. Whether for good or bad, the internet is surely to blame, but looking at the web these days there is an excellent collection of dance sites, from Gurn.net, Offitsface.com, 4clubbers.net, Clubithard.com, yourselves (Ukclubland.net), plus many more that provide the scene with excellent clubbing content. So who knows? One thing that’s for sure is that the net is here to stay! danny Where would you like to see yourself in five years time? What are your goals at the moment? marc Last year was the best year musical of my whole career and it made me realise that I want to do this for the rest of my life. I hope to continue to travel and promote my sound further. Koolwaters is also beginning to mature in the eyes of club-land as it begins to receive worldwide recognition. Apart from furthering my own career, I also want to see the brand reach its true potential. The team and workload have been growing bigger and bigger since the beginning of 2003, so there are high hopes for the future ahead. With more events and tours planned alongside a host of other projects, we feel the future looks very bright for Koolwaters and its clubbers. danny If you hadn’t become a DJ what do you think you would be doing with yourself now? What did you want to do when you were younger? marc If I hadn’t become a DJ I definitely would have become a footballer. Well, I’d have at least tried harder. I actually moved to England from Portugal to become a footballer as I had trials for Northampton, but I ended up falling into the world of dance culture and the rest is history, as they say. danny What do you think makes a Marc Vedo set stand out above someone else’s? There are a lot of DJs out there, most of whom never play out. What sets you apart from them? marc I always find this question difficult to answer, as I believe it’s the clubbers who can only really answer this. In my own view when I go to play a set I aim to create a sense of atmosphere, but this can’t be pre-planned, it has to be about that moment. My music is personal to me, so it’s unique in its own way. I see my set as a representation of the current atmosphere within the club. I feel growing through the ranks as a warm up DJ allowed me time to learn how the floor works. You can’t buy experience, it has to be earned. Technical ability isn’t everything in a set, you need to know structure, placement, timing, and so on. I was always conscious in my early years of how versatile a DJ really needed to be and this is such the case now with most DJs having to play a wide span of a styles just to get booked. I truly believe the Marc Vedo of today is by far an improved DJ of yesteryear by way of experience. danny Do you get a lot of attention from the ladies? That must be difficult. How’s life as a centrefold been?! (Marc has been a centrefold in The Sun's Top Ten Most Eligible Men). marc Haha. I think it’s fair to say most DJ’s get their fair share of attention. I’ve been very fortunate with the media coverage that I’ve received in the past that people know who I am, but I wouldn’t regard myself as the next Hue Hefner. In fact far from it. I like to party, and at times too much, but that’s my limits as I’m quite into the one woman game. However, if she wants to invite other females to the relationship table I won’t say no. danny I saw a competition recently where the prize was a date with your good self. Has that happened yet, how did it go? marc No not yet still awaiting final results… that’s if there were any entries. danny Right, thanks a lot for doing the interview. By way of closing could you tell us the funniest joke you know? marc What doesn't belong in this list: Meat, Eggs, Wife, and Blowjob? Blowjob: You can beat your meat, eggs or wife, but you can't beat a blowjob. (Sadly, it would appear that this IS the funniest joke Marc knows! – danny) A great many thanks to Marc for taking time out of what looks like a very hectic schedule. If you are interested in hearing more about this talented young DJ then contact Vass@koolwaters.com or visit Koolwaters . Home > Interviews > ^top