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There was a time when Marco Sterk a.k.a. Young Marco’s talents as a DJ and producer were among Amsterdam’s best-kept secrets. For well over a decade, he plied his trade, largely unheralded, on the city’s bustling, underground dance music scene. It was here, via several now infamous residencies, that he learnt his craft, gaining a reputation for ballsy, genredefying eclecticism, playing sets that joined the dots between everything from tropical rhythms, afro gems and quirky Middle Eastern disco, to lost proto house, throbbing techno and industrial-strength jack-tracks. These days, the Dutchman’s talents are widely known around the World.
His position as a crate digger, record collector and infamous party-starter now guarantees a packed schedule of gigs in Europe, North America and beyond. His passion for working a dancefloor with “strange music” and “unclassics” is renowned, and it’s this that makes his sets so special. This humid, off-kilter obsession with the inspired and unusual has become a hallmark of Marco’s music, too.
Once a key part of the Rush Hour family the legendary Amsterdam label releasing a number of his early singles in 2011 he made his debut on Lovefingers’ highly regarded ESP Institute label. His first two EPs for the label set out his now trademark style, and won support from the likes of Dixon and James Murphy, amongst others, along the way. It’s perhaps unsurprising that a string of remix requests followed, leading to now classic reworks for the likes of Heatsick, Joakim, Francis Bebey and Soft Rocks. His 2013 remix of Tony G’s “Dreams”, a killer chunk of blissful new age deep house, became one of the most indemand and sought after records of that year.
In 2014 his most accomplished studio work to date was released, his debut album Biology on ESP Institute. Wonderfully picturesque, melodious, humid and glassy-eyed, it received rave reviews and confirmed his status as one of electronic music’s truly unique voices. The same year also saw the release of Clouds, a magical collaborative full length written and produced in a weekend with Italian ambient pioneer Gigi Masin and British artist Jonny Nash. Credited to Gaussian Curve and released by Amsterdam’s Music From Memory label, it was the unfeasibly beautiful sound of three like minded musicians working towards a shared goal. Further studio material will follow later in 2015, but for now Marco is concentrating on spreading his love of weird, wonderful and eccentric music in basements, warehouses and clubs the World over. |
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