The
tragic and sudden death of DJ royalty, Pioneer and legend, DJ AM, left
the club world shocked and New York's club scene lacking. While his
skills were unmatched and his ability to liven up any club or party
were in a league of their own, he lent a helping hand in grooming the
next great New York breed DJ. His name is Jesse Marco and if he
continues on the same track he has more than enough potential to be the
next great DJ legend to capture New York City.
The comparisons are
unavoidable. If you had the pleasure of watching DJ am spin at the New
York City's now closed hot spot Club Stereo, and have had made a more
recent appearance at New York's Gold Bar to see Jesse Marco on the turn
tables, you would notice and uncanny similarity between the vibe in
those clubs. "Goldbar is pretty boring and pretentious unless
Jesse Marco is DJing" stated one clubber.
Take us through a typical day in the life of Jesse Marco….?
It’s really nothing out of ordinary. I enjoy a few cuts of a bacon and a
sandwich in the morning, this is usually around 2 o’clock and then I
try to avoid my bookers for as long as possible until they get me on the
phone and tell me I have to shoot at 7 am the next morning for some
shit or I have 3 gigs during the day tomorrow. I’ll try to go out for a
run or something and possibly stop by A1 or Rock and Soul and
contemplate if the ipod dj’s of the world consider vinyl somewhat of a
dead artifact, like it never even existed, but then I remember there are
these things called computers and who am I kidding, they’re awesome.
Try to get some dinner in, meet up with some friends for a drink or two
and then it’s off to work, wherever that may be.
You were recently signed to DJ AM’s label – how did that
experience come about?
Umm, well a mutual friend introduced us, and everytime Adam came to the
city I think the past couple of years I had been opening for him so he
got to see me do my thing, and of course I thought I was shit, but there
was one night where we sort of went back and forth at Butter sort of
recently, and it was just a crazed atmosphere. Jay Z and Busta Rhymes in
the cut and all that, and I guess I did pretty well. I’d say it
probably has a lot to do with the New York dj circuit, it’s just real
competitive and me being really young and doing the bigger gigs makes a
statement.
What tactics do you have to get a crowd jumping?
I definitely put a lot of work into making what I do at work something
you’ll never forget. It’s not just about going from one song to the next
or just having good taste. It’s about weaving a story, it’s an arc, it
has its beginning, and then all of a sudden it rises, and then it peaks
and then vice versa. I just try to do little things here and there like
mix in the sample of an old record, just so the heads that know will be
like “thats dope”. Or I’ll do something where I’ll mix words of songs
together with scratching and just play with loops and stuff and play
with the energy of the room until it just pops. I think its really
important to be so super clean; there’s nothing like hearing a record
dropped or mixed right on the beat perfectly, and have it drop in right
on the one. And to be really impulsive and spontaneous. I think what
separates real New York dj’s from everyone else is that you can put us
anywhere in the world and we can hold our own. You could put an unknown
New York dj next to some guy from Brazil, or a guy from Sweden, or a
guy from Chicago, or a guy from Florida, or someone from Paris….and we
can hold it down.
Most memorable gig to date?
Spinning for Tom Ford in Milan for Men’s Fashion week, Lollapalooza
onstage with Ronson, and spinning with Q-tip for Spike Lee’s Birthday at
Gold Bar in New York.
You interned for Allido Records, which was co-founded by
Mark Ronson. What skills did you learn there that have helped you get to
where you are now?
Definitely learned a lot about the business end of things. Being so
young it really helped me out when a lot of people thought they could
take advantage of me. I learned how to sort of get past those obstacles
and just stay working. I learned that Rich Kleinman is the king of fold a
hoop basketball and Ronson has completely lost his touch from the three
point line, and harley w. is the king of free throws. It was also
really inspiring to be in the studio while Mark was working and I would
just watch and stuff. Just being around it all was inspiring and helped
me be creative.
You will be spinning at Art Basel at the end of the month
and have been traveling around the world showcasing your skills. What
can we expect down the road from Jesse?
More original production, loads more creativity with new mixes coming
out, a new website, new representation, a few gigs with Kenneth Cole and
more with Tom Ford as well as some showcases in Sweden, London, Norway,
Paris at the end of November and a little bit of a West Coast/East
coast combination tour at the end of December. Topman campaign also
coming out, I play a very small role, not really a model kind of guy but
I loved the photographer Collier Schorr so I was down.
