
IN-FOCUS: MARBLU
Providing a sweet balance of alluring piano keys and funky basslines is house producer, MarBlu, and with some big forthcoming plans and projects on the way, there may be a reason as to why you should be checking him out
At 16 years-old the experimentation in music production began, and after starting with hiphop beats, house music then became the forefront. The potential in track layering is one of the aspects that draws his attention to it: “I guess the ability to make a nice sounding loop, and progress it, essentially. Starting with something basic and throwing bits in here and there to progress the track to make it sound better and better. I incorporate a lot of jazz and funk elements into it as well, and house (and hip-hop) for me are the only two genres where I can really do that to the best of my ability and still make an alright beat."
His musical listening attributes an eclectic taste, with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Detroit Swindle, Anderson Paak, to name a few, on his rotations. When it comes to artists that he takes inspirations from, in regards to hiphop, are the likes of DJ Premier, Vesa and Jinsang. With house it comes down to the forms of Jamiroquai, FKJ, Pomo Beats, to name a handful.
MarBlu keeps his aspirations humble: “Currently I’m just doing it as a hobby, it’s nice to have the balance between music and work as well as earning a bit of money on the side. It would be sick to make a career out of it, but I’m just going with the flow with it at the minute, could go in any direction at this point.”
His next ventures have followed in suit of a five-piece indie rock band: “I recently joined a band called Concord Drive, just released our first single and doing regular gigs in Swindon and Reading, as well as having done one in Bristol.
“I’m also working on an EP with a Lyon based independent label, can’t reveal the details just yet. Got another track on there with Tom Jarmey which should be good. I also made some tracks up in London with Rufus Mackay a while back which are being released in the form of an EP which should be cool. With the house there’s the potential to do nights in France once my EP is ready for release/promotion.”
Despite having some collaborations in the pipelines in relation to hiphop beats, house music is still going to be the main centre of attention at this moment in time: “I think for the moment my primary focus is house as it’s the genre that seems to be working for me the most. I don’t like to stick to one genre, but for now I’m going to do that. The band runs parallel to the house as we practice and gig just as regularly. I’m also slowly bringing the hip-hop production back, as that’s where it all started, and I love making beats.”
Watch MarBlu’s space for forthcoming releases, collaborations and tantalising house music.
https://soundcloud.com/marblubeats
https://www.facebook.com/ConcordDriveUK/
Matt Knight
October 1st 2019