Marco, congratulations on your first Beatport number 1 with “What You Say?”. How are you?

Thanks! I’m pretty good. It’s been an interesting few weeks!

You’ve been releasing tracks for almost 15 years and DJing for even longer. You’re an established artist who’s seen a lot. Still, does this track and the life that it’s been taking feel like a new experience to you?

It’s been fun to watch everybody’s reaction to it for sure. Dealing with the logistics of it all has been a trip, but in the end it’s just another release. I don’t feel any ownership over something after it’s out, it belongs to everyone now, I’m just enjoying the ride.

“What You Say?” is based on a sample of an Imogen Heap song – “Hide and Seek” from 2005. What was it that made you connect with this song and what made you want to use it on a track of yours?

I made this song during the peak of the pandemic, at a point where I wasn’t sure the world would ever be anything like its former self, and perhaps rightfully so. I was listening to “Hide and Seek”, and the lyrics and energy of the song helped me a lot to make sense of all that chaos and insecurity. I knew I needed to channel that and share it, so I quite spontaneously made a song around the sample.

What was the production process after having that first idea? Did you know what you wanted the track to sound like right away?

I made it very quickly, but the structure of it was very clear in my mind before I made it. The intro is almost like a hymn, a reality check because the world stopped turning, and then this release we were all longing for. This is my Bohemian Rhapsody.

Last August you premiered “What You Say?” at a Boiler Room recording at Dekmantel festival and played it as the last track of your set. The video captures a beautiful moment: the crowd looks full of joy, dancing with arms in the air while you keep your cool until almost the end of the track when you start smiling. Do you still remember what you were thinking while playing the song?

Yeah of course, very clearly because I had imagined that exact moment countless times before it happened, and to see it happen just like I pictured it was pretty magical.

What has changed since that DJ set for you? Are there any special moments that connect to the tracks that have happened since then? 

Honestly every time I see it being played out, or play it out myself, people are on the ceiling, channeling all this insane energy! It’s been really fun and also humbling.

Finally, do you have any upcoming releases either from yourself or from other artists on your label Safe Trip?

Oh yeah for sure, the label will have loads of new comps and other releases coming out this year, in some exciting unexplored territories. And I’m always working on new stuff, forever.