‘Talvin Singh’s song was weird’

Drum and bass star DJ Marky slams UK-based musician, Black Eyed Peas.

One thing you should know about DJ Marky is to be prepared for anything. The drum and bass legend from Brazil will stump you with his candid conversation. “I hate the Black Eyed Peas. They follow me everywhere. We were once on the same tour in Brazil and I refused to travel on the same bus as them. Another time, they walked into a club where I was playing and created a near stampede,” he said, expressing his distaste animatedly to a laughing crowd in Mumbai.

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He admits that the only Indian musician he’s heard of is Talvin Singh, who didn’t impress him much. Says Marky, who heard Singh in London, on the insistence of DJ friends, “It was weird and mediocre. I was frustrated to hear his song. I don’t remember what it’s called, but I was very disappointed.”

Marco Antonio Silva, better known as DJ Marky, was in town to take a workshop with upcoming musicians courtesy the Red Bull Music Academy, followed by a live set at Wink, Taj President. “My job as a DJ is to bring something interesting to people. I covered classics in the ’90s and brought dark drum and bass to happy people in Brazil. I played in London and met DJ Hype, Zinc and Groove Rider. If I didn’t like what they did, I told them,” he adds.

In Mumbai, he was equally entertaining to listen to. Marky rattled to a roomful of attentive DJs, music producers and programmers, “I make music from the heart. I moved to London when the only English words I spoke were ‘water,’ ‘toilet’ and ‘I am hungry.’ I also make music in my humble home studio. I made ‘LK’, when my mom was listening to a scratch I was making and said it was as old as 1968, from her childhood. I added a Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) beat to it and I still don’t know why people like it so much.”