Another bright talent emerging from Australia joins us today to talk music and soundtrack our latest MIXED BY, Marli. Fearlessly exploring breaks, alien soundscapes and off-kilter beats, Marli as a producer offers a fusion of futuristic allure and nostalgic resonance.
As a DJ, her sets often mirror this eccentricity, skilfully carrying the dancefloor through her vast knowledge of electronic music to any place, any genre and any tempo. Immerse yourself fully in the transformative power of music with 60 minutes of Marli.
INTERVIEW
Which songs influenced your early or pre-artistic period, and at what point did you make the decision to fully commit to electronic music?
I’ve been singing & writing music forever, but the style I was writing early on was much more pop/electronic focused. The artist who was really the main trigger for me to explore dance music production was Kaytranada. His earlier remix works of ‘Golden’ by Jill Scott and ‘If’ by Janet Jackson absolutely blew my mind – I’d never heard “pop” music done in that way, so for a lot of my formative years of producing, I was essentially trying to copy all his production techniques. During this period I was really lucky to have a very supportive family who were also working artists, so realistically, I always knew that pursuing music as a full time career was viable for me.
What can you tell us about the mix you’ve put together for us? Any special tracks in there you would like to mention?
I had so much fun making this mix, because I think it’s the truest representation of my current creative headspace! It jumps all over the place in regard to genre – which is pretty typical for all my sets and productions – with a key focus on interesting percussion, wobbly wonky basslines, and weird spacey soundscapes. The closing track is a cute special one to me, as it’s my recently released single ‘I Stayed Up Too Late Again’ on Club Elevate Records. It was my first real attempt at foraying into writing music faster than 140BPM. New territory for me, but still has all my signature production tricks – weird glitchy SFX, and a lot of sidechain compression <3
Which hardware or software do you gravitate towards in the studio to shape and define your sound?
The Native Instruments FM8 synth is a regular for me – it makes sick basslines, and has pretty powerful capabilities in regards to editing your sounds. It’s also a great starting point if you’re wanting to learn about the structure of FM synthesis.
I’d love to delve into your recent release on UTTU. Could you provide some insights into the tracks featured and shed some light on how the title Change of Seasons originated?
Change Of Seasons traverses a lot of different sounds! There’s some breakbeat, deep house, some techy stuff, some slower sweet soundscape stuff – the goal was really to make 4 different genres (or seasons), sound cohesive within one project. My last EP ‘Mood Independent’ followed the same suit in how varied the songs were, and I hope I’ve achieved the same here. One of my biggest pet peeves is listening to an EP where all 4 tracks sound exactly the same! In regards to the name, it’s very much an ode to self growth or transformation. Putting out music is such a funny process, because no matter how quickly you’re able to turn around a release, by the time the music is out, it always sounds old to you if you’ve created it. Writing music is about constantly expanding on your work and skillset, so while this EP is sweet to me, as an artist I’ve already moved on from writing music like this, and this “season” of my own production style has essentially already changed.
Beyond music, what serves as your source of inspiration? How do you replenish your creative energy when the well is running a bit dry?
Being around other artists! Having worked in the music industry for 8 years now, I’ve made so many friends who are artists and creatives in some way, and it’s honestly the best source of inspiration. Hearing about what other people are working on is incredibly inspiring, and it’s also the best way to keep yourself accountable and make sure you’re always moving forward in some way.
What other projects might you have been working on this year, anything else coming up we should know about?
My event series ‘heavenly spaces’ will shortly be launching into its very own record label, so I’m in the process of cooking up some exciting releases for 2024! Alongside that, some INTL shows are on the horizon, and as always working on as much new music as I can.
Do you have any upcoming plans for summer?
In 1 months time I’m actually moving from Australia to Paris! So it’ll be my first Euro summer being in the middle of all the action for an extended period, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve already got some plans to play shows in Amsterdam, Berlin, and across France, so I’m keen to move around, make some new friends, and work on some new music in a new environment.
