Marlo: Gearing Up for Trance Energy
Marlo Hoogstraten aka MaRLo aka Liquid M has been producing music for over five years and DJing for nearly as long.
After getting things rolling in his home country of Australia, he now resides in Amsterdam where he is developing his music career. Relocating there in March last year, MaRLo has secured a number of new releases (under both the MaRLo and Liquid M monikers) and has played at big scale events such as Uitmarkt in Amsterdam, Go Parc at the German club Herford as well as the Cirque Du Soleil afterparties in Antwerp. But the biggest is yet to come… In 2008 he’ll be playing alongside Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Sander Van Doorn and more at the massive Trance Energy event in Jaarbeurs Utrecht. It doesn’t get much bigger than that!
What’s most amazing about this gig for MaRLo is that it represents things coming full circle for him. It was when he attended his first Trance Energy as a punter back in 2001 that he decided he wanted to be a DJ/producer, and amazingly, six years later and he’s set to play there himself. “I went to Trance Energy in 2001… and since then I set a goal for myself to one day play at that party. For it to come true so quickly has blown my mind!” MaRLo says. “I was able to create a bit of a buzz from my performance at Uitmarkt for Cirque Du Soleil. I was in the newspapers in Holland, then ID&T approached me and said they loved what I did, and asked if I’d be interested to play at Trance Energy.”
And it’s nothing less than a great achievement for this Sydney boy: Trance Energy is a Dutch dance event organised by the before mentioned ID&T, also responsible for the massive Sensation White parties, and it’s been rocking on every year in the since 1999, currently held at the Jaarbeurs convention centre in Utrech. And it’s become one of those international dance events: mentioned in the same breath as the legendary Dance Valley parties also held in the Netherlands, it’s become one of the world’s most successful ‘trance-only’ events, drawing fans from the world over. And it goes without saying that MaRLo can’t wait to play there!
While he may be making waves in Holland nowadays, MaRLo started out his music career in Sydney where he began producing music in 2001. After 2 years he decided to push things further by starting to DJ, and as it’s so hard to get your leg up in the Sydney scene he decided to create his own events in the form of the Altitude and Halcyon parties. This was soon followed by regular fixtures at nights like Sounds On Sunday, Daydreams, Sorted Sundayz and favourite (but now sadly deceased) Sydney clubs like Gas and Icebox. “The moments in my career that I hold very close to my heart were the days when myself and three others did our own Altitude and Halcyon events, it was so much fun!”
While living in Amsterdam, MaRLo has found a new form of fun developing a different sound, a fresh take on his traditional trance sound. “It’s a fresh blend of non-genre specific chunky music, lots of bass and strong solid ‘chunky’ beats.” His ‘chunky’ sound is, well, chunky. The eclectic mix of beats, and bass-fuelled sounds is hard to describe, but easy to dance too. He’s eventually looking to host his own nights that push this sound, and lucky for us he plans to do it here in Oz first. His sound has changed and progressed over the years, so it’s with anticipation that Sydneysiders look forward to hearing both his old and new sounds when he eventually returns.
And while he remains in Amsterdam for the moment, MaRLo says he continues to be inspired by all the exciting music that he encounters. “I draw influences from my surroundings, and from the wide variety of clubs I go to. I’ll be in a minimal club one night, a Dutch hip hop night the next. The week after I may be at a new-wave electro Brazilian event, but of course I’m still very heavily influenced by trance music as well,” he says. “My influences originate from artists like The Prodigy, Aphex Twin, Mauro Picotto, Basement Jaxx, Ferry Corsten, Timo Maas and more. Some of the artists that I’m into right now include The Cure as I’m rediscovering all their old stuff, as well as Sander Van Doorn, Valentino Kanzyani and lots and lots of other random music.”
It’s always exciting to see an Australian artist gain world recognition, and what excites MaRLo about his international escapades most is seeing people from all different cultures and nationalities dance and get energised about his music. “The feeling that I’m truly creating a sound that is my own, and that I’m beginning to get some world wide recognition for it is a great thing about life right now.”
