Exclusive Interview with Marcos Carnaval

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Marcos Carnaval, shortly before his performance at The Club Khaosan on 19th August.

Where are you answering these questions?

I’m at my home studio in New York at the moment, working on some great new tracks.

You are DJ & Producer from Rio de Janeiro, the second-largest city in Brazil. You have received numerous awards by Brazil’s music magazine “DJ Sound Mag” including “Best Brazilian Music Producer in the international scene” (2013 & 2014). How did you get in touch with electronic dance music in the first place and how did you get into DJing & music production?

My parents gave me a Mickey Turntable when I was only 3 years old, I started taking guitar classes when I was 5 and playing drums when I was 10. By the age of 15, I was already playing small parties in Rio de Janeiro and from there I became a professional DJ. Music production was a natural evolution step I took when I was 20 years old, and I was blessed to have my fist national radio/club hit in Brazil when I was 23 years old.

You play & produce House & Progressive House. How would you describe your own music in just a few words?

Drums, vocals and high energy!

You have reached the Billboard’s Top 10 charts with your single “Didn’t Say” and reached the #1 on Traxsource’s Progressive House Charts with your track “808 Problems”. What other tracks, remixes or mix-sets would you recommend to someone that is not yet familiar with your music?

My new single “King of Drums” reached Beatport’s Top 9 House charts last month and I have another massive single name “Jangada” coming out soon. Lots of High Energy, Drums and amazing vocals by The Voice star Jamar Rogers, who is also the voice of my single “King of Drums”.

What are you currently working and focusing on? What’s on your agenda for the near future?

Spent a lot of time in the studio working on original music for the past few months, so I got a lot of new singles coming out between now and the end of the year. Plus I will be touring the world once again, taking my music to fans and hopefully future fans from all over the globe.

What were the best and the worst gigs you played and what were the funniest things that occurred during your performances?

Every city is a different adventure, there is definitely amazing shows and not so good ones, but I always do my best in each different show to please my fans. I must say that there was this time going from Lithuania to Russia, when my driver (who did not speak any word of English), stopped at the border, purchased 2 bottles of Vodka and started to drive through the forest drinking. I was on the back seat looking and asking him to please stop drinking so heavily or stop the car. He ignored me and kept driving and drinking, I was like “Shit, I’m dead, we will die in the middle of this forest and nobody will ever know. “

We got pulled over by the cops, the driver got out of the car, spoke with the cops, they hug each other and we kept going. I arrived in Russia alive and well, but it was a funny crazy scary situation while touring Eastern Europe.

You live in New York, the most populous city in the USA. What can you tell us about clubbing and nightlife there? Do you have any nightlife related suggestions for first-time visitors?

New York is an amazing city with a lot of parties happening every night. Visitors have a lot of options for clubbing in the Big Apple. My favourite are definitely the clubs I have been playing for years, Pacha and Cielo. Output is also a must, especially for the underground lovers!

On August 19th you will perform live in Bangkok at The Club Khaosan. Have you visited Thailand before? What can the Bangkok crowd expect of your upcoming performance?

I am extremely happy and excited to play in Thailand. I visited Phuket once and I loved the people, culture and natural wonders. I’m looking forward to providing big smiles and a great time to the crowd in Thailand!