Marcos Alonso

Interview & Guest Mix

 

Marcos Alonso is a DJ and producer hailing from the UK and now based in New Zealand. With over two decades of experience behind the decks, Marcos has taken his unique blend of house, disco, and techno all over the world, and has now also made a name for himself as a label owner with Sqeaky Wheels. His ear for fresh sounds and a commitment to his craft makes Marcos Alonso a force to be reckoned with in the electronic music scene and I’m delighted to catch up with him ahead of his guest mix on UM.

 

Can you tell us about your journey as a DJ, from starting in the UK in the 90s to where you are now?

As a young teenager I discovered the early dance music scene and spent many weekends dancing my ass off at raves all over the south of England. At about 17 I went over to a friend’s house, and he had a set of turntables and a mixer.

 

Until that point, I had honestly never even thought about where the music was coming from or that there were DJ’s playing it. As soon as he showed me the basics of mixing two records together it was like a light went on in my head. I used to go round there every day until could afford my own set of turntables to practice at home.

 

Those early days were amazing, so many record shops with tons of white label tracks to collect and parties on every weekend all over the place. I soaked up the dance music scene like a sponge, house music, techno, drum and bass, trance.

 

After a while of playing at house parties, forest raves and small events I started getting gigs in London clubs, the north of France and once I began travelling more Thailand and Australia. In a time before social media each gig just led to another one and another, it was a good life.

 

How did your move to New Zealand come about, and how has the music scene there influenced your sound?

A friend of mine was travelling in NZ in 1999 and forwarded me an email from a german guy Richard Lochner who was living here and was starting up a NYE festival that was also about putting back money and support in to his local community which I thought was a really cool idea. There was nothing like that in the UK at the time and so I replied to the email telling the guy that I thought his idea was really amazing and wishing him the best of luck with it.

 

He sent me an email back asking me what I could do to help. I told him I was a dj in London not expecting anything back but after a few emails back and forth and him checking up on a few mutual contacts he invited me out to NZ to play at his festival called Visionz.

 

At the time I could not believe my luck and nor could any of my peers in London, I had a great time and went back to play there a few times more over the following few years spending a month there each time getting to know more and more of the country and people.

 

On my final DJ trip there I met a kiwi lady who moved to London and after while we moved back to NZ where I got residency and have been ever since. The relationship did not last but my love for this country is still strong!

 

Once living here (in 2004) I quickly realized that the music scene was geared very much towards D&B which I was not into at the time and it took nearly 10 years fort he House and Techno scene to start making a decent comeback. I think this did influence me to move in the direction of less banging tunes and more in to the groovy fun stuff to keep it accessible. These days there is so much going on here and lots of kiwis have brought back their experiences from partying overseas to make the scene here so much more than it has ever been.

 

What inspired you to start music production?

To get the feelings out of my head and to express them in the music that I love, producing is a cathartic experience for me, I feel happier and more relaxed just by the act of creating music regardless of its outcome.

 

What prompted the move from DJ’ing to production?

Probably the same thing as Dj’ing. I wanted to understand how it was done and learn to do it well.

It was a much more drawn-out process that took a lot of years for me to get my head round. I came and went from writing music and only really got myself fully up and running in the last 5 years. It was much more of a mental process for me to stop telling myself that I could not do it well and just get on with it regardless.

 

Which do you see yourself as most - a DJ or a producer?

I love both and I need to do both. I think I always saw myself as a DJ and not a producer which held me back from believing that I could write music that I loved, and that other people liked too. So now I am equal parts DJ and producer and I believe I am good at both, and they both bring me joy.

 

How would you describe your musical style?

I would say I always strive to have fun, to try and tell a story and to express emotional content. I draw influences from Hispanic, African and Middle Eastern music and love anything that is sexy and groovy. There is definitely a strong vein of wonkiness too.

 

Can you tell us the story behind the name "Sqeaky Wheels"?’

Haha, ahhh well I wanted to start a label for years but as with many things it took a long while for me to finally get to it. I was in Greece on a holiday on an Island and the concept was bubbling out of me in waves, I was inspired! The label would be there to help emerging artists, to give them the tools to understand what they were doing and to help them move forward with their art.

 

I woke up at 4am and had it the label would be called Squeaky Wheels as that is the wheel that gets all the grease, right? I jumped on the internet and purchased the domain name, got a host and email sorted and then fell back on the bed exhausted but exultant! When I woke up later that morning I got right back on to sorting it all out but could not get the email working with the domain and after some help from a very amused help desk support person I found that I had purchased Sqeakywheels.com not Squeakywheels.com … I was pretty embarrassed hahah.

 

But it seemed like an even better fit and I spun it a bit, its pronounced “Skeeky Wheels” and there is an urban dictionary entry for it. When something is beyond squeaky, barely making a sound, so in need of lubrication it does not even give a "Squee" noise all you hear is "Skee". So now the Skeeky wheel gets the most grease of all since it needs it even more ;-)

 

How important is it for you to support emerging artists, and what do you look for in potential releases for your label?

After working with Max Maxwell to help him release his first album in 20 years I felt so inspired by what he had achieved and that as close friends we had worked together to get it out there that I knew I made the right decision to help others as part of the label’s goals.

 

Then releasing the Dastardly Bounder’s and Nick Munday’s first tracks were also so enriching for me and to see them go on to create more music and release more music on their fav label Paper Recordings inspired me in my own life. The people that I sign music from are or become my friends and NZ is my community, so it has been a privilege to help others.

 

What is ahead for the label?

I have been releasing a steady flow of my own music over the last 12 months and now starting to make new connections for new artists which is very exciting. There had been a few small Sqeaky Wheels events prior to Covid and I am keen to start these back up again when the right opportunities arise. Part of providing support through the label is talking to artists, dj’s, promoters and the various people that work in the NZ music scene to find ways to make it more financially and energetically sustainable going forward for everyone. This year has been big on making connections with inspiring and clever people and I hope to be able to try and change things by example in the not too distant future.

 

Can you talk about the collaborations and remixes you've done with other artists, and how those experiences have shaped your music career?

Working alongside experienced artists like Max Maxwell and Sanoi has really helped me get my sound and understand the more technical things that were holding it back. Sanoi showed me that working fast is good, it stops you second guessing decisions and simply gets stuff finished. He is a master of It. Max has such a good ear and that has helped train my own ear for what works and what does not.

 

What’s your favorite tune of your own of all time - the one that never grows old?

Haha my own music hmmm I’m gonna go with Smirking Sideways, it has been getting a bit of airtime and whenever I play it out, I am usually grinning and so are the crowd. Its wonky, groovy and a bit deep in places too.

 

You've been involved with events and collectives all over New Zealand for the past 20 years - can you share some of your favorite memories or experiences from those events?

I think the most influential festival experience for me has been the Lucky Star. They are a travelling fair call The Extravaganza Fair by day that also is a music stage called Lucky Star at Splore and Shipwrecked festivals and now run their own festival as well. They are fun, silly, extremely well curated combinations of shows, bands and DJ’s that have inspired so many people over the years.

 

Also, recently Wellington where I live lost its best small music venue “Laundry Cuba Street” due to a greedy landlord. They were a hub and community for a lot of people in the scene, introduced me to many people and gave me the opportunity to try out a ton of the things that now make up my sound. New Zealand has a small but vibrant scene these days and it’s very exciting to see the professional level of event production and emerging artists that we have. Bring on the next 20 years!

 

How do you approach the creative process when working on new music, whether it's for your label or for a collaboration with another artist?

I try not to put pressure on myself to write a certain thing for a specific purpose. I tend to have jams that I try not to direct and then at the end of the jam I put it away and come back to it for a listen a while later and then decide if there is something about it I want to take forward and direct more intentionally or not. I find trying to direct it too much or to give it intent too early stifles my creativity and I end up with something I don’t like so much. Once I started working like this is when I truly started to find my sound. Obviously when remixing or working with other artists it is more directed. I find it easier to have something ready to start with when writing with someone, a beat, a set of chord, a vocal … anything really but something to try and work together with.

 

What’s your production set up?

I use Ableton Live on a laptop and use Push 2 as my main controller for it. I have some digital and analogue gear as well, the MFb Tansbar drum machine, UDO Super 6, a (Kiwi 106 modded) Juno 106 and a few other things. Everything is setup and ready to go so I don’t have to faff around plugin stuff in. I work mostly in the box, produce and mix all my own music. Max Maxwell has been taking over the mastering duties on my most recent tracks and doing a great job of that, I can highly recommend him.

 

Congratulations on your recent release on Paper Recordings - can you tell us more about the track and how it came to be?

Thanks! It was a track that I wrote to self-release a while back and at the time Gene and I had been working together doing remixes for each other’s labels and when he heard it, he thought it would be something that Paper would be into and he wanted to do a remix for me which was awesome and they liked both!

 

You’ve got a track and a remix on the release, how do they differ in approach?

The track was a product of my usual jam an idea out and then develop it further, I love it’s chunky rolling vibe, the guitar pins it all together for me. I am a big fan of the downtempo beat with a dancefloor vibe. The remix came out of the track that Max gave us to put forward for the comp, it’s very much Max Maxwell but had a very different flavor to what I have heard from him in the past and I immediately asked him for the stems, it pretty much wrote itself.

 

Was the Kiwi connection a big factor in being part of this release on Paper?

All the artists are my friends, all of them have released on my label and in the case of Gene I have released on his so it’s very personal. This compilation is a product of paper hearing my track and Genes remix and asking us if we would want to find some other artists to make it a Wild Army comp which we were really excited about.

 

The other artists we asked for tracks really do represent the style of music that I love and the community I am proud to be part of here in NZ. It will only get better from here and here are more and more inspiring musicians that I am excited about in NZ… the Wild Kiwi Army is getting bigger by the day – watch out!!!

 

What's next for you in your music career, and what can fans expect from you in the near future?

I want to keep releasing more music, co-lab with more musicians and vocalists and maybe there will be another EP or even an album in the future. I would love to tour more internationally in Australia and Europe so if anyone is able to help with that get in touch.

 

And finally, you’re dropping a guest mix for us, what can people look forward to in that?

I decided to do a mix of all my own music, some older stuff, edits, new releases, and a couple of unreleased treats that have been going down a storm on the summer festival circuit over the last few months here in NZ. I hope people enjoy it; it was fun putting my own stuff together like this.

 

Where can people follow you?

 

Bandcamp