Julian Marsh: "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles.
RS: What inspired you to start DJing?
JM: just always bought lots of music, ever since I was a little boy. I studied music in Junior High and High School. I loved dance music ever since disco was invented and snuck into clubs at the age of 15. I guess it was just a natural progression.
RS: What was it like spinning your first circuit party?
JM: Terrible. It was in a two story building. I DJ'd downstairs, but everyone was upstairs... Some friends of mine finally started dancing downstairs, and the lighting guy got drunk and walked off the job.
RS: What do you like most about DJing?
JM: The special moment when you can create something perfect.
RS: What's the biggest crowd you have spun for?
JM: Halloween in New Orleans. About 7500 people.
RS: How do you describe your sound?
JM: Happy.
RS: You hold up a sign "No Requests" when you are DJing, why did you start doing this?
JM: Because I don't take requests. I guess there are some people would rather go on their own journey and ignore the journey I'm taking hundreds or thousands of people on. I think a request can be a really selfish thing.
RS: You just got back from DJing 7 days on a cruise ship, what's it like playing in that environment?
JM: I already knew about half of the 62 people on the boat. I knew they were heavy into flagging, so I played lots of beautiful trance and lots of hits from the mid 90's like Grace's "Down To Earth." The ship was a tall one so it took a while to get used to the rocking motion. We also did a beach party and a bunch of locals showed up. They thought I was playing Techno and thought it was cool to hear something other than hip hop.
RS: How has music changed since you started DJing?
JM: When I started DJing just about every song had vocals and a piano. In the US it has just become tribal and very few vocals. There is almost no variety. I won't play dark and depressing music or pots and pans. The rest of the world is great with light and jazzy grooves and NRG/Trance with lots of vocals and great melodies.
RS: Everyone has a favorite song...not necessarily of the moment, but that they always "come back to" over time...what's yours, and why?
JM: Songs that won't die for me are Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" and Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" (both Frankie Knuckle remixes), "Someone" by Ascension, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Nicki French, and "Looking At You" by Sunscreem.
RS: Who are your influences, both as a DJ and as a remixer?
JM: As a DJ I was originally influenced my the early 90s sounds of Susan Morabito, Michael Fierman, and Buc. Currently, I am not inspired by any American DJs because I don't like Tribal House, and it seems that that is all American DJ's play. As a Remixer I was originally influenced by Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Love To Infinity, Rollo, and Armin Van Buuren. Armin is about the only one around today still remixing, and I still like his work.
