Man kann Marlon Sterling aka Equniox als den „Godfather of the Inperspective sound “ bezeichnen. Mit seinen ersten Releases gemeinsam mit dem legendären Bizzy B im Jahr 1993 gehört Equinox wohl zu den Veteranen der Szene. Auf die Frage, seinen Stil zu beschreiben antwortet er: "I can't describe my sound, that's for other people to judge it! My style changes each time. Alright, mainly on the more one string vein, but I do a lot of other things that people don't really get to hear. Love of... Read moreMan kann Marlon Sterling aka Equniox als den „Godfather of the Inperspective sound “ bezeichnen. Mit seinen ersten Releases gemeinsam mit dem legendären Bizzy B im Jahr 1993 gehört Equinox wohl zu den Veteranen der Szene. Auf die Frage, seinen Stil zu beschreiben antwortet er: "I can't describe my sound, that's for other people to judge it! My style changes each time. Alright, mainly on the more one string vein, but I do a lot of other things that people don't really get to hear. Love of music is the main thing! That and my emotions, man!"
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Equinox
Name: Marlon Sterling
Put simply, Equinox is the Godfather of the Inperspective sound. Respected by the rest of the Inperspective family, Marlon is a veteran of the scene, and true beat scientist. Brought up in Southeast London on a diet of dub, 80s soul, jazz, funk, Detroit techno and much, much more, all the signs pointed to Marlon`s eventual involvement with music from an early age – "I used to rock my head to the rhythm of the washing machine when I was a kid!" Marlon was introduced to the hardcore scene via exposure to acid house and techno by his uncles – "fusing those house sounds with the hip hop breaks, that`s where I got into it, from 1989, 1990," says Marlon. "I just followed it through from there, the more beat driven side. Black Dog, Shut Up And Dance, the Ragga Twins, Nicolette, Forge Masters, Nightmares on Wax, I could be here for ages. There's nuff! Juan Atkins, Carl Craig! I could be here forever. Wizard and the Prince – they were on an American label called City Limits, in conjunction with Nu Groove Records – they did sort of deep house stuff but they started using breaks with it and I was like `Gwarn!`"
It was hearing such breakbeat-driven music that drove Marlon to make the move into production. "I got an Amiga 500 in about 1990, with this sampling software called Future Sound – a little four track sample thing. I put loops into it, trying to do Frankie Bones Breaks type things, sampling other tunes and making little megamix things, but after three four minutes everything started to go out of time! Then I got a Roland D5 & Dr rhythm from a friend, had them for about a year and a bit. I started producing with them properly in 1991, that's how I got into it." Hearing Doc Scott`s Here Come The Drums provided Marlon with the push needed to take things more seriously. "Yeah, it was that track which made me say `yeah, this is what I wanna do!`"
"I started working for Stage One Distribution on the weekends, and that`s how I came to hook up with Bizzy B. I met Bizzy B one day when I was out distributing in a record shop called Wired For Sound. At the time, I was loving everything Brian (Bizzy B) had done. I had just heard Bizzy B & Peshay's 'Release 2 Dope EP' and so I gave a demo tape to Brian and he gave me a call asking me to come down the studio, and we started the 'Brain Records Crew EP'. I have the upmost respect for Bizzy B as he introduced me to edits on beats. Even though I was a nipper, he had respect for what I was trying to do. If it weren`t for him, I wouldn`t have gone into the technical side of things as much as I have." Get Marlon talking about the red light sessions in Bizzy`s studio, throwing edits back and forward between the pair of them, and his respect for the man is obvious. "My most memorable music related experience is with Bizzy, too – my PA at Innersense at the Lazerdrome with him. We performed The Weekend, Brain Record Crew, The Slate, loads more that I can`t remember. It was ruff!"Marlon`s passion for music is evident when you get him talking about it. Asked what he`s currently listening to, and what has influenced him over the years, he reels off a seemingly endless list. "Larry Heard, Wax Doctor, King Tubby, Aba Shanti. There's just too many – Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Mayday, there's too many man. I listen to all these people all the time, everyday! I listen to too much! I listen to everything, soul, jazz, experimental bare different music every day! Dwelle`s LP at the moment, it`s kinda jazzy soul, a kinda Jill Scott type thing, I`m really in it! The Winstons, for coming up with such a rude break, everyone knows what I'm on about, the "Amen" break! Ray Burns, Weather Report, Donald Byrd, Quincy Jones When I`m not producing music, I just draw sound system and draw the car!" It`s this love of music that motivates him to create his own: "I listen to other people that I`m inspired by and anything different, that motivates me. Love of music is the main thing! That and my emotions, man!" It`s these diverse influences that make for Marlon`s ever evolving sound. "I can't describe my sound, that's for other people to judge it! My style changes each time. Alright, mainly on the more one string vein, but I do a lot of other things that people don't really get to hear."
Over the years that followed meeting Bizzy B, Marlon has worked with a host of other artists, including Threshold (Special Branch), Chris Inperspective, Senses, DJ Dubplate, and the original DJ Renegade. Recently engineering the 2004 remix of DJ Crystl`s Warpdrive, soon to be released on Photek Productions, allowed Marlon to tick off another name on his extensive list of artists who he`d like to collaborate with. "I`d love to work with Paradox, Breakage, Wax Doctor, most definitely! Oh, and obviously Larry Heard! Carl Craig, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Liquid Zebra. There`s so many!"
With plans afoot to do a live PA at Technicality with Breakage, excursions into the rnb world and laying down some hip hop instrumentals for fellow Inperspective member MC Q, Marlon`s near future looks hectic. But in 10 years` time? "I see myself in a nice production company producing these cheesy little blond bimbo pop girls, yamming nuff KFC while at the controls getting fatter!" he says, laughing. "Nah, seriously, doing film scores, making all sorts of music that I like, that I'm influenced from. Producing and remixing for people. I want to be running the studio properly."
Responsible for the tag line often seen associated with Inperspective, "It`s all about the beats", it feels only right to close with another quotable comment uttered by Marlon: "Everybody must listen chopping! Ya have fi understand what one string is all about!"[/size=11]Show less
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