While the average club goers and festival freaks may not know Derek Marin by name, you mention him to other DJ’s and producers and they just about pee themselves.  Ryan Orey recently posted that after playing one of Derek's new tracks girls practically started throwing panties at him.  Score.  With a producing career older than some of his listeners, Derek won “Best New DJ” by Mixer Magazine in 2001 and has been turning heads and rocking dance floors all over the world ever since.  With almost 300 tracks & 70 releases on a plethora of different labels (several of his own), it seems Derek is a veritable clown car in this three-ring circus of Electronic Dance Music.  Spanning Deep House, Techno, Minimal, Nu Disco, Electronica and even Chill Out, this guy cranks out tracks like his life depends on it . . . and maybe it does.

Derek is exactly the kind of talent we, here at Pocket Underground, love to showcase.  If you don’t know who he is, then you should, and this is your chance to get to know him, and his music, a little better.  For those of you who’ve been following his long and prolific career we hope you may learn a little something new, but for the rest of us I encourage you to spend some time getting to know Derek’s music.  We can’t wait to see what he’s gonna bring to Woogie Nights on Feb. 17^th at the King King!

Check out Derek’s music on Beatport!

Take a listen to this amazing mix Derek did for Beat Soup, his first DJ mix in over a year!!

PU: Derek, let’s start at the beginning. You’ve been playing instruments from a very young age, particularly drums. When you first started out as a DJ, how did that influence you?

DM: The basics of DJing came fairly easy to me because of my drum background. My first mix-tape was with one turntable & a cassette player that I opened up & found the pitch control on.

PU: Peart, Weckl or Bonham?

DM: Ringo, Morris, Copeland.

PU: Touche. Seems like you’ve been producing since not long after the invention of electricity, tell us about some of your first tracks and what inspired them.

DM: My first productions where in the Autechre/Aphex Twin vain under the name Autopilot. I was obsessed with Warp Records. IDM/Electronica was the natural progression from bands for me – I hated House music at first.

PU: You have done remixes for Depeche Mode and Daft Punk.  That’s pretty huge, what were some of the processes that went into those?

DM: I’m a huge fan of DM. It started after a DJ gig I had with Andrew Fletcher. I pitched a DJ CD comp that He OK’d. The remixes where released as well - the band & Daniel Miller where cool with it but without Warner Bros involvement. Everything got complicated when I later did some unofficial Recoil remixes – Alan Wilder was not happy about that – everything in turn was pulled. Later the remixes where are allowed to be released as tributes. What’s ironic is Alan Wilder is my favorite member & my biggest influence. I actually would have been extremely happy to be sued by my idol but that didn’t happen. The Daft Punk remixes are a very long story that should probably stay a mystery.

PU: Ha! Not everyday you long to be sued.  So, what’s the typical day like for you? Are you a night owl? Or do you wake up with a cup of coffee and start producing?

DM: Both. I pretty much make a track at any given time I have a moment.

PU: You’ve toured the world (though apparently you’ve never been to California) what are some of the most memorable shows you’ve played?

DM: Club Cinema in Colombia – I got the royal treatment, it was too much. Bullet proof vehicles & the like.  The best crowd experience as well.  My gig with DM’s Andrew Fletcher is of course another one – he got me really trashed to boot.

PU: What is the strangest experience you’ve ever had on the road or just at a gig?

DM: I’d say having to help set up Lady Bunny for her set after mine during a V Magazine party while Milla Jovovich was in the DJ booth. Que Random. Milla asked me if we met before & I went retarded.

PU: Hahaha! That’s awesome. So you run a label, Faucet Music, what inspired you to take on something like that? What sets you aside from all the rest?

DM: I run 3 actually - Faucet Music, Like Button (charity label) & Subtrak (partly). I did it originally so I didn’t have to bother with labels every time I wanted to release a track. What sets me aside is my versatility – I do everything. From making the tracks (in multiple genres), to doing artwork, production, promotion, events & the business itself. Shit I even do my own lights. Take that Hawtin.

PU: Well played sir, well played. Let’s talk gear for a minute. Back when you first started remixing and producing, what did your studio look like, what was your first and most favorite piece of gear.

DM: Between me & my former partner originally we had quite the fire hazard going on.  Oberheim Matrix 6, DR 660, SH 101 & a 606 were my favorite pieces.

PU: And now, tell us about your studio.

DM: Macbook pro, Ableton 8 – that’s it. Liberating. Plus tons of personally recorded samples.

PU: It seems to me that EDM in all it’s incarnations is becoming more and more mainstream. We can hear house, trance and event dub-step everywhere from the gym to department stores.  It’s easy for some of us to look at what’s being produced and consumed and label it as corporate crap. But there is some serious skill that goes into these big tracks. That being said, there’s some big money to be made in doing this as well. What is it that keeps you so firmly rooted in your style? Why not just “sell-out”? You obviously have the skill and the connections, plus New York isn’t exactly cheap.

DM: To be honest selling out isn’t easy. Go for it, while we are bitching & moaning about it you can go relax on your yacht. And to be completely Underground, that’s pretty easy – just don’t release anything.

PU: Well put. In closing, is there any advice you can give to those that are just now getting into producing music, or are new to spinning or even just new to the EDM scene?

DM: Stop.  Go work at the post office.

PU: Hahahaaa! I’ll see if they’re hiring. Thanks for your time Derek! We can’t wait to see you at Woogie Nights here in Los Angeles on February 17^th!