Marco Carola

Some DJs follow trends, some never get themselves out of the groove of the same sound, and others crank out an unvaried DJ mix crammed with chart-toppers every few months. With a sense of unpredictability and productions that continually raise the bar, techno innovator Marco Carola has always fought the urge to fit into any of the above. Growing up alongside a friend whose father ran the music scene in Napoli, the majority of his youth was spent living in studios and nightclubs and it didn't take long before he purchased his own turntables from the local disco. It took even less time for him to become a bonafide homegrown star. Despite playing residencies at the big Italo house and disco clubs, often entrancing over 3000 Neapolitan hedonists, his curiosity became entirely captivated by the rise of the next movement: techno. He purchased a few samplers intending to diversify his highly-demanded DJ sets, but the samplers found much more use in his studio. He started banging out productions at such an unruly pace, it was only natural that he established his own label, Design Music. After all, with a strain of techno completely unknown to the rest of the city, there was no other outlet for his beats. The label kicked off to a firing start and the collaborations began flying in (Adam Beyer and Masters at Work, to name a few), and with them came the wholehearted support of techno DJs and fans from around the globe. Previously oblivious to life outside of Napoli, doors were suddenly flung wide open and the world beckoned for the young DJ/ producer to spread his wings and journey beyond his little home studio.

The next stop was Frankfurt, where the dynamic sound he'd cultivated was met with wide-eyed enthusiasm. His tour schedule was soon filled and billed; his now-legendary 3-deck sets were booked internationally. Covering techno in all subgenres but maintaining an exceptional standard of quality and innovation, Carola was also playing a balancing act with his many labels - Design, 1000, Zenit and Question. 2004 saw the launches of Do.Mi.No, Domestic Minimal Noise. Since then, four of the twelve planned releases have emerged to high acclaim. While 'minimal' seems to be the prevailing word du jour, Marco has always been several steps ahead of his time, creating expansive techno that has set an entirely new precedent for the rest of the scene.