Non-stop tribal techno: introducing Marrøn

Picture by Studio Mimik — Picture Hedon Sonance / Annelies Kietselaer

On a rainy January afternoon, a tall figure enters the Amsterdam cafe where I am expecting Marrøn, DJ and party organizer. Although it’s the first time we meet he welcomes me warmly. We talk a little about his first gig outside of the Netherlands a while ago. Marrøn played a closing set at Stage & Radio in Manchester. “I’m really proud they recognize my sound out there”, he says. He is also psyched about the next edition of the Eerste Communie-parties at Garage Noord in a few months, of which he is one of the residents and organizers.

Marrøn has a truly distinct DJ sound, mixing percussive tracks with, as he describes it, 'rolling’ techno, which has a constant high energy groove over long time stretches. “I try to mix the percussive element of traditional African music with this Berlin sound that goes on and on”. Inspired by the likes of Ben Klock and Rødhåd and his roots in Surinam, he aims to tell a musical story by combining these influences that are geographically and temporally distant, but similar in their trance-inducing qualities. “My sets have a constant tempo so you can get lost in them, but I mix in a lot of records, so you’ll never get bored”.

Marrøn needs no encouraging, speaking enthusiastically about his vision. “I like to play from a raver’s perspective: what would I need if I was in the crowd at this moment? I play a lot at 138-145 BPM, but despite the high speed it always has to have a certain swing, a human element. After all, I want to make a connection with the people on the dancefloor”. He explains how he tries to adapt to the moment and the crowd, but always within his own style.

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Does he maybe create his own tracks, as sometimes the music he plays sounds so fresh? “I’m really focused on DJing at his point in my life. Everything I play was originally created by others. But I speed up records that were originally created at for instance 130 BPM, so maybe that’s why it sounds new to you”. So, where does he get his records? “I use both new, unreleased records and older records from around 2000. What I like about the old tracks is their pureness, it’s just one groove for five minutes”.

Next to playing club sets, Marrøn creates special online sets to showcase his way of playing. Other than most online sets they have titles and artwork, inspired by the Marron (or Maroon, in English) people of Surinam. The Marrons were slaves centuries ago, but they fled to the jungle and made a life for themselves there. They still live in quite traditional villages, holding on to their distinctive culture, which has direct links with their roots in West Africa. “I love the defiance of the Marrons, their pride, their autonomy. That’s how I want to be as an artist, doing my own thing unconditionally. When I started DJing, I didn’t have to think long about a stage name”.

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The titles of his online sets are in Sranan language. For instance, what does Kromanti Akan mean? “Kromanti is an eagle god in the Winti religion of the Marrons. He’s a benign god that protects and guides you, looks out for you. Akan means river”.

Speaking of rituals, let’s talk about Eerste Communie. The underground parties are named after the Catholic rite of passage (First Communion), in which children are accepted as members of their parish. It’s a big celebration. “In the same way, we want our parties to be a first encounter with a sound and a community. But in this case, it’s a new community of open-minded ravers where everyone’s welcome, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation or colour”, Marrøn explains.

“Community is the key word at Eerste Communie; we want the crowd, the DJ’s and organizers to become one. That’s why we never announce the line-up. We want you to come for the music and the family feeling, not for big DJ names. And there’s no online ticket sale, you just show up”.

The parties are organized by a group of five people. Eerste Communie started with several small scale open air editions last year, which proved very successful. They selected Garage Noord as their indoor location. Marrøn: “We really thought hard about how to translate this underground feeling of the open air parties to an indoor club. We’re really glad we found Garage Noord”. The next instalments of Eerste Communie will also be held there. Always on Sundays. “We want you to feel free, to have a holy day” he smiles.

We asked Marrøn to pick three tracks that are important to him and tell us why.

Manoo - This is a test

“When I was younger I listened to Afro Deep a lot, artists like Black Coffee, Black Motion, Manoo and Culoe De Song. It’s much slower and slicker than techno, but it’s certainly part of my DNA. This track has an African feel to it, with a lot of percussion and drums. It’s quite minimal for deep house. I never used this in my sets, but maybe with heavier kicks and a faster tempo it could even work in a techno set”.

Rene Wise – Spirit Molecule

“I got to know Rene’s music through this track. It really suits my own style. It’s hard and edgy, but also has a lot of feeling, with warm kicks. Rene has recently become a good friend of mine”.

Optics – Human Touch

“This one I play a lot during sets at the moment. It goes deep, but also has a lot of energy. It sounds good at all kinds of tempos, fast and slow. It’s a kind of jazz techno, if such a thing existed. I think I get most inspiration form other genres than techno. Optics is one of the residents at Eerste Communie”.

Experience Marrøn at Eerste Communie’s Easter Edition, April 12th at Garage Noord or read our report of Eerste Communie’s open air events.

Text André Kamphuis