DJ Latam (or Marius for friends) was born on October, 8 under the Libra sign. Place of birth: great city of Bucharest, wonderful land of Romania. Ever since he was a child he proved attraction to electronic music, although the entire concept of it had a rather relative meaning for him at that time. First findings: Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis.
Once the time passed by and his information multiplied, the quantity of listened music grew, his knowledge developed and the rhythms intensity became more and more graceful. It was the time for The KLF, Underworld, Orbital, Daft Punk, The Crystal Method, Faithless, BT, Fluke. And for the very famous The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers. And the list could continue...
Then he discovers goa psytrance. This style greatly influenced him regarding both music and existence. Behind that music he found an entire culture of sound spirituality and, to a great extent, neo-hippie; perhaps too neo-hippie. Probably the most important component of the newly discovered world are the outdoor festivals. These festivals take place in special locations all over the world (Goa beaches represent the beginning) and strongly promote the relation between human and nature. This thing attracts him. Initial artists on the genre are: Astral Projection, Hallucinogen, Etnica, X-Dream, Shpongle, Infected Mushroom; more recently: Wizzy Noise, Echotek, Hujaboy, Sharigrama, Tristan, E-Jekt, Logic Bomb, Deedrah, Prometheus, Dino Psaras, Tranan and at last, but not least his friend and conational, Atma.
The beginnings of the Romanian clubbing scene follows, which he fully enjoys. The progressive sound is dominant and the sparkling patterns of DJs like John Digweed are shaping him.
Mixing came by chance years later (meanwhile he spent some time in Italy). The debut took place at Transylvania Calling 2004, the first outdoor psytrance festival in Romania, an event that had a greater impact after it took place. A friend asked if he wanted to “play some music” and he accepted. At that moment, he fully enjoyed the spontaneity of the act and he did not think at the implications for a further DJ career. But the few tracks were enough for him to discover that he loved the feeling behind the decks and that the wanted to experience it again.
Different little indoor and outdoor parties followed. There he had the chance to work his technique. He understood that being a DJ meant hard work, devotement, perseverance and patience. He actively involved in events organization and promotion. He begins working at www.afterparty.ro, which is a portal for Romanian events and clubs. There he learnt many things about professional work in the music industry.
After reaching a satisfactory level on psytrance, he started experiencing and going deeper into the more and more various sub-genres of electronic music. The first was progressive, then electro, techno, tech-house, minimal, acid and any fusion of those. Dub, chill-out, ambient and IDM for relaxation too. This training may seem odd to many people, but it defines his style that clearly reflects the recent fusion tendencies in the electronic music. The result: as a DJ, at this moment he can play all these genres.
An important confirmation of his work and ascension comes with the nomination at nights.ro Awards 2008 (Romania's most important poll for electronic music) - section "Best debutant DJ in Romania in 2007", where he gets selected in the final together with other 23 DJs.
The party’s profile, location, audience, line-up and the hour are the factors that highly influence the set of a DJ. Latam tries to keep in mind all these things, but irrespective of the chosen genre, his sets are usually dynamic and hypnotic, have a lot of groove and spreads positive vibrations.
He appreciates DJs and producers who have the courage to experiment and innovate, to change themselves and succeed to change the others and the scene. Besides goa-psy artists forementioned, a few of his favorites are: Minilogue, Extrawelt, Younger Brother, Oliver Huntemann, D-Nox, Beckers, Dusty Kid, Stephan Bodzin, Anthony Rother, Oliver Koletzki, Gregor Tresher, Tiefschwarz, Tobias Lutzenkirchen, Guy Boratto, Antix, Ticon, James Holden, Nathan Fake, John Acquaviva, James Zabiela, Arnaud Rebotini, Booka Shade, Xenia Beliayeva, Anders Trentemoller, Vibrasphere, Umek, Sven Vath, Steve Bug, etc.
He played at: festivals like Transylvania Calling, Delahoya, Synthplants Ekzit, FanFest in Romania or Earthdance Festival in Bulgaria and many clubs and locations like: Studio Martin, Web Club, Avantgarde, Frame, Cool Cat, Silver, Kado, The Loft, Spider, Baraka, Propaganda (all in Bucharest), Chill Out (Sibiu), The King (Cluj), Domino (Constanta), Orange (Mamaia), Palace Cafe (Iasi), etc. Well known DJs he played along or been on the line-up are: Vania, Haulte Culture, DJ Vasile, Marika, Atma, Gojira, Thornado, Electric Brother (all Romania), Banco de Gaia (UK), Gabriel Le Mar (Saafi Brothers / Aural Float - Germania), Loopus In Fabula (Italy), Antix (New Zeeland), Snake Sedrick (Hungary), Protonica (Germany), DJ Slater (Cech Republic), Saiko Pod (Denmark), V-Sag (Greece), Krumelur (Sweden), DJ Vanja (Macedonia), Kliment (Bulgaria), Alpha (Germany), Sandal Wood (Bulgaria), Styx (Germany), Ian Ion (Denmark), Tayo (UK), Andreas Kremer (Germany), Jody Wisternoff (Way Out West - UK), General Midi (UK), Echomen (UK), Pacou (Germany), Alex Bau (Germany), etc. Other public appearances would be also many radio shows, romanian or foreign, live or prerecorded, Radio Deea or the show Selectro made by Marika being the most well known for Romania.
At the moment, he has various projects for the future that he hopes to accomplish. Until then, his sets will try to make your feet jump on the dance floor, to banish boredom, to soothe the spirit and to excite the ears. Watch him closely.