Marcus Visionary has been in the music game for almost two decades. Born and raised in the multicultural land of Toronto Canada. Marcus was fortunate enough to have an early start. Music was an integral part of his childhood and family life. His family was one of the first to leave their native home of Guyana which is located at the tip of South America. Guyana is the only english speaking country in South America and the culture and music is that of the Carribean. His family found it to be their duty to sponsor their extended family and bring them to North America for a better life. For young Marcus this would mean there was always family around and the party was always on his doorstep!His cousins and uncles would Dj all the family functions and his father was an avid record collector. His dad would collect everything from Sam cooke, Otis Redding, Bobby Womack, Al Greene to all of the latest Funk, disco, and reggae records all throughout the 80's. His brother and sister were big rock and pop fans exposing him to Led Zepplin, Yes, Pink Floyd, ACDC, Ozzy Osbourne, Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson etc. His teenage babysitters who were 16 year old boys also had the dj bug and exposed him to the eccentric funk driven sounds of George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic, as well as the early rap and electro of the early 80's. As you can see there was no escaping music for the very young and curious Marcus Visionary. As Marcus got older he had no interest in video games, sports or toys of any sort. He was fascinated with soundsystems, turntables and dj culture. The art of playing music for the enjoyment of people was at his very core. At a very early age Marcus took over the reigns at many of his family functions and soon became the Dj who would rock all of the family parties,school dances and hall parties in his neighbourhood. At age 17 he was spotted by one of his sisters friends who worked the door for a Toronto sound called Non Chalant. Non Chalant played for a mature 25+ crowd and the music style was Hiphop, RnB, House, Soca and Reggae Dancehall. Marcus had his first club gig at Toronto's famous Spectrum Nightclub where he earned the name Mark Swift for his quick transitions and smooth mixing style. He then moved onto residencies at some of Torontos most famous clubs such as Copa, Empire, Jaguar, Emperess Lifestyles etc. At the time he was playing alongside the likes of the Ebony Soundcrew, TLC, TKO, Sunshine, Jakes, Carl Allen and Ron Nelson. The music playlist was dictated heavily by Buffalos black music radio station WBLK. This limitation was frustrating for Marcus as he worked at Carnival Records and would recieve promos of all the freshest hip hop from N.Y.C. Who would have known that Marcus would be 'let go' for cutting up two versions of Tribe Called Quests 'Check the Rhyme' which ironically became a classic and gets played at all the black clubs still today! This incident turned out to be a blessing in disguise. During the mid to late 80's Marcus was keen and following the progression of disco to house and the birth of techno. Marcus was fascinated with the garage and acid sounds of chicago, New York and Detroit but other than school dances and house parties he was limited to where he could play this new sound. A major turning point occurred for Marcus between 1990-1992 when he was exposed to a local radio show called 'This is London' hosted by an extremely charismatic Bristish ex pat. Dj Malik X. Marcus was about to get his first dose of how the U.K was running things! At first Marcus would tune in to hear the latest in Acid Jazz and Rare grooves but not long after Malik started spinning the early sounds of what would become known as jungle. At the time he was referring to this music as ragga techno. Spinning the latest cuts from Shut up and Dance, Nicholette and Rebel MC. This was it for marcus. He had found the musical melting pot that would later become his career and also a major driving force in his life. Jungle was born and there was no turning back. Toronto wasted no time in making it's transition from warehouse parties to massive raves. Rave companies were springing up by the dozens. Companies such as Exodus, Chemistry, Sykosis, Nitrous, Phaze, Infinity, Destiny, Happy Face and Pleasure Force were hosting massive rave events catering to the early hardcore, techno and progressive house sounds. From 91-92 hardcore was making it's transition to jungle and Marcus was definately encouraging the transition. Addicted to the heavy bass and breaks this was all the motivation Marcus needed to launch Torontos first 'ALL' jungle company known as Delirium. This came at a time where 'Jungle' was intermingled with house, techno and Progressive. Marcus was inspired to have an entire night filled with nothing but Jungle Techno! Quick to jump on the financial bandwagon Marcus's ex Non Chalant sound boss was quick to invest in this new phenomenon. In December of 1992 X Rave Promotions was born with it's first event'Lost in the Jungle'which would become known as the theme for all of Deliriums Anniversary events. X - Rave became Delirium by the next event which became a home forToronto's top Jungle dj's. Residents included; Dr.No, Jungle P.h.d, Medicine Muffin, Ruffneck and Marcus. Delirium continued introducing new talents such as Hardcru, Mystical Influence, Sniper, Lush and Everfresh etc. Delirium then introduced some of the U.Ks top talents such as; Nicky Blackmarket, Stevie Hyper D, Devious D, Randall, Ellis D, Bizzy B, Dj Rap, Donovan Smith, Kings of the Jungle etc. Delirium had quite a run throughout the early 90's hosting over 30 events not including some infamous weeklie events. By the mid nineties Jungle was in full swing. Companies such as Syrous, Liquid Adrenaline, Better days, Dose and Life Force were taking over from the older rave companies. Marcus was a resident for many of these companies which allowed him to play alongside all of the U.K's finest exports. By 1997 Delirium had suffered the fate of greedy financers and Marcus had grown weary of dealing with people he could'nt trust. So in December of 1999 Junglist Movement was born. This would be a company that he could truly call his own. Junglist Movements goal was to continue in promoting Jungle Drum and Bass as a music that is defined by soundsystem culture. Detail to Sound and especially bass would be the focus with the help of longtime school friend and sound operator Phil Boerner. Together the Dub Rock Soundsystem was born and the Movement was just beginning. In 1992 Carnival records closed it's doors and toronto's famous Play de record opened. Marcus made the jump over to Play de where he would continue to work for 8 years. Having access to all of the latest vinyl made Marcus a very hot commodity. In 1994 Marcus applied for a radio show on Ryersons 88.1 CKLN. Prophecy radio was born. Early dj's such as Ruffneck, Hrdcru and Medicine Muffin joined Marcus for hours of late night hardcore jungle sessions. In 1995 a listener who had a connection for 89.5 F.M (University of Toronto)radio phoned in and suggested Prophecy should be moved to the more powerful radio station. Boasting 15,000 watts of power with a signal that reaches from Barrie to Buffalo N.Y, Kitchener to Cobourg Marcus made the move and adopted a new partner then known as dj Shadow and now known as dj Prime. 13 Years later and the Prophecy is still on the air as North America's longest running Jungle Drum and Bass radio program. Tune in Every Sunday night from 8-10 p.m on 89.5 F.M www.ciut.fm. Prophecy has had too many guests to name throughout the years but the one show that has stood the test of time and has managed to make it's way across the globe is Shy FX featuring MC Skibadee and MC Fearless. This show most definately has put Prophecy on the map! As Jungle transitioned into drum and bass Marcus continued to push the more dub,soul,jazz and reggae aspects that he admired so much about Jungle. 1995-2000 would see the birth of a more techno driven darker sound. The production quality of this sound was incredible but the copy cats wreaked havoc on the scene with poor production and less sub bass in the music. Marcus found his way through this period by supporting the sounds of V Records, Full Cycle, True Playaz, Frontline, Ganja, Ebony,Creative Source and the more soulful driven, dub infused labels to name a few. He also admired greatly the Metalheadz sound that had artists such as Goldie, Digital and Dillinja twisting jungle into a new dark dubwise drum and bass. Adapting and finding the best of the music he loved was his main goal. During this time 2 Step/UK Garage and Speed Garage had managed to stear many junglists away from Drum and Bass in the U.K and North America. Marcus caught the Garage bug and began spinning alongside Sassale forming a company with promoter Tony Matharu called 'Flirt' at Toronto's Nasa Dance Pub. All the while still spinning at DnB events and pushing the jungle sound. Flirt prospered in Toronto from 97-2000 but started to fade as Garage transitioned into grime. Disallusioned by the MC heavy sound Marcus once again became inspired with a new sound in Drum and Bass. By the year 2000 Jungle was rearing it's head again with the rebirth of a dubbier more hardcore sound with the likes of Total Science, Digital, Future Cut, Ink and Loxy all pushing the return to Jungle Techno. This period brought back the spark that originally had inspired Marcus. The music was being reborn. Liquid funk was being pushed by Fabio and more soulful dubwise melodic sounds were finding their way back into Drum and Bass. This fresh spark would lead Marcus back into the studio with the hopes of contributing to the sound that was now his life and love. In 1995 Marcus linked up with Dave 'Nemesis' Whalen who was known around the city as a great engineer and budding producer. The partnership became known as Visionary and they continue to work on music today. Early signings came for L Doubles Flex Records. 'Acid flex' was one of their first releases and was definately reminisent of their love of acid house and detroit techno. Visionary continued on with a few more releases for Flex Records and Toronto's own vinyl Syndicate throughout the late 90's early 2000 but it was'nt until Marcus decided to go full time in 2005 that Visionary would truly be born. It was the summer of 2005 and it was time for marcus to put promoting to rest and focus 100% on music production. The studio had been built for a decade and was severely under used. It was time for the Visionary sound to define itself and take route across the U.K and eventually across the globe. The first tracks to be made would be Number 9 Dub and Gimme your Love. Marcus had made connections with many U.K dj's over years of promoting events. He then got with the times and added the aim instant messenger program to his computer. One of the first dj's added to the list was dj Bailey of Intabeats fame on the BBCs 1xtra. Marcus sent both tracks out to Bailey who injected them into his sets. During one of his gigs at Fabios famous Swerve night the tracks caught the attention of Marcus Intalex and Shy FX. Within one week of sending out the track it was signed to Revolver. Soon to follow would be the break that Visionary was looking for. A day after the call from Intalex, Marcus recieved a call from Shy FX to scoop up both tracks. The only one left was Gimme your Love. Shy quickly signed the track for his new label project 'Digital Soundboy' which was in it's first stages. Marcus had brought Shy FX out to play at one of his Junglist Movement events in the past so they knew of each other. After talking about the direction of the label Shy fx knew that Visionary had a very similar vision and a similar history. Very soon after Visionary was asked to be signed to Digital Soundboy. 2005 saw the rebirth of dubwise dnb and some people referred to the Visionary sound as Dub Rock after their 1st label release 'Dub Rock Sound' on their own Dance Rock imprint (DR 001). Visionary began fusing lovers rock with original vocals with rub a dub bass, soul and breakbeats. This infectious dancefloor sound has taken Marcus across the globe within two years of it's creation. Touring extensively throughout the U.K, Europe, Canada and the United States. Marcus was then added to the well established U.M.C Artist Management based in the U.K Inspiration for this dub/soul sound was coming from artists such as; Shy FX & T Power, Benny Page, Digital, Potential Badboy, Aries, and Breakage. Support was in abundance from dj's; Bailey (Intabeats), Bryan G, Hype (Kiss 100) Flight and L Double, Devious D, to name a few. As of 2005 Visionary celebrated releases on a variety of dnb's premiere labels: Digital Soundboy, 31 Records, Revolver, T.O.V, Xtinction Agenda, Play Musik, Horizon, Shout, Flex, On Point, Hustlin Beats, Co-Lab, Pure Vibes etc. As well as their own labels Dance Rock, Lion Dubs, and Rocksteady. As Visionary move into 2008 they are constantly busy experimenting with their ever evolving sound. The next release for Digital Soundboy will be a cover of the classic 'Change is Gonna Come' by the late great Sam Cooke. This track is a soul ballad peformed by two of Toronto's hottest RnB/Soul exports D.Suade and RnR. This brooding yet hopeful soul classic speaks on the hardships of life but also hints that constant change is required within the music for it to continue it's evolution. Watch out for the video and full release forthcoming on DSB in 2008.
As 2008 marches on you can expect solo projects as Marcus
Visionary as well as Visionary Projects with Dave Whalen and
collaborations with label mate Benny Page as well as longtime
friend Gremlinz. Also watch out for bass culture creations coming in all tempos as Marcus delves deeper into his musical evolution with a new label called + Thought (Distributed by Nu Urban Music). Keep your eyes peeled for Dubstep releases forthcoming on Digitals Mission Impossible Label and Ju JU's Narco hertz label. Drum and bass wise you can expect more quality releases from Digital Soundboy (www.digitalsoundboy.com) and Visionary's very own D.R.G Label (Dance Rock & Groove) which is exclusively distributed by Nu Urban Music U.K. For event promotions you can expect more from Junglist Movement, Theory and a new company called 'BassWeight' which will be dedicated to the ever evolving sounds within Bass Culture. Junglist Movement and BassWeight will be fueled by the Mighty Dub Rock Soundsystem (40,000 Watts of clear sound and gut wrenching BASS). If you find yourself in Toronto be sure not to miss this Bass experience! With such a rich musical heritage you can guarantee that this is just the beginning of things to come from Marcus Visionary. 'All Things Bass'
