As dance music’s tentacles reach more and more audiences, one country that is still considered an untapped market is the United States. With such a vast population, it’s not surprising that a plethora of quality DJs and producers is being discovered on an almost weekly basis and championed by some of the world’s most respected and revered DJs. One duo that has been around for a number of years is Marscruiser. While not commonly known to most dance music fans until recently, their outstanding productions have been feted by some of the biggest names in the industry including Danny Howells and John Digweed, to name a few. Their musical diversity has seen their style range from drum’n’bass to trance and a few others in between. As such, their production work has appeared on such compilations as Cass’ ‘Prologue’ compilation and Danny Howell’s contribution to the ‘Renaissance: Revelations’ mix under the guise of Nebulus.

Not just content with producing music, the Marscruiser sound can often be experienced during one of their technically boundless DJ sets as well as an occasional live PA set. However, it was in 2003 that Marscruiser became a force to be reckoned with in the production game. Their track ‘Elementalectrofunk’, which featured the ambassador of funk, Mr George Clinton, became an instant breakbeat classic and played by just about any DJ worth his kit. Having made such an impact on the dance music scene, there is not doubt the future is bright one for this multi talented duo. Marscruiser took some time out to speak to RA. Much respect!

I understand you guys hail from Wisconsin in the US. It’s not a place I would immediately associate with dance music. Do you feel dance music today is reaching more and more people or will it be one of those things that will truly remain underground?
MARSCRUISER: In this day and age, good dance music can come from anywhere. You can’t afford to have a bias about any particular region of the world. Dance music is one of the few genres out there that, if the music is great, it can get out there and be recognized regardless of geographical source. You don’t need a huge national street team, national radio airplay and constant touring to break a dance single. Dance music can reach every part of the globe on its own merit, and that’s great. However, as far as it remaining “underground”, certain kinds of dance music will always remain a niche market with only a niche appeal. Other kinds have a huge potential to reach a much larger audience, especially in America.

Your early years were spent DJing at raves. Do you still play at such events or do you prefer clubs/festivals?
MARSCRUISER: These days, it's mostly clubs. We haven't played a festival (as neither a live PA nor DJing) in a couple of years, but are hoping to play to some larger festival crowds this summer. We think that the organization and professionalism of a well-run club is great, but a great crowd is a great crowd, no matter what type of event you play.

From your perspective and experiences, have things changed much in the US since the RAVE act? Is it easier or harder to be a dance music artist?
MARSCRUISER: The RAVE act is one of the most misdirected and malicious pieces of legislation ever to turn into law. It has created a lot of paranoia in the states, and it is the main reason why larger raves and festivals are so much less frequent. Being an artist with the RAVE act is not so much a risky issue, being a promoter definitely is. And without good promoters, we don't have any place to play.

The American dance scene personally fascinates me. Many DJs that visit your country feel its still an untapped market and has a greater growth potential. Do you see it getting any bigger or has it reached its plateau?
ALEX: I think that the U.S. dance music market has not yet had its day. We are just now seeing national dance radio with XM and Sirius satellite radio. We are seeing dance music more and more in pop culture though commercials, television, video games, movies, etc… Think about this: most clubbers are educated, have good jobs, are tech savvy, and love to buy things. I think that once sponsors and advertisers realize that the dance music community is one of the best groups to market to in the U.S., we will see the market for dance music grow significantly.
PAUL: Dance music will remain mostly underground in the U.S. until there’s the equivalent of a Michael Jackson “Thriller” or Nirvana “Nevermind” in terms of sales. The majors took their shots with the great “electronica” boom of the late 90’s without success. Since the only people who can afford proper radio play tends to be the majors (thanks to the deregulation of the FCC—the one thing Bill Clinton REALLY did wrong for music in America), we won’t see anything nationally marketed on the radio anytime soon—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because if the major labels of today start mucking with things, we’d probably end up with horribly done Bryan Adams or Richard Marx covers all over the airwaves, and we wouldn’t want that, would we? We’ve already got the “alternative rockers” out there doing covers of The Cure, Cars, Prince, Talk Talk, etc., etc… Recycling is usually a good idea, but in some cases it’s taken a bit too far.

The Marscruiser sound has ranged from drum and bass to trance, through to breaks. That’s a very diverse spectrum of genres for any artist. What are you mainly focusing on these days?
ALEX: We have been doing a lot of breaks these days, but we still like some 4 on the floor, and we like to experiment. Paul cranked out a slammin’ house track the day after talking with DJ Dan and hearing his set. We have a lot of people that want to collaborate with us, so we don't like to stick to one format all the time.
PAUL: There’s been some tinkering with D&B and electro tracks recently too. There are production techniques that are very specific to the sound of certain genres, and it’s always good to have as wide a technique palette to draw from as possible.

For your track, ‘Elementalectrofunk’ you managed to employ the services of the one and only George Clinton as well as Australian Andy Page. How did you manage to do that? What was George Clinton like to work with?
PAUL: Getting George was done thru the brother of a friend of a friend. We sent George a demo version of the track down the grapevine, and he liked it, so a few of us flew down to L.A. and did a late night recording session that produced the vocals for “Elementalectrofunk” when there was a night off for George and his crew. Getting Andy was a bit of random luck as well—Jason Dunne (of PB&J fame) got Andy on IM one night, and called me up to tell me, so I asked him to ask if Andy would be interested in working on a track with brand spanking new George Clinton vocals. Andy was going from England back to Australia, so we just detoured him for a week and a half, and got his amazing ears and production work to seal the deal. In my opinion, he’s the single most talented producer out there bar none. If not for his part in making the track, “Elementalectrofunk” would not be what it is. I cannot wait to hear his solo album. It’s gonna set the standard for some time to come.
ALEX: It's a good example of how small the world is growing. It's friends of friends and definitely shows the power and necessity of networking. Reaching people isn't as hard as it used to be, and great things can happen when you do.
PAUL: Working with George was a real honor and privilege. Once he wrapped his head around what we were doing, he was unstoppable. He riffed on the track for 4 hours before he actually sang what I wrote—it was the last thing recorded.

Kingkade

Many have regarded ‘Elementalectrofunk’ as an instant classic as well as one of the standout tracks from 2003. Where do you go from there? What can we expect with future releases?
ALEX: The track has opened a lot of doors for us, and for the first time we are touring the East and West coast in the US. We're also working on dates in the UK and Europe this summer, as well as more originals and collaborations in the very near future.
PAUL: George recorded hours of extra vocals that have huge potential as songs on their own. Once the business side is cleaned up, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see “Elementalectrofunk” Parts 2 & 3 come out in the future. Also, Clyde Stubblefield, James Brown’s original Funky Drummer, lives in Madison, Wisconsin too. We’ve got him on some of the next tracks as well.

Your tracks have been favoured by a number of high profile DJs including James Zabiela and John Digweed. Has there ever been a time when you’ve discovered a certain DJ or producer has rated your work and it’s surprised you?
ALEX: Every time we hear great comments from large DJ's we are surprised! Think about it: we're "techno" producers from an area known for it's beer and cheese. We aren't known for our electronic producers here. But it's great to get good feedback though.
PAUL: For me, the biggest surprise was when DJ Dan said he loved “Elementalectrofunk”. When big DJ’s who are generally outside of the genre your track is in comment on it, you know you’ve really got something.

One of your newest tracks is going to be appearing on the next Bedrock Breaks compilation. Firstly, congratulations, that’s quite a coup. How did that come about?
MARSCRUISER: Thank you! It’s actually “Elementalectrofunk” again, though. The label had only done promotion for it in July-August through Waxworks, and that is, we suppose, how Meat Katie got the record. We didn’t have anything to do with it! We’ve never even met Mark yet. It still hasn’t gotten a proper release in the UK, so it’s still something of a scarce item over there. If you’re releasing records on your own, using promotional services such as Waxworks is insanely crucial, unless you know how to get records directly to the top 50 breaks jocks in the world on your own for less than $500 (US).

With the Miami Winter Music Conference just around the corner, do you have any plans of attending and/or playing at any of the parties? How important is WMC to producers wanting their music to be heard?
MARSCRUISER: We’ll be down there for a couple days. We have a gig or two outside of Miami itself.
We have a lot of people that we'd like to meet in person, and it's always a great atmosphere down at WMC. I think that for beginning producers and DJ's, it's an excellent place to network with the global dance music community. It's like a great big family reunion!

What are your thoughts on hip hop acts such as P Diddy crossing over to dance music especially after they’ve publicly bagged it and many of those that are associated with it?
PAUL: I find it quite ironic. 90% of hip-hop and rap (and pop, for that matter) is made with the same tools as dance music. They all have a common ancestor back in the days of disco and Kraftwerk. I don’t think P Diddy ever was dissing electronic dance music too hard. However, the rap track slinging the line “nobody listens to techno” and dissing Moby was basically done to an electro house beat—if you’re listening to that track, arguably , you’re listening to “techno” right there.
ALEX: A lot of the big names are now thinking that "it's the next big thing". I truly believe that electronic music, in it's many forms, can warm the hearts of just about anyone from any background. It may be that these big names are just realizing how truly great it is. Anything that helps the dance music scene in the U.S. in a positive manner is OK with me.