Trademarc

"There's nothing you can't do if you want something bad enough." It can really happen and it is happening at an extremely rapid rate for Marc Paynter who, at the age of 24, is regarded as one of the most naturally gifted performers to emerge from his generation, specifically in his hometown of Johannesburg. Widely known as TradeMarc, this self-taught South African DJ has been mastering the art of DJ'ing for over 12 years. His relentless work ethic, belief in his own skills and, of course, love for the music form the foundation of this success. A lover of a variety of genres of music, he has incorporated his passion for all sounds into his live performances, making him one of the most sought-after DJ's in the industry today. Every DJ is mindful of being only as good as his/her last set. Despite this, Marc never fails to prove his worth. "Anything can happen and change in this industry. In my case I've been extremely fortunate for all the opportunities that have come my way since deciding to give this a go." He sets his own standard higher each time he plays, experiencing new things and creating new challenges for himself as he goes along. All of this, however, had to start somewhere and, rather surprisingly, his introduction to this world of DJ'ing came about at a family gathering in England in 2002. "My cousin spun his favourite House and Garage tunes for an hour or two at his own parents' 25th wedding anniversary party. I watched eagerly as he mixed each track in and out flawlessly. The crowd just seemed to want more and more", Marc recalls. "I didn't know what I was listening to, but I liked it. I liked seeing people wanting more; the thrill of being the man in charge of what happens next excited me." The sounds of the likes of Tim Deluxe & Meat Katie soon became a part of his own music collection and his love of house music grew from there. Fast forward 5 years, and Marc's bedroom became the centre of his education in the art of mixing. His father, Geoff, could see the potential and agreed to invest in his son. "If you can't invest in your own kids, who can you invest in?" Marc's journey had begun. Through trial and error, and equipped with Pioneer CDJ-400's and DJM-700 mixer, Marc began to teach himself everything he needed to know. His bedroom, however, limited the experience of what being a DJ was really all about and he soon became a regular patron at clubs such as Truth, Ruby Blue and Tempo's. DJ's such as Alan M, Justin Vee, Ricardo Da Costa, Roger D'Lux and house duo Pimp Squad (Guy Herman & Jon S) received hero status from Marc and, on every possible occasion, he would travel all over Johannesburg to go and watch his heroes in action. The technical skill shown by the DJ's and the sound associated with the so-called 'Underground Clubbing Scene' began to change the way Marc looked at the industry. He knew that this was something that he desperately wanted to be a part of and it wasn't long before he landed his first set at a packed-out Groove Cafe in Edenvale. Since that moment, Marc began to rise through the ranks, forging many new relationships with promoters, club owners and fellow DJ's who believed that Marc could go far. In 2010 and 2011, he entered two DJ competitions. He won both the Dirty North Productions and Voodoo Lounge ‘Battle of The DJ’ competitions, brushing away a number of well-known industry names in the process. This success spurred Marc on and in late 2011 he entered the first ever 5FM Ultimix @ 6 DJ competition. After having to compete with some of the biggest names in the clubbing circuit he was awarded with second place overall; this gained him a month-long residency on the Fresh Drive's daily 30 minute mix show, the Ultimix @ 6. He also opened for DJ Kent, DJ Fresh, Euphonik & DJ Milkshake on the Main Stage at the 5FM Ultimix Album Launch Tour in early 2012. Many events and festivals have followed for Marc since then. This includes bookings at South Africa's biggest dance music festival H2O, G&G 4URage Festival, Colour Festival Mozambique, Fun In The Sun Festival, Slippery & Wet, Ultra Festival (Voodoo Lounge), Fog Festival, Energy Festival, The Joburg Experience, Cultureclash and many, many more! He also began to add a long list of local club's to his name, including Truth, Nicci Beach, Avastar, Sugar, Ruby Blue, GrooveBar, Tokyo Sky, Elevate, LIV, various FTV's & countless others. He has also held residencies at ESP, Stones Centurion and the reinvented Ruby Blue. Marc currently holds residencies at Sugar and The Sunday Social, and is a regular guest at Truth. He has also caused mayhem with his music further afield in South Africa at venues including The Origin (Durban), Shakes (P.E.), Koko's (Margate), Sasha (Durban), Cape To Cairo (Durban), and neighbouring Mozambique. Marc has also held his own alongside a long list of some of the world's best International DJ's, sharing the bill with the likes of Stimming (GER), Dashdot (BRA), Andre Crom (GER), ATFC (SPA), Eats Everything (UK), Anna (BRA), Him_Self_Her (UK, Teenage Mutants (GER), Billy Kenny (UK), Deadmau5 (CAN), Avicii (SWE), Gareth Emery (UK), Dash Berlin (NED), Neelix (GER), Aly & Fila (Egypt), Marcel Woods (NED), Stupid Fresh (UK) and many more. Being able to DJ in front of thousands of people on a weekly basis is a skill, but creating your own music is another entirely. Starting his studies at the Academy of Sound Engineering enabled him to learn about the core elements of being able to write your own music and, more importantly from a sound engineer's point of view, getting it to sound good. Starting with small steps, he acquired remix parts for a number of remix competitions which international record labels are holding constantly on behalf of their artists. Experimentation taught Marc a lot. Eventually he had the sudden urge to submit one of his remixes to London-based record label Bridge The Gap Records and his remix of MunniBrotherz’s "His Stature" was selected as one of the winning remixes to be featured on the label's next EP. Following this achievement were another couple of remix entries before Marc joined forces with Pretoria-based house music producer and good friend, L.A. Cruz. This alliance saw their rendition of legends Groove Armada and Brodanse's "Sweat" being entered into the Danse Club Records remix competition. Their remix did enough to win them the runner up spot, with an official release on the record label in 2014. Production of music has formed a massive part of Marc’s life, and this young man now has a number of future releases to his name coming up in 2014, to the keen interest of local and international artists who know Marc for his smooth and funky style of music. All of this success in the DJ and production world led to an opportunity for Marc to release his own mixed album and "Tricks Of The Trade" was created and released on F! Records in 2013. An album full of the best in Deep and Tech House from Soul Candi's partner labels ended up charting 4th on the official South African iTunes album chart, and was well received by people from around the world. Hard-working, down to earth and extremely easy-going, TradeMarc is a name that has become a regular feature in the South African clubbing and music industry. Today, Marc is a qualified Sound Engineer. He specialised in Audio Post Production and graduated in April 2014. He is currently adding to this qualification by studying a further two years at The Academy of Sound Engineering as an integral part of the pilot-group to be working towards the first BSc degree in this subject to be offered globally. He is a passionate collector of all genres of music, including Hip-Hop and Rock, as well as music DVD's of live concert performances of his favourite artists. He also reads music and enjoys playing a variety of musical instruments, including the drums & piano. He is also an avid online PC gamer and is a huge Newcastle United football fan. With his father being a former band-member and a well-known and respected Music Publisher in the South African Music Industry for over 35 years, Marc has been raised in a musical household, with a respect for the hard-work and talent necessary for quality music to be produced. With this sterling record having been achieved in such a short time, Marc continues to turn heads with his unique sound and thriving personality. Keep an eye out and an ear open for this young sensation! www.trademarcdj.com