Exclusive Interview: MarVes

Bulgarian born artist MarVes on EDM Cave, started as a musician in high school and recently released his track “A Thousand Scars” globally via Alveda Music

-How did your career begin?

I’m MarVes or as my friends call me, Vesko. Bulgarian born and lived in multiple European countries, I have adopted cultural and musical influences from all around Scandinavia, hot Southern Europe, and of course the motherland of the Balkans. 

I started my journey as a musician in high school, keen to learn how to play the guitar. About then was the first time I heard a house record: I started testing and playing around with different DAWs and trying to learn how to manipulate sound which became my biggest fascination.

I stepped back from music for quite a few years while I was focusing on my corporate management career after graduating university. 

I returned to music after spending 6 years in the corporate world working on my Project Management career. It turned out I didn’t enjoy the corporate lifestyle much and had to pull the plug after realising what depression feels like. On the other hand it was probably the best thing that’s happened lately since it brought me here! I returned blasting and debuted my first album in a livestream across Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch which was a very good success with many watchers. It was such an awesome feeling to see people enjoying my rave tunes even during such tough times as the quarantines over the past year and a half.

-Which is your first track ever released and from which label?

The first track I ever released is called “Flying High”. I released it on my own as a milestone of me returning to music. It was an interesting Big Room House project with sharp stabbing synthesizers coupled with flutes from eastern folklore. Even though the quality of these first few tracks is not even close to my current skill level, I still love each past project and believe all of them have led me to polishing and refining my style. 

-Which was your latest release?

I hope everyone loves my latest release “A Thousand Scars” on Alveda Music as much as I can’t stop listening to it! It has been such a cool journey to produce the track. I was literally playing around with my go-to synth and trying to come up with new inspiring sounds and suddenly I had it. The second I heard that huge sound I knew Future Rave was the perfect environment to show off its power. The beautiful, deep, angelic vocals just clicked too. You know sometimes when a project just goes flawlessly and everything just works as imagined? This is how I felt with this track. It sounds bang on as I could hear it in my head – Powerful! Futuristic! Expressing the old-school synth vibes in a modern, richer, bigger, and more impactful way. Combine this with banging uniquely designed drums and bass lines and you got the banger that doesn’t just express a musical feeling but breathing patterns!

-What do you think about your favourite artists?

Lately I have been mostly influenced by David Guetta and Morten with their new Future Rave/New Rave movement. I like how they’ve gone into the past and picked up music and sounds from those times and brought them back to life with an amazing modern touch and feel. I look up to the brave way they release music believing in what they’ve created instead of following trends.

-How have you been keeping busy during quarantine?

I had just entered the music world full time and still have no contacts in the industry so naturally I was very busy with developing my brand and networking as much as possible with other creators. I was constantly either working on new music and new sounds or promoting current releases. It kept me so busy I barely felt the quarantine.

-Do you have any dreams and plans for the future?

As far as music goes I will be mostly focusing on further developing and refining my own style. As I recognise a specific approach in my music that I find different to others on the market I will be trying to refine this and make it as pronounced as possible.

In terms of career development my promoter and I are currently working towards hitting some popular clubs in London so I can start making my name on the Live Performance market. Once we’ve managed this it would be great to make my way to the stages of Festivals and keep growing till I step on the stages of the larger EDM festivals. 

One business is going well and I have built a reliable list of contacts I would probably make the step to opening my own record label and focus on up-and-coming talents and help develop their careers. 

-What drew you to the music industry?

I fell in love with Big Room house during university in Denmark: the record that made the biggest impression was Quintino & Sandro Silva – Epic. Since then I`ve been looking for that energy that echoes through space. With time and desire to go deeper and deeper into EDM I got influenced by Armin, Tiesto, Deadmou5e, Knife Party, DVBBS, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Krewella, Nervo, Zedd, Don Diablo, R3HAB, KSHMR, MORTEN and probably many others that i can’t remember now. Over the past year I have developed a passion for writing more and more Future Rave, largely influenced by David Guetta and Morten’s new EDM movement.

-Few words about your creative process

I am often inspired by the most random things. A noise from the city, a specific electronic sound, a machine at a construction site, even kitchen appliances. Anything can become an inspiration as long as we are willing to listen. Very often I would spend days in the studio without actually writing music but designing new synths. When I come up with something I love it usually brings a feeling or mood that I would be looking for from a track. That way I start laying a melody that I believe best expresses this mood. 

-What’s an average day like for you?

I would often wake up in the late morning and enter my studio. I usually have an overview plan of whether it would be music, admin, or a marketing day with a small breakdown of what these activities would include. I guess it is obvious I come from a corporate management background…

A music day usually focuses around the development of a particular track, its mixing or mastering. During these days I would make sure to often take breaks from listening so my ears can calibrate so I don’t miss important details. I often ask my partner, friends and other producers about their opinion. Taking all of these with a pinch of salt I make conclusions about how to improve. 

Admin days usually revolve around email responses or speaking to clubs and promoters about organising gigs. Sometimes negotiating contract terms about particular projects. 

Marketing days are when I usually get to literally go around, take a ton of photos and think of catchy captions so I can collect a bit of content to post over the upcoming weeks. This is also when I usually discuss and set up marketing campaigns about my current or upcoming releases.

-Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?

A good portion of my music so far has been dedicated to my partner in crime. She has been my biggest support while I have been developing my brand and naturally I dedicated a lot of music to her. If you start listening to the tracks from my album “High on You”, many of the tracks describe a beautiful high-school-sweethearts story. Since we have been together since we were very young these lyrics are a great expression of our relationship.

-Do you collaborate with other artists?

Every now and then I get commissioned for external projects – either providing sound engineering and production services to other musicians and helping them with their music. I’ve worked on all sorts of genres including soul, pop, some old-school electronic genres, even some rock. 

I am currently in the process of working in a collaboration with another artist for releasing a joint track.

-Which DAW do you use to produce music?

Currently using FL Studio. Back in the day I wanted to experiment with many of them until i find one that i find most user friendly. This allowed me to get experience on Ableton, Reason, Cubase, and ProTools. However, at the end of the day FL Studio was most user friendly to me so i stuck to it.

-Do you play any instruments?

I am a guitarist and often would use that as an inspiration to write my chord progressions.

-On a personal level, what music do you listen to in your free time? Do you have other activities besides music?

I would often play very diverse music at home. I could go from UKF D&B to soul and back. I generally like artists that have something different to others and sound emotional. So naturally this leads me to listening to multiple genres of music. 

Besides music I am a keen extreme cyclist. I would keep in shape by visiting the gym 3-5 times a week and practicing a cycling sport called bike trials. It is a discipline of mountain biking in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. The riders usually balance on the rear or both wheels while stationary.

Follow MarVes on social media: https://linktr.ee/MarVes