Introducing: Marc Leaf

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the debut of one of Leeds' best ever club Djs: Marc Leaf. Recently I sat down with Marc to discuss his career so far, his thoughts on the future, new projects and for anyone who is friends with Marc on Facebook... THAT status update!

It all started 20 years ago today for a fresh-faced Dj from Hyde Park in Leeds. He headed to his first ever gig at Rio Campus in Bradford perhaps not realising the journey he was embarking upon. When looking back on musical and artistic careers it is often the case that an artists' childhood plays a big part in shaping their sound, style or passion and Marc is no different:

"I am from an area in Leeds called Hyde Park. It was a place that has seen its fair share of troubles throughout the years. I was mainly there from the early 80's right through to about 1996.  Musical influence went through into quite a few kids of my age as the house sound was really picking up and the emergence of a now legendary "NightmaresOnWax" came about from the same area. It was a very special time in my life! How I got into dj'ing though was through a friend of mine called Mark Greenwood AKA Dj Task who is still part of my life to this day. He took me to a place called Sundance which led to going to a very illicit place in Chapeltown in Leeds called Sunny's... This was a massive piece of why I am doing what I do today and I want to mention a very special dj who carved a sound inside my soul which wont go away... Dj Mikey. Watching both Task and Mikey made me want to learn how to dj and Task showing me the ropes was similar to OB1 showing Anakin the ways of the Jedi in Star Wars... I Wish"

I first personally met Marc when he worked at the now defunct Record Box in Leeds, a 'must visit' place for every wannabe Leeds Dj at the time. I remember going along with my friends and being really excited to dig out a rare lost remix of some random house tune (all vinyl of course) This is an art / apprenticeship that no longer exists in the new world of digital music and file sharing and Marc, like many, thinks that may not necessarily be a good thing:

"The RecordBox was THE best record shop in Leeds for a long time... It was owned by a friend of mine called Adrian Tomasone who was a resident at the legendary Vague which was at the Warehouse in Leeds. My role there though was part-time filler inner and general organised chaos maintainer. A role that I thoroughly enjoyed and when it closed due to the digital era coming along I was pissed off! In general though we sold a lot of stuff that we got 2 or 3 copies of and if you missed it you missed out as it was gone, so the buzz in the shop on delivery days was ace. Alongside that we had a massive 2nd hand side of things full of whatever you wanted and I have some great memories of the times I've spent full days just going through stuff with my fingertips black brite from the dirty record sleeves at the end of it... Pure bliss and I miss it massively as playing vinyl for me is the true art of dj'ing"

Since his days at Record Box, Marc has focused more and more on the producing side of things. During the recent Leeds in Barcelona project we featured a showcase of some of Marc's best work (You can listen below) and it went down a storm with the Catalan crowd. His track 'Get Up' reached no.1 in the download charts. The formula for success as a producer though is quite simple according to Leaf:

"I've been producing now since about 2004. It doesn't seem very long really but have a back catologue of about 40-50 tracks of my own and remixes which isnt bad really. I love going to the studio as it brings out a side of me that is like a kid in a candy shop but I have also had days when things are not going well for me privately and my emotions drive my music. "Get Up" was a track that built itself really, because the drums alone made want to get up and go to a club! I still play it as I do a lot of my older stuff as it's a sound that I feel is what I'm about: Good, strong, well produced house music that even my Dad loves so if it's good for him then I'm all over it! My advice to anyone making their own stuff is to always make something they are going to play and support as a load of the stuff people send me is what they think is current but I don't think 80% of them would ever play. Listen to what people are playing and see what you can do to add your own stamp on that sound without being so upfront that you disappear up your own arse... Play and make the music that is in your heart, real goose-pimply stuff... THAT YOUR DAD LIKES"

One of Marc's new projects is Uber. You can tell when a event has 'it' by the people that recommend it. Uber is growing into other areas too with the launch of it's own record label. The label had a number one in the European download charts and the whole project is going from strength to strength:

"Uber is an afterhours we run in Leeds from 3.30am till 9am at Mission2. I'd been thinking about it for a good year or so as Leeds didnt have a good afterhours spot after the clubs had shut at 5 or 6am and with Leeds being a city of such musical awareness and it having a long standing foothold in the dance scene, I was adamant that things needed to change. So after a good think about it I approached a couple of friends who are now my partners in it and we've just celebrated our first birthday which was massive! Alongside the night we have a record label thats been just as fantastic for us called 'UberDigital'. We've had a number one in the download charts with 'GetUp' which im particularly proud of. Its mainly all our own releases but we've started to sign other stuff now for release over the coming months and we are now distributed by LabelWorks"

Marc and I will often speak about our home city of Leeds and it's talent as it is something we are very passionate about. This passion led Leaf to post a now legendary status update on Facebook that seemed to stir the passion of most of Leeds' house music and club scene, the status read: 

"The Electro/Bassline rubbish thats tearing the heart out of Leeds' clubbing scene is worrying. Too many folk downloading the 'big tune' of the hour that every other "DJ" has for free or ripped from another djs mix cd. Be different and stand out and dont be part of the "lets go back to the old skool" Billy Big Tune crew. If promoters used djs instead of chancers we may be able to make Leeds a proud musical city again" 

... The post attracted 152 comments and 118 likes!

When I ask Marc about his own vision for Leeds and the future, his response, as you would expect, is simple and straight-forward:

"I love Leeds and no matter what anybody says it's somewhere that I feel strongly about having spent all my life here and having played all over the country there is nowhere that parties like the Leeds lot. They are bonkers and go on for days and days. And while ever they are here so will I, doing what I do and dragging along a band of brothers that is now known as Uber... That is my aim and that is my goal"

I am really looking forward to working with Marc on upcoming projects and his talent and passion will be a great asset for the city moving forward. Happy 20th anniversary Mr Leaf, here is to 20 more :)