Music Really Is The Answer...

How a pair of Technics kept me sane during a tough time

Sep 15, 2023

Hellooooo, welcome back to Music Is The Answer the not-so-regular newsletter from myself, Marcus Barnes.

It’s been a seriously busy summer, in fact my busiest since before my daughter was born in 2019. So, it’s been five years since I had a summer like this. I’m really pleased to be able to say that. There have been times, in recent years, when I’ve considered calling time on working in music, and I even developed an aversion to going out for a while. This year has been a big turnaround and I have truly come back to the things I love. So it’s been a very fulfilling time for me, albeit with the obligatory tiredness; late nights, early mornings, which are a bit tougher on the body when you get to your 40s. Still, I’m sober and very healthy, so that helps a lot.

This newsletter is packed full of goodness, kicking off with a piece about the positive impact a pair of Technics turntables has been having on my life. There’s also a bunch of techno reviews plus a stonking mix (if i say so myself), a classic interview with Craig Richards from my archives, a little retrospective on my experience at The Prodigy’s Warrior’s Dance festival in 2010, a hot new release from a friend plus some other bits and pieces.

As I always say, this is meant to be digested over a period of time, so please take the newsletter at your own pace. Dip in and out at your leisure.

Enjoy, share, like, comment and all that other stuff that gives me the energy to keep this going!

How Technics Turntables Supported My Mental Health

*Before I start, full disclosure, my Technics turntables were gifted to me by Reverb in late 2021/Jan 2022, who I will mention in the piece that follows. They never asked for any publicity.

Anyone who reads my newsletters regularly will be aware that I have experienced a few personal difficulties over the last few years. I won’t go into lots of detail but essentially, changes in circumstance (becoming a parent, relationships, location etc..) plus a few other things, have been tricky to navigate and impacted my mental health to varying degrees over the last four years. After a challenging and painful 2021, I moved into my own place on December 1st. Though it was something I had been dreaming of for a while, the transition was punctuated with new layers of grief, sorrow and helplessness. Such a strange juxtaposition of emotions, but that’s life I guess, full of contrast. Everything is connected on the same spectrum, so it’s not unusual to get what you want but also feel sad to say goodbye to your old way of being.

So December 2021 was all about settling into this new place, while working through an array of difficult emotions and enjoying the freedom of occupying a space that was all my own for the first time since 2005. As always, for me, music played a key role in this situation. I recall playing Curawaka’s album Call of the Wild to set the tone in the new place. While the album played, I smudged the house with sage and palo santo… Yes, really. Besides the belief that they help to banish negative energies, which you can subscribe to or not, sage and palo santo smell divine and helped me to make my mark on the space. Other pieces of music that were essential during this time included the late Kenny Hawkes Nite Life 017 mix and DJ Koolt’s podcast for My Own Jupiter.

A PR pal of mine, Firgas Esack, got in touch out of the blue around this time. We hadn’t spoken for ages, so it was lovely to hear from her. She’d just started working with a new client, Reverb, and, long story short, they ended up gifting me some Technics 1210s from their online marketplace. To say I was elated doesn’t even begin to describe how amazing it felt to be given the turntables I had been yearning for, for a long long time. I wish I could go into the full story, but it’s way too long to type out but this was karma coming back around and I am absolutely resolute in the belief that I truly deserved this gift.

They arrived early Jan and, not long after, my diamond of a mate, Rob, lent me his Vestax PCV-275 mixer. Even as I type this now, over a year and a half later, I still feel so grateful and almost can’t believe that I have them. The impact of the gift alone boosted my mood immensely. In the early part of 2021, I was having therapy sessions with a friend and I mentioned to her that something I had been dreaming of was a music room, where I could seek solace and enjoy playing records in my own private space. I even started following a few hashtags on Instagram: #musicroom #audiophile #recordroom etc, daydreaming constantly about my fantasy. I bought a Marantz PM6007 amp and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 bookshelf speakers in anticipation of setting up my own music space one day. One day…

Now, that dream is a reality. My lounge is that very music room I had been wishing for. Parallel to all of this, I had never owned vinyl turntables, for DJing at least. Practising at a mate’s gaff was about as far as it went. Now I had my own I could really go deep with practising and refining my skills with mixing vinyl. For me, mixing vinyl is the foundation of DJing. In my opinion, no matter what you eventually end up playing on, having a strong grasp of mixing vinyl is a skill every DJ should aim to achieve. Many of you will know that the brain thrives on learning new skills and it is a key factor in maintaining good mental health. So I spent hours and hours playing around with my collection, finally getting to mix all the classic DnB records I’ve got, flicking back and forth between the house, the techno, the dubstep… This did wonders for my state of mind. 20 months on I still have at least one evening per week when I jump on the decks and have a little mix, usually it’s a “Friday Night Rave” but it could be any day of the week. I get to play classics like this…

mgoldenbarnes

A post shared by @mgoldenbarnes

At various points over the last year or so, I’ve committed to doing a mix a day. Just 15 to 20 minutes, at lunchtime or something, to keep my skills sharp. I’ve recorded one full mix so far, with plans to do more when I can make the time. I’m still nowhere near as close to the levels of finesse as I’d like to be, but I’ll keep practising and enjoying the process. That’s what it’s all about for me.

So, the 1210s were vital to keeping me afloat during a challenging time and I am eternally grateful to Firgas and the team at Reverb for providing me with such a life-changing gift at a time when I really needed it. Big love! I always say it, but music really is the answer.

Incidentally, how did everyone miss the 50th Anniversary of Technics 1210s last year?! Madness. Panasonic put out a press release and produced a range of limited edition turntables, but no one really did anything major, which I thought was insane. Back in 2019, I had the idea to create a documentary celebrating the anniversary by interviewing an all-star cast of DJs about their relationship with the industry standard turntables. I’ve heard so many stories about people getting a paper round, or something similar, and saving all their cash just to get their first pair of Technics. They’re so lauded, so iconic, and yet no one did anything substantial on the anniversary, apart from sharing the press release. Odd!

PS: The smiley face/headphones slipmatts came with the turntables, how apt that they bring cheer to my life every day.

Indie Blog Archive 010: Craig Richards

In 2012 I got to spend a few hours down the pub with Craig Richards. This is one of my all time favourite interviews.

Read it here.

Techno Reviews: August 2023

Here’s a truckload of fresh techno, all released last month, together with a mix featuring all the tunes, plus a few extras.

Read my reviews here. Mix below…

I Survived Warrior’s Dance Festival 2010

I was still relatively fresh to festivals when I attended The Prodigy’s Warrior’s Dance gathering at the legendary MK Bowl in Milton Keynes. My memory is usually very good when it comes to my past experiences, especially ones that are novel. But I really can’t remember much about the Warrior’s Dance event (and not because I was inebriated either), it’s as if there’s was nothing and then The Prodigy came on - which I remember vividly.

This was the second of three times I’ve seen them and easily the best. The energy was outrageous, the crowd was absolutely heaving and alive with excitement when Keith, Maxim and Liam came on stage. You can watch the whole thing in the video below…

I was right next to one of the huge mosh pits that appeared when Maxim says, “I wanna see the biggest fucking circle I’ve ever fucking seen” [17:49]. It felt a bit dangerous, which fueled my adrenaline and made it even more exciting. The music, the way that Maxim and Keith commanded the stage and the reaction of the crowd made it an unforgettable experience. The Prodigy really don’t fuck around when it comes to getting the crowd hyped up. I don’t even know how many people were there but at one point towards the end of their performance, the crew I was with decided to get out of the scrum we were in and watch the rest of the show from the top of the verge that surrounded the bowl. The sight from up there was astounding. Watch the recording, or just take a look at the thumbnail on the video and you’ll see what I mean.

RIP Keith Flint.

Techno Recommendation

So, this is a release by a mate of mine, a proper techno lover who’s been making music at home and putting it out there. Simple really. I thought I’d use my platform to shout about my friends… Enjoy.

Tomorrow Comes The Harvest at the Barbican Centre

I haven’t experienced very much improvised live music in my life. Why? I couldn’t tell you, it’s just not something I gravitated towards or taken time to seek out. Jeff Mills’ Tomorrow Comes The Harvest project is rooted in improvisation, so when I got an invite to their show at the Barbican Centre I was intrigued as to how it would all play out.

In short, it was phenomenal. Jeff, Jean-Phi Dary, Prabhu Edouard and Neue Grafik had me hooked on every twist and turn, every unified aspect of the show and every solo… I was on the edge of my seat at times, full of childlike excitement and glee. I smiled throughout the whole show. It was utterly enthralling to watch four musicians communicate and harmonise their playing, on the fly, with no pre-planning. Every now and then they would wind down a little, and that’s where the real excitement came (for me anyway), as they slowly figured out what they were doing, and where they were going, next. You’d see them occasionally nod or make fleeting eye contact, subtle methods of communication that complemented, or directed, the deeper levels of connection through their instruments.

Absolutely brilliant and, lucky me, I got to meet Jeff afterwards and get him to sign a copy of their album Evolution, featuring a recording of their show at Nuits Sonores at Bozar in Brussels last year.

As a bonus, here’s a link to an amazing interview I did with Jeff for OpenLab Radio.

One More Tune!

A two-step garage classic, which I just posted to my Instagram. I don’t know why this popped into my head the other day, but I’m very very glad it did. On a big system this is DANGEROUS.

Reservoir Dogs - Buddah Finger [2000].