Property of Gotta Dance Dirty
Over the years, Desert Hearts has arisen out of the dust to cultivate a community of devout followers bonded together by House, Techno, & Love. Whether it’s record label, festivals, City Hearts events, or stage takeovers, everything that they do radiates their genuine intentions of bringing transformational experiences to the world through their own, humble means. The driving force behind Desert Hearts is a group of people that are often working behind-the-scenes, in addition to the select DJ/producers who also perform. Two people in that group that happen to do both are Marbs, aka Matt Marabella, and Deep Jesus, aka Ryan Orey.
Originally from Encinitas, California, Marbs is a Desert Hearts resident DJ and graphic designer, as well as the operations manager for their City Hearts events and festivals. Behind the decks, he’s trusted for his typically deeper, darker, and more moody sound that’s often injected with a touch of psychedelic classic rock as an ode to his influences. Much like Marbs, LA-based Deep Jesus has deeper tendencies in his DJ sets and productions, while also working in more melodic elements and many different vibes in one seamless, journey-like package. Aside from his artist work, Deep Jesus takes care of the stage management at the festivals to ensure everything runs smoothly at the helm.
We had the chance to chat with Marbs & Deep Jesus about something that people would be surprised to hear about them, what Desert Hearts means to them, their top artists to watch in 2016, and of course, what they like to drink, amongst many other things. Head after the jump to read the full conversation, but as you do so, be sure to press play on Marbs’ fantastic Beating Hearts YIN 01 mix that marks the launch of his new mix series that he describes with his own words here:
“Life is all about balance. There is no light without darkness, there is no day without night, there is no good without bad … the yin and the yang. This mix explores these concepts and inspired me to start a mix series based on the yin and yang theory of life. The first edition to this series explores sounds that I love, but if you were to remove these tracks out of the mix and compare them to each other most would sound totally different emotionally. I think there’s something beautiful about that. This one leans more towards the Yin side of the theory … a little dark, a little earthy, deep, and great for winter weather. At the same time you will find beauty, light, and calmness within it. It has everything from deep house, techno, and rock to everything in-between. This is why the yin and yang theory inspired me to begin a series of mixes to express the various types of sounds I love so much and how they are all related to each other. I hope you enjoy the first edition <3″ – Marbs
GDD: Sticking with GDD™ first interview question tradition – what do you like to drink?
Marbs: Well that matters what time of the day it is haha. In the morning I drink Bloody Mary’s religiously, and at night I love some good bourbon. As an Italian I also love some good red wine. My grandfather actually still has a winery from the prohibition days.
Deep Jesus: Funny this is the first question because I’m a HUGE whiskey fan, preferably Jack Daniels. I know Marbs likes whiskey too and he’s got me to thank for the taste. Now it’s a tradition for Marbs and I to share some Gentlemen Jack, either during one of our DH sets or sunrise at Burning Man.
GDD: What does Desert Hearts mean to you? What role do you play within the company?
Marbs: Desert Hearts is my entire life now. I quit my day job this year where I used to work as an account and job manager for my dad’s construction business. While it was a good job, it didn’t motivate me the way music and art do. Committing full time to music and art has been one of the best and most important decisions of my life. As for the company, I handle various aspects. I take pride in organizing the art for the festival and city hearts projects with my DH partner Kristoff, and our good friend Mountain with Dreamscape Collective. For the festival and city hearts projects I tend to be the operations manager and coordinator. As a lifelong artist, I also love being the record label’s album artist. It’s provided a great way for me to continue doing art while focusing on our brand and music. Other than that I take care of the money. Our team works great together and everyone has their specific roles. We have a healthy balance since we are all best friends, which makes our projects always develop smoothly.
Deep Jesus: Desert Hearts to me is a lifestyle. It’s a way people choose to live amidst their own societies and communities. Desert Hearts is the counter culture that’s leading the revolution in a tactful and discreet way. It’s exactly what humanity has needed in this constantly changing and evolving time. I’m one of the original co-founders of Desert Hearts, even came up with the name. But now a days I run the stage management for the festival and am a resident DJ.
GDD: What’s your most memorable Desert Hearts moment of all time? What was the most memorable moment of the 3 year anniversary?
Marbs: The best moment of all time would definitely be the infamous first sunrise with the birth of my best friend’s permanent DJ name, Deep Jesus. After the frigid cold weather and hardships that we conquered at that party, the sunrise warmed the dancefloor as Deep played the most amazing set for that specific moment. It was incredibly special. A close second to that would have to be when Deep Jesus and I played b2b in a reunion set last festival. We grew up together, learned to DJ together, and on top of that my parents were there for the first time. So being able to reunite with my lifelong best friend in front of my parents is definitely one of the most special moments of my life. It’s hard to pick favorite moments, especially for the 3 year anniversary, but my heart melted seeing Mikey and Porky’s grandparents with them on stage. I couldn’t be more proud or happy for our family and community.
Deep Jesus: My most memorable Desert Hearts moment of all time was the very first Sunday sunrise as our first DH. It was then, not only I, but everyone else realized that something truly special and legendary was upon us. The most memorable moment of the 3 year anniversary was at the very end of the festival when the entire DH fam was on stage spilling out our emotions and feelings about this special community. Every time it seems more and more people are there to witness.
GDD: Marbs, excellent choice with ending your set with The Doors’ “The End.” Why did you choose this particular track?
Marbs: I have a special place in my heart for psychedelic classic rock. Especially Pink Floyd and The Doors. They both were, and continue to be a huge inspiration for me. When Deep and I played a remix of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ last spring, we got an overwhelming response from people saying it was the perfect breath of fresh air in the marathon of banging house and techno. So I thought I would dig and see what I could find for this event. I found a remix of ‘Hey You,’ by Pink Floyd, and ‘The End,’ by The Doors, which I knew I had to work them into the set somehow. It only made sense to play The Doors track as my closer, but it wasn’t intended to make the crowd feel as if something was ending, it was meant to make them feel as if something new was beginning.
GDD: Deep Jesus, you’re known for your sunrise sets, and the one over the weekend was fantastic. How do you prepare for a sunrise set? Is there anything you do differently, compared to a daytime/nighttime slot?
Deep Jesus: Sunrise sets are super tough all around, especially in the winter months. On any given sunrise of the festival the crowd usually thins out because of the cold, or just because of raging to hard the night before. But that makes for a very special setting because everyone in attendance is a true die hard. I don’t do much differently to prepare for a sunrise set, except I do make sure I get some decent shut eye before hand. Pulling an all nighter into a sunrise set is a thing of the past for me.
GDD: Who are your top 3 artists to watch in 2016?
Marbs: This is as hard one because so much good music is being made, so instead of picking out bigger names and label bosses, I’ll name some from the community. Lonely Boy constantly impresses me and I can’t wait to hear what he has for the future, and I know he has some tunes coming out on our record label that we can’t wait to share with everyone. Dance Spirit constantly blows me away, and I barley see our boy Che because he has been living in his studio constantly, so that must mean he has some heat on the horizon
Deep Jesus: My top 3 artists to watch in 2016 are Nico Stojan, Matthias Meyer, and the DH crew.
GDD: Who are your dream headliners for the Desert Hearts Spring 2016 festival?
Marbs: Adriatique, Mind Against, Super Flu … there is so many though!
Deep Jesus: Some of my dream headliners for DH Spring 2016 are Lee Burridge, Art Department, & Damian Lazarus.
GDD: What do you like to do outside of music-related things?
Marbs: Art. I’ve drawn and painted my whole life. It’s my anchor and a huge part of my soul. Music and art are the closest thing to meditation that I have in my life, and both are incredibly important to me. I also love to surf. I grew up surfing every day.
Deep Jesus: Recently I made the decision to have everything in my life be revolved and focused around music. My day job consists of making new tracks and playlists for my next upcoming gig. And those gigs pay the bills. I couldn’t be happier with devoting my entire life to music and the progression of my career.
GDD: What’s something that people would be surprised to hear about you?
Marbs: I don’t know if people who know me would be surprised, but maybe some other people who don’t know me as well would be surprised to know that I’m a total introvert. Desert Hearts, my friends, and my family have broken me out of my shell and helped me tremendously by teaching me to put myself out there and reach for my dreams. At heart though, I’m somewhat of a home body. I enjoy the intimate and quality time with my close ones, so I mostly love to hang with a few close friends, or girlfriend, and just chill.
Deep Jesus: People are surprised to hear that I am a Marine Corps Veteran. I actually owe being a DJ to my service as a Marine. A few weeks after I got out of the military I went to Burning Man for my first year and was like “PSHHHH, I GOT THIS SHIT!” Being a Marine has actually helped me as an artist in more ways that I could ever have imagined.
GDD: What’s next for you guys? What’s next for Desert Hearts?
Marbs: We’re about to head off on our City Hearts Winter Is Coming Tour. We have a lot of amazing things planned for the tour and can’t wait to kick it off and show everyone. We’re also really focused on the record label and have some amazing releases coming out, so keep an eye out for those. Other than that, we’ll see everyone during the winter tour and then at the spring festival
Deep Jesus: Next for us is our HUGE winter tour. We’re hitting most major cities in the US like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, New York, and even heading back up to Canada, down to Mexico City, and New Year’s in Tulum. These next few months are going to be wicked!!
See Marbs & Deep Jesus, plus the rest of the DH crew, live at City Hearts LA this Saturday at the Belasco downtown. Buy tickets here.
This post [GDD™ Exclusive] An Interview With Marbs & Deep Jesus + Marbs’ Beating Hearts YIN 01 Mix Premiere appeared first on Gotta Dance Dirty.
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