Marques Wyatt's new remix CD "Horizons" is in the stores now.
New horizons
A legendary DJ expands
beyond house remixes
LIFE IS good for house disc jockey Marques Wyatt. With a new remix CD, "Horizons," currently in stores, one would think he'd be flying into town from a gig in another city, staying just long enough to fulfill his obligations here before heading back to Southern California to host his own weekly party in Holllywood on Sunday night.
Instead, when reached on his cell phone earlier this week, Wyatt reveals that he's already arrived in Hawaii, and is kicking back at a hotel on Maui.
In concert
Who: Marques WyattWhere: 10 p.m. May 21 at the W Honolulu; also 1:30 a.m. May 22 at the Wave Waikiki and 9 p.m. May 22 at Hula's Bar and Lei Stand
Tickets: $5 to $15
Call: 941-0424, Ext. 12
"I'm just chillin' on a lawn chair, looking at the ocean," he says, as a bird chirps in the background.
"On this tour, I decided that I just wanted to do my dates on the weekends, so I have the week to do other things that I want to do."
What a life.
ALMOST TWO decades of success have allowed for more flexibility when it comes to planning the 39-year-old DJ's schedule these days. It's a far cry from his experience promoting "BBC," one of the first weekly house events in Los Angeles back in the mid-1980s.
"I force-fed people house music," he recalls with a laugh. "That's what I was about."
At the time, the influence of house pioneers like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan hadn't yet reached nightclubs in California. For a while, Wyatt could only attract former Chicago and New York City residents who recognized the music from living and partying in those cities.
By the early '90s, however, house music had gained in popularity, and the rise of rave culture catapulted him to fame on a worldwide level. He was also successful in bringing acid jazz to the forefront in California, introducing acts like the Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai and the Digable Planets to a wider audience.
IT WAS this type of music that also sent Wyatt on his first visit to paradise, back in 1995.
"The first time I was brought out here was because of an acid jazz club I had in Los Angeles," he explains. A few years later he returned, this time to play a house set with DJ Dimitri (one of the members of Dee-Lite) at a wedding on Maui.
"Some promoters found out that Dimitri and myself would be out here, so they set up a gig for us," he said. "It was insane!
"We were going down this road at night, and the next thing I know there were about a thousand kids. I couldn't believe it."
Hawaii has remained a regular stop for him ever since.
"People show a lot of love" whenever he has a gig in Hawaii, Wyatt said.
"It's great to have a tour date here."
ABOUT a month remains on the North American leg of the "Horizons" tour, after which he'll head overseas to play shows through the end of the summer.
Once that business is taken care of, Wyatt expects to spend a bit more time in Los Angeles, where he'll finish work on a new solo project featuring his original material.
"That's really my focus now," he said. "I feel like I've done a nice little run of remixes in the last year, and now it's just about the growth and evolution."
Most of the releases the DJ has been involved with recently are of the compilation and remix variety, including 2000's "Sound Design Vol. 1" and 2002's "For Those Who Like to Get Down." It was the latter of the two that included an original track by Wyatt, marking one of the first steps in his move into the realm of production.
"It was a natural progression ... I never wanted to produce stuff just for the sake of producing," said Wyatt. "I always felt like when I started producing original stuff, I wanted to have something to say."
But don't get too worried and think he's about to stop taking gigs completely while working on the new album.
"I just really love music and sharing experiences with people who are enthusiastic about the music," he said. "That's part of what keeps it fresh for me, is going to play for different crowds."
WYATT ALSO invites those who don't normally listen to house music to come and check out his performances this weekend.
After more than 20 years in the game, he still gets a kick out of turning someone on to the music he loves.
"That's what it's about, to me," he said. "It's not just for the people who love the music.
"I'm trying to expose (more) people to it ... part of being a DJ is accepting that challenge, to convert people."
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