DJ Heroes

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Aspiring deck stars have all heard of (and maybe signed up for) the Music Conference Asia, the first of its kind in the region. A power-packed one-day affair on 21 November, MC Asia sees music workshops, a video and song remix competition and, of course, a party to cap the night. Popular DJ Marcel Woods has signed up to mentor a workshop and will be spinning at the post-conference blow-out. He promises a set that’s energetic and raw. What else did he say when he spoke to us about the upcoming conference? Read on.

MC Asia is a multi-layered event: a party, workshops, lots of networking. What are you looking forward to most?

As a music lover, I must say my own performance, and to see what the crowd will do with my music. I always love to play in Asia as the people are very open-minded, in my opinion.

Which makes you the perfect coach for wannabe DJs! You’ll be touching on issues like the importance of marketing for DJs – how much of your success will you attribute to having the right branding?

I’ve always believed in my music and the power of it, and that has brought me so much. But I always wondered if I did more marketing, what would happen to my own career? I see some colleagues putting so much effort in promotion that it’s sometimes just not fun anymore. Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, website, Bebo, Hyves … the list goes on. It helps for sure. But as I said before, I’m not one who puts his money in the marketing but more on the music.

Sounds like it’ll be an interesting workshop. But for those not able to meet and learn from you, what’s the one tip you can offer to help them make it in this competitive industry?

Try to be unique, and start getting noticed with your productions - remixes, bootlegs and original works!

MC Asia will take place on 21 November at KL Live Centre. More details on the conference can be found at www.visitmcasia.com. Tickets to the party are priced at RM59 (at the door) and RM43 (pre-sale) and are on sale at Axcess outlets – www.axcess.com.my.