Name: Masha Mar
Occupation: DJ, producer
Nationality: Serbian
Recent Release: Masha Mar's Virgil's Dream EP is out via Night Prism.
Recommendations: MUSIC: Boomerang - Na Zapadu Ništa Novo; Funky 80s Yugo tune :)
BOOK: Yung Pueblo - always feel more zen after reading his poetry or nonfiction novel ‘Lighter’

If you enjoyed this interview with Masha Mar and would like to stay up to date with her activities, visit her on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.



Can you talk a bit about your interest in or fascination for DJing? Which DJs, clubs or experiences captured your imagination in the beginning?

I’ll start at the very beginning.

I got bit by the house bug at a very early age when I was growing up between Belgrade, Serbia and Athens, Greece in the 90s. My older siblings worked in nightclubs and brought back house music CDs I would listen to on repeat. Electronic music was prevalent everywhere, the jingle for the evening news was the hook from Faithless’ "Insomnia".

I was obsessed with the dance charts and music videos on MTV and daydreamed of being old enough to go clubbing and experience this magical world of nightlife!

Then I moved to Los Angeles where it’s very much a 21+ club scene. Luckily I stumbled upon a flyer for “Monster Massive” an insomniac all ages rave and finally got to experience Electronic Music communaly with a real soundsystem. The only female DJ I saw on those lineups was Miss Kitten, maybe once. As much as I loved making mix CDs and sending my friends music I didn’t think to start Djing until much later because I barely saw any women doing it or being billed on these line ups. Representation matters.

I found my true house music mecca when I started frequenting A Club Called Rhonda in my early 20s. They were booking Chicago House and Disco legends - you could see anyone from Marshall Jefferson, Honey Dijon and Horse Meat Disco alongside younger LA up-in-coming DJs.

[Read our Marshall Jefferson interview]
[Read our Marshall Jefferson about Ten City's "That's the way love is"]

At the same time, I discovered the underground warehouse scene and experienced DJs like Solar, Jeniluv and Tevo Howard who blew my mind. At that point I was so inspired and hungry, I started learning to mix on friends’ set ups before acquiring my own gear.

What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what, did you feel, did you have to add artistically?

I’ve loved and collected music for a while, long before I considered DJing in public or in private an option. I was nerding out on the history and contributing to the local music community by curating and organising shows, it naturally evolved into learning to mix.

When I finally started Djing it felt so liberating and joyful, I regretted not starting out sooner. I didn’t have lofty aspirations when I was first starting out aside from wanting to share my love of music, uplift and move people. I still do!

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to DJing? Do you see yourself as part of a certain tradition or lineage?

I only play music I love, no matter what the gig! It bums me out to hear that some people play music they’re not so into to fit into a certain box. I collect all kinds of music and get to express more downtempo and leftfield finds through my NTS and dublab radio shows.

My only ethos is to play great music I love that will stand the test of time. I appreciate hearing a mix from 30+ years ago that still sounds fresh.

Clubs are still the natural home for DJing. What makes the club experience unique? Which clubs you've played or danced at are perfect for realising your vision – and why?

The combination of an amazing soundsystem, open minded dancefloor and great music is paradise. I’ve had some transcendental experiences on dancefloors when all the ingredients are in place and everything is aligned.

There’s many Dig Deeper dancefloors that were set up like this because we sourced the soundsystem, venue and DJs which attracted our community and created this recipe for bliss. Other clubs I’ve experienced this while DJ-ing were Miami's Electric Pickle and New York’s Good Room, both established venues with this underground free spiritedness and intimate sized room.

There’s also a tiny secret disco in LA called the basement with a warm analog Klipsch soundsystem perfect for playing disco. It’s akin to a LOFT style member’s only spot with a tight knit community and total safe space. It’s incredible to play at and attend as a dancer.

There is a long tradition of cross-pollination between DJing and producing. Can you talk a bit about how this manifests itself in your own work?

DJ/Producer friends recently told me they hear parts of my DJ sets in my productions, which made me so happy! I’m no doubt influenced by the music I play.

When I started messing with analog synths and drum machines I heard the elements from so many of my favourite tracks and connected the dots between a TR 808 and Prince and Paranoid London as well as countless Italo Disco tracks with the Juno 60.

[Read our feature on the Juno 106]

Producing music is interesting, so much comes out unconsciously (and consciously) influenced by a catalog of everything you’ve ever heard that’s filed somewhere in the brain.

What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? Tell me a bit about what kind of music you will look for and the balance between picking material which a) excites you, b) which will please the audience and c) fulfill certain functions within your DJ set.  

Digging for music is so much fun and a crucial part of my DJ life. I love discovering new and rare material and playing it a certain way / making it my own. Sometimes it’s not so rare but it’s new for the crowd and feels so fulfilling to see people move to it and ask me about it later. I really don’t have a % of this or that … it all has to excite me to play it.

I retired Sylvester’s “Mighty Real” last year because I got sick of hearing it everywhere but I felt the right moment to drop it again this past weekend.



It’s definitely a crowd pleaser but in that moment it felt fresh again!

I’m always looking for music that moves me - I buy so much stuff I will never play in a club, maybe on the radio, maybe not. If it’s something amazing, I want to own it and enjoy it forever.

I've always wondered: How is it possible for DJs to memorise so many tracks? How do you store tracks in your mind – traditionally as grooves + melodies + harmonies or as colours, energy levels, shapes?

It’s hard to answer this! I can’t really put it into words but I will say there’s a ton of grooves, melodies and lyrics stuck in my head at all times.

I constantly struggle to remember the name of something old and rare but I can sing the tune. It’s always so satisfying when I find the record or song in my library! I bet there’s a shazam for humming tunes and singing lyrics right around the corner …

Using your very latest DJ set as an example, what does your approach look like, from selecting the material and preparing for and opening a set? What were some of the transitions that really worked looking back?

I like going into a DJ set with a few opening songs in mind, or directions I could go into depending on the tracks the DJs before me play.

This past Saturday at Mixed Feelings, the DJs were gracious and dipped the energy with their last track right before I got on. This is a very respectful move that enabled me to open with a groovy vocal track and build from there without slamming too hard in the beginning.

From there I built up smoothly! I played a lot of my signature tracks from over the years along with new music I tried out for the first time. One of the new tracks was off Kerri Chandler’s incredible latest album layered with a big room conga instrumental.



When playing a club gig to a new audience, I tend to balance a mix of tried and tested signature tunes with new finds to keep it interesting.

How does the decision making process work during a gig with regards to wanting to play certain records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?

I prepare music for each gig, then once it’s in motion it’s all about improv, reading the crowd and being in the moment. Sometimes I know what I want the next two tracks to be but then I’ll change my mind when it comes to the second one if the vibe on the dancefloor has changed. You can’t really plan that far ahead as it’s a live exchange of energy.

It’s good to be organised though and easily find music from other gigs, genres and playlists.

As a DJ, you can compose a set of many short tracks or play them out in full, get involved with mixing or keep the tunes as the producer intended them, create fluent seagues or tension. Tell me about your personal preferences in this regard, please.

Some tracks are so beautiful and interesting, it’s a shame not to play the whole thing and let all the parts happen, especially old disco records with live orchestras and ensembles. Other tracks can be repetitive and good layering tools or not working so well at the moment so I’ll mix out quickly.

It’s really a mix and not just one or the other. If the crowd LOVED the chorus, I’ll let it happen again before mixing out.  

Pieces can sound entirely different as part of a DJ set compared to playing them on their own. How do you explain this? Which tracks from your collection don't seem like much outside of a DJ set but are incredible effective and versatile on a gig?

Absolutely! Dance music was meant to be heard in the club with a good soundysytem and sub, not just in your headphones with low quality files.

I played this Mount Liberation track on Friday at the basement ‘Svensson High Life’ ; it sounds so insane on a proper system.



In terms of the overall architecture of a DJ set, how do you work with energy levels, peaks and troughs and the experience of time?

Unless it’s a short festival set where it’s just a power hour of high energy, I always ebb and flow and play with tension and release. It’s not formulaic and hard to put in words but there are moments when it’s time to get deep and take the dancefloor to weirder places.

Also joy is so much more appreciated after difficult moments - not that I want to create tough moments - but a more melancholic deep tune contrasts well with a euphoric disco one when played right.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, what changes when it comes to the way you DJ – and to the experience as a whole - when you subtract the audience?

I’ve found that my dublab radio DJ sets, despite being all dance music focused, have way less energy than my club sets. It’s not motivating to play harder when people aren’t around to move to it.

The desire to make people dance impacts the way I play when I’m out - if I can’t see them, I’ll play more mellow house that’s still “feel good” but not as “get out of your seat”.

Advances in AI-supported DJing look set to transform the trade. For the future, where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?

That sounds terrible though the algorithms have gotten scary good!

I don’t think an AI could ever play as well as a maestro DJ. There’s magic that can’t be computed and a human touch that can’t be replicated.

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?

Wow! Random as in I don’t know any of it? I would go through and see if there’s any labels or artists I recognize. A Dub or Instrumental is always a safe start …

I’d really rely on listening to the records on the other turntable and wing it as best as I could.