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RPM: Marcia Carr

Marcia Carr aka DaVinylMC has been called a few things on her adventures to success – the one she prefers and what we feel is totally justified is she’s a woman of many talents.

Marcia is a character who literally lives and breathes music, it’s in her blood, never too far from the dancefloor, always supporting and shining light on some of the unsung heroes.

She also just happens to be a hugely respected, seasoned club DJ with a long list of appearances at festivals including Cross The Tracks, LoveBox, MiBiza & The BigChill.

Her current residencies include London’s prestigious live music venues @thejazzcafe & underground game changers – @thecauselondon . Her knowledge &

skill as a selector have earned the admiration and support of musicians such asGregory Porter, Jill Scott, Annie Lennox, Patrick Adams, Kerri Chandler and LouieVega to name a handful.

The mum of one, has not one to be bound by any distinct genre, spreading her magic across the airways too with eclectic sets traversing House, Techno, Funk, Broken Beat, Disco, Jazz, Gospel, Drum & Bass and more. Previous radio appearances include @rinsefm, @colourfulradio, @misoul, @soasradio,@HSE_FM, @balamii, @1BTN, @sohoradio, @pushfm, @ukrumble with guest appearances on @bbcradio1, @jazzfmuk & @bbcradiolondon

As a series producer she is behind the successful online stream series 2 Decks AndA Mixer and 2DAAM: The Roadshow Edition, as well as being the Creative Director of the all-vinyl, female biased grassroots DJ collective Girlz B Like DJs which hosts parties around London town – in late October Girlz B Like celebrate their 6th anniversary.

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DIGGR: What were your earliest musical influences?

MARCIA: “Besides hearing a lot of local radio stations like Capital and BBC Radio London at home, my parents had a small record collection – mainly selected 7 inches and LPs which would be rotated regularly on our radiogram. Songs by the Temptations, Millie Jackson, lots of Reggae by Peter Tosh, The Wailers, Calypso, plus Isaac Hayes and other American artists that we had, I’d even rifle through sometimes. When our family lived in the US for a few years in the mid Seventies, once I discovered the TV show Soul Train, I was instantly fascinated with it, seeing all these Black people on television blew my mind – Top Of The Pops never quite measured up.”

D: What is it about vinyl that makes you dig it?

M: “It is all about the hunt; chasing after the elusive limited release that I didn’t snap up right away upon its first release. The whole culture that surrounds records had become a journey of personal growth that started out with me as a young girl using any pocket money I had to buy 7’s singles. Realising things had become more than a hobby to me, I would venture into the record shops near me.

I’d ask all kinds of questions of the staff, spending time searching and looking through all those records among the racks – intently admiring their covers; the artwork, gate folded sleeves – was a pastime that stuck with me. Also witnessing other customers talking about the latest import records they’d acquired, or seeing somebody get hold of the “last copy” of a hot tune really stirred me up – by the 1990’s, I ended up working behind the counters for a couple of record shops in London’s Soho.

Nowadays, my habit of reading the small print, doing research on those finer details on records album sleeves and label info is something I just take in my stride. However, there are times I cannot help myself from turning into a chin-stroking nerdess – getting caught up in conversations with friends while propping up counters in different record venues.”

D: One record that sums up your happiest memories and where does it take you back to?

M: Horace Silver – ‘I’ve Had A Little Talk’ is a delightful jazz dancer classic that I loved to bruk foot to as we’d say in the Caribbean. For me it touched me because of how it uplifted me, and lyrically, Andy Bey’s message spoke loudly about soul searching.

When I picked up this record many years after it’s 1972 release at a record fair my reaction was like that of a kid in a sweet shop – it had been on my “Want List” for ages.”

D: Favourite record labels of all time?

M: “Inner City, Prestige, Nia, Wild Oats, Omniverse, Mother Tongue, CoOP, Prelude, Basement Boys Records, Cajmere, Neroli, Far Out Recordings, Axis, 2000Black, Sound Signature, Hi Jazz, Tru Thoughts, Mr Bongo, Blue Note, Athens Of The North, Slip ‘N’ Slide (UK).”

D: Name one friend that is the ultimate fiend for the wax

M: ” For me to name just one friend or peer to be the ultimate fiend for vinyl is unfair and quite hard! There are quite a few people I much respect.

Stafford Tomlinson is an old friend who used to run a shop called Wyld Pytch records located on Lexington Street near Soho. He’s an unsung hero among the music heads that know.

He’s been in the business of buying and selling records longer than most. Getting lost in time chatting with him about tunes, knowing his encyclopaedic knowledge is just wild, and his record collection will give you goosebumps…”

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