Today we’d like to introduce you to Malik Mariano.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
As for music and how it started, it’s sort of all I remember. Whether it was playing piano at a young age, or inspired by the music around me. Makan, is a project i’ve been working on for a handful of years. It’s still molding, but with one main backbone; Aspire to Inspire. I got to where I am today by sacrificing many hours to get better at, what feels like, the most fulfilling way of expressing myself; music production.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The struggle that I face is finding a way to communicate my story effectively, and that’s a new journey im on. It’s tough to say that it hasn’t been a smooth road. I feel much gratitude in my life and where I am today. Growing up, sure, it had moments of struggle. I was raised in South Africa and Hawaii, a hardworking and loving single mother, a father with a restraining order and my driven little brother. Between the cracks, there’s so much to be grateful for. I think it would be unfair to consider my road to have been rough. My father was abusive and took everything from me, my mom and little brother, including our house. There was a moment of homelessness. The feeling of safety, and in an instant losing it all. My mom, the superhero she is, took action and worked really hard to take care of her two kids. I was in middle school at the time.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an accredited Artist/Musician/Producer from L.A. ICON Collective; a Sound Engineer. I am raised in South Africa, J-Bay and Hawaii, Big Island. I specialize in all genres of edm; House, Bass, UKG, DNB, etc. In consequence, I am a DJ. I am most proud of how far i’ve come as an artist and music producer. Music means a lot to me. Music is very powerful, vibrations are very powerful, words are very powerful. Music is all around us. I feel strongly about the effects of music on society. It would be naive to avoid the topic of sex, drugs and money that’s very abundant in popular music today. Music is a very powerful tool to stimulate emotions, memories, space and time. I think, what sets me apart from others is how I see the world. I see the world differently than most, or so I’ve been told
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My favorite book that i’ve read recently and it’s been extremely inspiring “Last Night a DJ Saved my life; The History of the Disc Jockey”. It really opened my eyes and pieced the dots from my college study in music history “Past, Present and Future of Music”. I’ve been going into a rabbit hole on Nature, Dystopia and Utopia and in order to have any opinion on that, I felt it’s important to understand the history of the idea of dystopia in art. I’ve been reading 1984 by George Orwell. I’m not much of a podcast guy
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.makanmusik.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makan_musik/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/makann
- Other: https://www.fearthedysto.com
