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Residencies are the mark of any DJ, and as the once long-term resident of the award-winning Nasimi Beach club in Dubai, Jackin' house specialist Marko Smokingroove has well and truly made his mark. Not only did he soundtrack the hottest party destination in the Middle East, he helped discover and launch the venue in 2009, curating the monthly Full Moon parties which saw record attendances well into their thousands. Nasimi's events have since grown into huge, one-day festivals where Marko has shared deck-time with some of the world's leading electronic music artists.   

Rewind 15yrs and you'll find a fresh-faced, budding DJ being approached to host his own show on the then popular London Pirate radio station, Freek FM. Having honed his skills on the radio, Marko went on to win an Open Decks competition at the celebrated Heaven club in London, before landing his first residency at the legendary Gardening Club in Covent garden. After 2 successful years there, Marko left London behind, and embarked on the next chapter in his career, Dubai.   

Together with his brother Safe, is one of the most infectious house producers on the circuit (Smokingroove) releasing jackin' joints on their own Mixtura & Illuminati Labels, while they've also been picked up by labels like Release Yourself, Magnetic, Great Lakes Audio & Love Network. 

The last few years have seen Marko's stock rise even higher. First, he launched a new musical concept at Hive bar which saw the sleepy venue rocket in popularity, before he crashed into the DJ Magazine Middle East Top 50 poll at the Number 10 spot, showing how quickly Marko's unique sound had been taken to heart in the region. Further accolades were to follow as Marko was nominated for the Best DJ gong at the prestigious Best In Dubai Awards and earned the Highly commended ‘Best Local DJ’ award in the Timeout Dubai Nightlife Awards 2013 & 14. 

Constantly striving for and pushing his own take on Jackin' House’ without following current fads Marko was awarded the What’s On Magazine title of ‘Best Dubai DJ’ in 2013 which was immediately followed by the Hype Magazine ‘Best DJ’ award as Smokingroove in 2014. They were also picked as one of the Ahlan Magazine Hot100 influential figures of the year thanks to their love for electronic music. Marko was signed up by Cafe Del Mar to become one of their few Middle East residents, taking him across the GCC, while he also compiled and mixed the first in a series of Pacha Dubai CDs which are on sale across the world.   

Marko Remains as the Sandance Festival resident and has seen him play to crowds of 12,000+ on a regular basis sharing vital stage time with the big wigs of the worlds electronic industry… One thing is for sure, Marko’s unique style of House Music seems to be hitting all the right spots and grabbing the attention of all the right ears.


Back in 2003, a demo of the sledgehammer number that is  ‘Break My World’ caught the ear of Island Records’ top dog who, on the strength of those unmistakable strings, signed them to the major league. A balmy headline slot on Pete Tong’s live-from-Miami WMC show in early 2004, simultaneous top-spot hoggings of the Cool Cuts and Buzz Charts and hot Ibizan nights followed. 

However, big isn’t always better, and the boys were soon to discover that teeny-bopper pop-rockers held more sway at the label than their underground sound. An amicable split followed in the summer of 2005, along with a determination to keep things simple next time around. 

There’s no stopping the Globe’s flow though; despite this hiccup the music was coming thick and fast. New vocalist Silja, of Nouvelle Vague fame, as well as collaborations with Television’s Tom Verlaine and old accomplice Boy George, delivered a breath of fresh air and it became clear they needed a suitable outlet for their re-energised musical vision.

Global Underground, with its history of dance music pioneers, was an obvious first choice and quickly snapped the boys up. They got straight down to business, with the “moody brooding” (Music Week) ‘Break My World’ getting the remix treatment from Caged Baby and Gavin Hardkiss in his Hawke guise amongst others in September 2006. Hot on its heels came Dark Globe’s long-awaited album proper ‘Nostalgia For The Future’. Entering the iTunes Electronic Album Chart at No.7, it showed off “the thing that really sets Dark Globe apart from other electronic based acts – their songwriting. Simply put, Nostalgia For The Future is something you need to hear.” (Jive Magazine)
The Dark Globe story began somewhere in the early 90s – in a musical climate where the baggy scene was swinging its collective flares and crusty rock was dying a deserved painful death - when Pete Diggens, drummer in psych punk band Electric Sex Circus, decided enough was enough. Touring with the likes of Blur and giving the Manic Street Preachers an early support slot (“seeing them in their make up lugging equipment about was hilarious,” he laughs) was no longer musically fulfilling. 

Along the way, their filthy breakbeat funk has soundtracked ‘Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life’, they’ve delivered inspired remixies for the likes of Orbital and Two Lone Swordsmen and if you profess to know your dance music history then you’ll know that Dark Globe are responsible for making the first ever breakbeat record, ‘Mondo Scurro’. 

Either way, there’s little doubt that Dark Globe are hard-to-categorise electronic music pioneers and, right now, we’ve never needed them more... 



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