Check out ,my latest Dance Anthems mix now up for free download...

Marc Mackender - Dance Anthems Volume 16

life@bowlers / Goodtimes / Bowlers,Manchester/ Reactradio.uk / fantazia / angels / retro in the park / Stu Allan memorial / and many, many more

I first started listening to Happy Hardcore in 1996 along with my Twin Brother at the age of 17, it became an obsession pretty quickly due to the euphoric feelings the amazing pianos and vocals would supply. Dougal quickly became my favourite DJ due to his amazing track selections, his sets were full of smile on your face bangers and was always the first tape played out of any new tape pack, indeed I wouldn't even buy a tape pack unless Dougal was on it 😂 I got my first set of decks in 1999 at the age of 20 - Gemini PT1000 MK2 Direct Drive & Numark DM1001X Mixer, I wouldn't say I was a natural by any stretch of the imagination, it was car crash central at first, but I managed to teach myself beat matching and phrasing to an adequate standard within 6 months. Unfortunately around the time I bought my decks Hardcore was on the decline and Trance was getting huge, so Hardcore Vinyl was getting harder to source, so I started playing Trance instead whilst still harbouring my love for Hardcore. 

I've always struggled with my confidence, so I didn't really push myself in any meaningful way to become a DJ, of course I had dreams and I was a decent standard, but I was painfully shy when meeting new people so the idea of talking to promoters put the fear of God in me. In 2001 I went to my First Retro event up in Yarm and this changed my DJing direction totally, I started buying as much Classic House as I could, the Pianos were infectious and the atmosphere at the events was amazing. I managed to purchase some Technics 1200 MK5's in 2004 and got some bookings for some Classic House night's. I was still buying Hardcore Tape/CD Packs as I still loved Hardcore, me and my Twin Brother were the only one's out of our friends still listening to it, Hardcore had evolved to UK Hardcore, and the tracks being produced were phenomenal it was a brilliant time for the Hardcore scene. I wasn't buying any of the new Hardcore releases on Vinyl, as I was getting booked for more House events, and there was an abundance of House records to be bought. It wasn't until 2010 that I actually went digital, so I was finally able to download huge amounts of Hardcore Tracks and mess about with them at home, but I wasn't pushing that sound it was just for my own pleasure at home. In the DJing stakes I'd started playing Tech House and got some good bookings for that, I still love Tech House, there is definitely a brilliant groove to it. 

2013 was an extremely difficult year for me personally. I stopped DJing altogether and just went on my decks sporadically at home. I sold my beloved Technics in 2015 due to personal circumstances, an absolutely horrible day in my life that was (still kept my Vinyl though). I bought a DJ Controller with some of the proceeds which I used very sparingly. In 2017 my life changed massively for the better personally after 4 1/2 years of being in the doldrums when I met my Partner, who is an absolute Star. Unfortunately my controller had to go into storage due to space issues and to be honest I still wasn't ready to jump back into the World of DJing. Fast forward to 2021 after 8 years of hardly doing any DJing my fingers had started to get the itch, I could feel the passion return and I was getting a lot of prompting from my 2 best mates, so room was made for the Controller by my good lady and she was brought out of storage and amazingly enough she still worked. I had no targets when I restarted DJing I just wanted to play the stuff I loved for me, which was naturally Hardcore. Covid had struck though and there was a huge online community growing, I saw an advertisement from Hardcore Vibes Radio for a Guest Slot, so I did a mix for them and then got taken on as a resident which has been absolutely amazing for me both personally and professionally. I've also started playing House again and am now very proud to be one of the residents at a brilliant local Burnley Night called Luv House, onwards and upwards 😊

Marc Mackender - Dance Anthems Volume 16

Marc Mackender (Oldskool/House/Dance Anthems Dj)