DJ Marfox is an authentic urban, suburban and ghetto legend in Lisbon. He was one of the builders of Príncipe and continues to be one of its most brilliant ambassadors. His unparalleled vision of baroque and rhythmically expansive techno, imbued with Garage, Bass and Beat, has captivated audiences and critics alike with titles on record labels such as Boomkat Records, Enchufada, Lit City Trax and Warp Records. In addition to the continuous journey playing around the globe, his curriculum highlights the impressive list of remixes (tUnE-yArDs, Capicua, Panda Bear, Elza Soares, Fever Ray, among others), the commission of original music for the installation of the artist Natascha Sadr Haghighian in the German Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, or the distinctions from various quarters of dance music culture for this pioneering producer and DJ Portuguese with São Tomé roots. In 2022 he was one of the authors invited by the RTP Song Festival, with the theme “DÉGRÁ. GIVE” performed by Pongo and Tristany was a finalist in the edition.
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Marlon Quintas dos Santos e Silva was born in Portugal in 1988 and is a proud descendant of parents from São Tomé and Príncipe. Having adopted the name Marfox from an early age , from a shared play of children hooked on Nintendo’s video game ‘Starfox’, he soon stood out as a vibrant reference in the suburban fabric of Lisbon’s ghettos, where he also grew up, through his personalized realizations of Kuduro and Tarraxinha.
Recognized as one of the pioneering producers of Afro-Portuguese music of the new century and its most respected ambassadors, Marfox was initially inspired by the Angolan Kuduro movement that arrived in Portugal from the beginning of the 90s. In 2006, with the release of the visionary compilation ‘DJs do Guetto Vol. 1’, which included some of the most prominent DJs and producers in Portugal, an 18-year-old Marfox emerged as a bigger talent. The compilation represented the first time that this number of Kuduro producers, all from different parts of the Greater Lisbon area, came together collectively. In 2011 he licensed and released internationally for the first time his song, ‘Rádio Oxigénio AM’, on the compilation ‘Bazzerk – African Digital Dance Music’, on the Swiss label Mental Groove Records.
His debut EP on 12” vinyl and digital appeared in February 2012, entitled ‘Eu Sei Quem Sou’, on Príncipe, the first release of this Lisbon label, with an affirmative title of an authorial identity of those who know where they come from, their code of conduct and how they chose to progress with and for their music. In the same year he released the EP ‘Unknown Artist’ on London’s Pollinate Records, the following year the EP ‘Subliminalar’ by Enchufada, and in 2014 ‘Lucky Punch’ EP on the North American Lit City Trax.
In 2015 he took part in the first instalment of the ‘CARGAA’ series on the British label Warp Records, and through an invitation from Henrique Amaro he released ‘Revolução 2005 – 2008’ on NOS Discos, designed as a collection of songs showing the formative years of the young prodigy, before the international status that DJ Marfox has since achieved, when from his bedroom at Quinta da Vitória, in Portela de Sacavém, he dreamed of one day being able to make a living from his music.
His last EP ‘Chapa Quente’ dates from 2016, again on Príncipe, which led him to cross more audiences and listeners around the world, proving to be a consensus milestone of the specialized critics who considered him “practically perfect”, for example in FACT Magazine, distinguished as “Album Of The Month” in the electronic dance music magazine Mixmag of April of that year, in addition to appearing in top places in lists of the best of the year in publications such as XLR8R, Crack, Thump, FACT, Resident Advisor, among others.
At the same time, he has been playing live more and more all over Europe and the United Kingdom, in reference clubs and festivals in the cities of our continent, in addition to visits to the USA, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Angola, Uganda and East Asia. In Portugal, he has performed at festivals and events such as Milhões de Festa, Rock Nordeste, Vodafone Mexefest, FMM Sines, MED Loulé, Festival F, NOS Em D’Bandada, Nova Batida, Lisboa Electronica, Festival Iminente, among others. Also noteworthy in his curriculum of artistic merits and collaborations are the invitations he accepted to perform remixes for names such as tUnE-yArDs, Elza Soares, Fever Ray, Capicua, Panda Bear (Animal Collective) or KOKOKO!, and the commission of original music that contributed to the installation of visual artist Natascha Sadr Haghighian in the German Pavilion, at the 2019 Venice Biennale. In 2020 he was one of the authors invited by the RTP Song Festival, with the theme “DÉGRÁ. GIVE” performed by Pongo and Tristany was a finalist in the edition.
Keynote Lecture
DÉGRÁ.DÊ
Publications
“DÉGRÁ.DÊ” de DJ Marfox, Pongo e Tristany, Festival da Canção RTP 2022 –
DJ Marfox | Boiler Room x NOS Primavera Sound Porto x Cupra 2022 –
Major Lazer’s Blow Your Head
