Planting Seeds for Legacy
Life is a Festival #8: Marcus Golden Barnes (Mixmag)
I know few people in their 30s who are actively thinking about their legacy but the writer Marcus Golden Barnes is leading by example.
I first met Marcus at Amsterdam Dance Event in 2015. He was sliding through the crowded lobby of the Dylan Hotel blowing kisses. He was a full blown festival afloat on a black ocean of trench coats and techno.
Marcus is a music journalist, a graffiti artist and a DJ. He’s the Techno Editor for Mixmag and has contributed to every major publication I know in the UK. He’s produced two major books, Around the World in 80 Raves and his most recent Around the World in 80 Record Stores. He was once Fest300’s European Editor and he was my guide to shenanigans at the final Secret Garden Party.
On the podcast, Marcus talks about why he’s so popular with the artists he interviews, the quirky record stores he profiles in his new book and how Vipassana meditation taught him to be nice to himself. Most of all we discuss legacy and how Marcus uses dance music to make the world a better place, from mentoring aspiring writers to promoting mental health.
Benjamin Franklin famously wrote:
If you wou’d not be forgotten
As soon as you are dead and rotten,
Either write things worth reading,
or do things worth the writing.
Marcus it seems, is intent on doing both.
Special thanks to my rad producer Ari Andersen (Host of the Millennials Don’t Suck Podcast)
My multi-disciplinary design partner Andy McErlean
And the most delightful dj atish for the truly festive theme song: “Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]