Any true fan of great electronic music should instantly recognize Niko Marks as one of the originals of the Detroit house/techno movement. He began recording...
Any true fan of great electronic music should instantly recognize Niko Marks as one of the originals of the Detroit house/techno movement. He began recording in the early part of the nineties, releasing innovative and soulful house, techno and a mixture of other music genres. The wide variety of genres he takes on, only testifies to his adaptability and talent in being able to engage a multitude of different sounds and in the process create futuristic music. It would later be the fortunate acquisition of a Fender Rhodes electric piano, Korg DDD5 drum machine and a Fostex 4-track recorder, which marked the beginning of the rise of one of today’s most innovative artists. Niko is what you might label as a triple threat as his talent can be found in the roles he smoothly balances as a vocalist, musician, producer and songwriter.
One of the many forward moving phases in his musical career included him teaming up with Submerge Records founder, Michael Banks to formulate a vocal house production crew called Members of the House. Niko also collaborated with Raphael Merriweathers under the alias Unit 2 and 365 Black. This particular mission stemmed forth the high-spirited grooves, "Sunshine" - released on Happy Records and "Keep Your Head Up" written by Niko and Merriweathers - released on 430 West Records.
In the infamous year of 1999, he produced a project called "Niko Marks and The City Boy Players" which included musician friends from Detroit. The project consisted of several genres stemming from techno/house to soul, R&B, Disco and hard electronic - resulting in much fun, lots of grooves, and a profusion of great vocals and classic songs.
As an artist, his releases have been signed by some of the worlds most established recording labels: Vanguard, Ideal, EMI, New Religion, R&S, Crammed Discs, React, Delsin, Strictly Beatdown, Yore Records, Planet E, Submerge and Puzzlebox. Niko has also lended his skills to remixes for artists such as Tom Tom Club, Andy Vaz, Herschel Boone, Aux 88, Helder Russo, Universal Principles, Amp Fiddler, Eric D. Clark and many more.
His current collaborations are with producers and artists, such as Herschel Boone, Davina Bussey, Carlos Nilmmns , Andy Vaz and Helder Russo. Amongst the latest projects are C'est Bon(LP) and Lounge Chair(EP), in collaboration with Carlos Nilmmns - connecting Detroit and Glasgow.
An electronic artist who defies generic boundaries, Niko continues to write, produce and release cutting-edge music primarily for U2XProductions. If you like what Niko Marks has been creating so far you're in for a revolutionary ride with more hard hitting releases to come!
