We were lucky to catch up with Tavion Marquez, also known as DJ T Marq recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tavion, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Growing up, my uncle Nick had a turntable setup at my late grandmother’s house. I remember him grabbing a speaker from the living room stereo, bringing it back to the room & rocking out. I must have been around 5 years old when he let me scratch a record for the first time. From then on, I knew being a DJ is what I wanted to do.

Another uncle of mine, Uncle Jack was also a DJ and introduced me to the modern technology of DJing by helping me connect my old mixer to the computer with a software called Virtual DJ, and later introducing me to Serato. I also credit him with teaching me the basics of scratching and beatmatching correctly – which is definitely an essential skill.

Saying the skills came naturally would be a lie. On top of being a kid learning how to DJ, there were also obstacles that came with being born with a disability. Nothing that I couldn’t handle, but some just some things that took a little more time. Today, I hope to be an inspiration to people around the world. Whether they’re faced with a similar challenge or not.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is DJ T Marq, I am a 24 year old DJ, producer, songwriter & all around musician from a small town called Bayonne, New Jersey.

Growing up, music was ALWAYS around. My family were all big music heads so I was raised to the sounds of golden era Hiphop/R&B, Salsa, Reggaeton, Dancehall, Oldies, and more. I guess it was destined that I’d be doing something musical!

I became a DJ at the tender age of 5 years old. The inspiration came from watching my uncle Nick, who had a turntable setup at my late grandmother’s house. I remember him letting me scratch the record and from that moment on, I knew I wanted to be a DJ. Shortly after, I had my own DJ setup & before I knew it, I was doing small gigs for friends & family.

By the time I was 13 I was DJing private events, weddings, teen parties, even some adult clubs. Around this time I also started releasing blends (or mashups) and fully produced Jersey Club remixes to popular songs, which built my online presence as a DJ.

A thing that sets me apart from others in my industry is one that sets me apart as a person as well. I was born with a rare condition that resulted in me having a clubbed hand. Through this, I’ve learned how to adapt and overcome things and that’s the reason why I’m able to break down barriers till this day.

Today, my work reaches fans all over the world. I’ve created multiple remixes & tracks that have accumulated millions of plays. My music gets played by major artists (like Tiësto, Marshmello, Laidback Luke, 4B, etc) on major stages like Ultra Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and EDC. My tracks are on the radio frequently and I was able to build a following of over 120,000 followers on instagram.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I initially built my social media audience by uploading remixes to popular songs on SoundCloud & YouTube. Being from New Jersey, the popular sound here was Jersey Club music. After years of being a fan of the genre, I learned how to produce and I’d upload maybe 3 remixes a month and it didn’t take long for them to start gaining traction.

My first real big break was actually a mashup I made when I was 14. It was Bryson Tiller’s “Don’t” instrumental with Drake’s classic “Marvin’s Room” vocals over it. I posted a snippet to twitter and it went super viral. It’s now at over 4 million views, and the track itself has over a million streams. Worldstar reposted it twice. You couldn’t scroll without seeing it somewhere.

A huge chunk of my audience was formed pretty recently actually, in 2022. I participated in a DJ challenge for Burna Boy’s hit song “Last Last”. The challenge requirements were to post a DJ routine on instagram using “Last Last” and any other of Burna Boy’s recent songs. I posted my 60-sec entry video and it took off! It was reposted by the biggest blogger in Africa and even Burna Boy himself! As a result of this, people gravitated towards me & my work. I went from having 7,000 followers on instagram to over 120,000 in about a month. Today the entry-winning video sits at 7.6 million views on my page alone.

Some advice I’d give to those building their social media presence is literally be present. Be consistent and don’t worry about the views, don’t worry about being perfect. Just post consistently! When people start paying attention, you have to keep them there. When I first went viral for the mashup, I was a little overwhelmed to keep posting because I’ve received comments about the mix being off key, and I had no knowledge of music theory at that time. Instead of learning and striking while the iron was hot, I didn’t post for a while – Little mistake on my part. With that being said, I still have fans from that off key mashup I did when I was 14, and I released a fixed version of it years later. So I’d say just POST!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

In terms of goals, of course I want to release hit records and play festivals, but I think the mission is to simply continue inspiring people while doing so. People often tell me I am an inspiration to them. Some of them have never even touched a DJ controller in their life. It’s bigger than music at this point! People look at me as someone who’s overcame their struggles and is living their dream. The thought of it being a kid somewhere looking at me as an inspiration, maybe even a role model is enough for me to lock in and continue working. I’m super blessed and grateful for that position.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djtmarq/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djtmarq
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DJTmarq
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DJTMarq

Image Credits
@chaosllama_ @givenchytwanc