We recently connected with Marley Desinord and have shared our conversation below.

Marley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew at the age of 7 I wanted to pursue being a DJ. Growing up, To start off with I have always loved music. My father would always play all kinds of music from R&B, Hip-Hop, Country, and even some Rock n Roll. I would learn all the lyrics and later sing them to myself all the time. I would dream of performing in front of crowds of people. I would also go to Miami Dolphins games as well growing up due to my dad being a season ticket holder. We would always leave for the games early so we could catch the tailgates outside of the stadium. That is where I saw a DJ named “DJ Lil Bear” playing music out there and he had what looked like hundreds of people dancing and having a good time. That is when I told myself at 7 that I had to become a DJ! After that moment I spent countless days asking my father to buy me a DJ Controller. He said no for a week but eventually gave in. Both of us would sit down and watch how-to-DJ YouTube videos. After a while, I was watching hours and hours of tutorials and I eventually learned how to DJ.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When I first started DJ’ing I would make Instagram and Twitter videos of my mixes in the summer of 2018. I noticed after a while more and more people started following me and sharing my videos. That July my 90s mix caught the attention of Miami Dolphins C.E.O. Tom Garfinkel and he asked me if I could DJ the halftime show of the Miami Dolphins vs Baltimore Ravens game in August of 2018. I was only 8 years old at the time. I performed that night in front of a crowd of 60,000 plus people and from there my career has gone up! I have worked with DJ Khaled and the Black Eyed Peas. I have awesome partners who have sponsored me Kids Footlocker and Puma. I have worked with other major brands like Disney on campaigns they were running. One thing I would say to my followers is that despite sometimes hearing from people when I first started that this wouldn’t lead anywhere, I continued to push forward. I do not let obstacles stop me. I am also very appreciative of everyone along the way that has helped me. Nobody does it alone!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One resource I would say I wish I had early on when I first started was an organization called “Girls Make Beats.” When I first started I was not aware of any other girls in the music business. Everywhere I went all I saw were men. about a year and a half in I found out about that organization and they have helped me a lot. After joining the group I learned about producing and got to connect with other talented girls around the country who are on the same journey as me. Organizations like this I feel are important. They help other little girls gain the confidence and the knowledge of how to tackle the music industry and sometimes all-male look to it, which can be intimidating to girls.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Covid-19 made me have to pivot. Before March of 2020 my career was booming I felt. I was DJ’ing regularly at Miami Heat games and doing in-stadium shows with one of my mentors and friend Dale McClain aka Uptown Dale. I had a lot of shows lined up. Then the shutdown happened and everything just stopped. The was a slow period of about 6 months where nothing happened. I would still practice inside of the house every day but it wasn’t the same as going out around other people and playing. That was really a sad point in my life honestly. That’s when Uptown Dale and TES Studios out of Pompano Beach decided to make an Instagram live show every Tuesday called “Let’s Talk Tuesdale” and asked me to do the music in the background. We would do the show every Tuesday in the studio and that was one of the best things that happened to me because I got to learn how production works. I met a lot of people there. Also made new friends there. Met a lot of artists and DJs there as well. Those connections there were what made it possible for the Black Eyed Peas to know who I was.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.djmarley.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djmarley954/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djmarley9544
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/djmarley954
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DJMARLEY
• Other: TikTok: TheRealDJMarley954

Image Credits
I can use the images.