We recently connected with Marsel Khakimov and have shared our conversation below.

Marsel , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.

Music wasn’t something that ran in my family — it just happened by chance. But once I found it, I was hooked. I spent all my free time immersed in music, and by the time I was 14, I was already making money from it. I never had formal music education — everything I know I learned online and through jamming with incredible musicians from all kinds of genres.

If I could go back 20 years and change anything about my journey, I wouldn’t. Every step, every experience made me the musician I am today. For me, the three most important things are timing, sound, and — as strange as it may sound — the ability to really listen to people and connect with them. Building a music career isn’t just about musical skills; it’s about networking and forming meaningful relationships.

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?

I’m proud of the global experiences I’ve had, and I’m grateful that my profession has allowed me to combine my love for the craft with the opportunity to work alongside incredible people, while building a successful career as a music producer and session musician.

I’ve been fortunate to travel to over 50 countries and perform at major venues like Barclays Center in New York and O2 Arena in London. Over the course of my 20-year career, I’ve recorded over a thousand tracks, some of which have even hit the top of the Billboard charts, and I’ve had the privilege of sharing the stage with legendary acts and artists like Parliament Funkadelic, Kendra Foster, David Morin, Dimash Kudaibergen, Jimmy Rip, and more.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In the beginning, I believed that music could be split into ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ like ‘high quality’ and ‘low quality.’ I remember a time when, playing genres like jazz, musicians would easily pass judgment on a song based on its harmonic or rhythmic structure. If a song was ‘too simple’ for them, it often wouldn’t hold their interest, and they’d probably consider it bad music or bad taste. But over time, I realized it’s not about that. Music serves different purposes and speaks to different audiences. Even in what might seem like a ‘simple’ genre, there are countless nuances, and each genre and market requires years of hard work and dedication to truly understand. Music isn’t something that can be judged so simply. It has its own function, and what matters is how it connects with people.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Probably it’s hard to point to one specific video or book, but more than anything, it’s certain musicians, producers, and songwriters who influenced me over time. For example, Victor Wooten with his bass workshops, Robert Glasper’s lecture on how jazz influences modern hip-hop, and so on. Lately, I especially enjoy following Charlie Puth’s social media, where he shows the production process and how he creates songs right in front of your eyes. I also can’t miss interviews with Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, where they share their songwriting process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/marsbass
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marsbasss