Artist Spotlight
Dark analog textures and sub-shifting basslines are the paints that Marie Nyx uses to paint her stark, funky, and grinding beats. The Los Angeles-born and raised artist speaks against a backdrop of hardware synths stacked high. As she carries me through a story that winds from an auspicious trip to Coachella in 2004 to her days as a raver and culminates in her creating a record label with her partner Maude Vos, it becomes clear that the path she’s on chose her as much as she chose it.
She came from a musical family—her grandfather was a pianist—and the family member that’s made the largest impact on her was her sister, who was ten years older than her.
“I had her as a musician to look up to my whole life. And I just remember her always showing me what she was into back in the day. And I think probably my most memorable moment is her taking me to see Radiohead and the Pixies at Coachella 2004.”
Marie’s first festival was a pivotal moment. Coachella in the early 00s was a far different festival. And it served as an entré into a new culture and community.
“I was always kind of influenced by a more electronic sound. I love 80s dark wave like New Order, Soft Cell, and Tears for Fears. And then in middle school, I got really into The Faint and bands like The Knife and La Roux.”
She was balancing on the cusp of dance and rock. What tipped the scale was a combination of living in Orange County, Ca just a stone's throw from the nation's largest parties. And dance music creeping closer to peak EDM.
“I was interested. I just hadn't been fully immersed yet. Until I went to my first massive, which was Nocturnal Wonderland in 2008.”
The deeper she dove, the more she realized that she preferred smaller crowds and cozier music. Her first Lightning In A Bottle rivaled her Coachella experience. It was life-changing.
“Then from LIB, I found Desert Hearts through a mutual friend that I met at Coachella." She explains. "And that was, the beginning days of Desert Hearts before they grew into what they are now. [Being] involved in that community was kind of what sparked my interest in DJing. And becoming an artist myself.”
During the pandemic, her early relationship with the Desert Hearts crew parlayed into some coveted bookings on their legendary Twitch streams.
It was a combination of her innate love for performance, her well-honed musical ear, and a lack of representation that urged her to become a DJ.
“I saw some of the lineups at some of these festivals. And I was like there's not really any women on any of these." She counts Tara Brooks as a major inspiration because, within her community, she was one of the only women pulling the large bookings. "Seeing her as one of the only females on all these lineups inspired me to be like, hey, I can probably do this as well.”
As both a producer and DJ she leaned on her community for support. And because of the organic connections, she made in years prior she has slowly but surely built a career over several years. First as a DJ than as a producer.
One of her fiercest champions and deepest inspirations is her partner and Delusional Records co-owner, Maude Vos.
“Before her and I really connected to the point of where we're at now, she was a musician I looked up to. Her as my partner and my co label owner. It's really incredible.”
They have a shared vision for the Delusional Records imprint. A record label they began together during the pandemic.
“We want push underrepresented artists and push more analog hardware artists. The main goal is to cultivate a community of people that align with our similar values. We want to be a really inclusive label…We also want to bring dance music back to its roots. Dance music is Gay. Dance music came from Black culture. So being two Queer artists that is also one of the goals we have.”
