MADOKA
Real Name: Mark Venneri
Profile: Producer/DJ and Director of Metamotional
2008 marked the 10th Anniversary of New York-based Mark Venneri's decade-long involvement in the Electronic Music Industry. From his humble start as a hyperactive teen experimenting with routing together mulitple cassette decks, keyboards and a mixer to the complex lush and layered sounds of his music today, he has always been considered a genuine innovator by both critics and fans alike. He first discovered the underground at one of the earliest warehouse parties in Philadelphia in early 1991 and has been developing a distinct vision of his musical future ever since.
Mark's earliest roots planted him as a bedroom DJ. Later, as he attended university, he began to play parties and club nights throughout the midwestern United States, while also organizing and promoting a variety of his own events as part of a select group of area DJs. During the mid-1990s, he also hosted his own college-radio show entitled Grooveshop and began to develop a dedicated fanbase. He remained relatively local in those roles for almost a decade until he felt it was finally time to take his unique sound to the international masses in 1998 with a self-produced and self-marketed EP. In 2000, he began setting the foundation for the next phase of his musical journey with the introduction of his newly- formed artist moniker Madoka.
Madoka stopped DJing for some time and spent nearly an entire year refining the direction of his music as a producer and focused on the quality and wider appeal of his new, original sounds. He materialized some solid ideas by the spring of 2001, and the creative restructuring resulted in his initial body of work entitled "MyCity". As a result of shopping around "MyCity" to the top labels and DJs of the moment, he received valuable feedback, including a call from Plastic Fantastic Records in the UK. They seized the opportunity and signed Madoka's very first track entitled “Dive”. The tune would eventually be paired with a Mo Shic and Zidan remix for wide, international release. Madoka used the accomplishment as creative fuel. With a solid production effort now under his belt and mass appeal building, he continued to shape his uniquely deep, moody but throbbing production style. Record reviews poured in and the media agreed that Madoka's new music was exciting and diverse, frequently including sublime references to the House, Techno and Trance underground scenes of the moment.
In early 2002, Mark was thrilled to accept what he considered to be the opportunity of a lifetime for his own Private Reality imprint, announcing an agreement with Andy Jarrod, Director of 3 Beat Label Management UK, encompassing the manufacturing, distribution and promotional details of future releases and becoming part of the group’s impressive stable of leading labels. Although Mark officially created Private Reality back in 1998, and had already independently distributed 500 units of his debut EP, he was excited to add a new chapter to his label’s ongoing story. In the next few years as Director, Mark successfully managed to expand the label’s roster, attracting some of the freshest international talent such as Roel, Clubbervision, Satoshi Fumi and Bart van Wissen.
Throughout the next five years, Madoka delivered a intense set of original tracks and superb remixes which found homes on labels such as Deep Records, Deep Focus, SAW Recordings, Definity, ShineMusic, Babylon and Mo-Do. His music was also featured on several compilations such as Max Graham's Shine, Trendroid's Transport, Andy Jarrod's Vapourized Volume 3, Steve Gerrard's Thinking Out Loud and Kazell's Driven. His success continued as his now-classic "Metamotional" found its way onto one of 2006's most critically-acclaimed compilations, "Ben Watts' Buzzin' Fly Volume 3". The track initially enjoyed a year of heavy rotation from Ben that began with his Radio One Essential Mix the previous February. The song continues to be a mainstay in Ben's sets today. He has also received plays and support from some of the industry's biggest players, including some of his early influences such as Danny Tenaglia, Josh Wink, Sasha, John Digweed and others like Pole Folder, Satoshi Tomiie, Max Graham, Jody Wisternoff, Nick Warren, Cass, Mo Shic and Matthew Dekay.
2005 marked Madoka's return to the DJ and performance arena. In this brief period, he has already played some of the finest international rooms in cities and countries such as Tokyo, Amsterdam, Turkey, Bulgaria and Vienna, while managing to hit some US spots including his home town, New York City. With each new performance, Madoka continues to develop his self-described "Saturated Sound" with consistently fresh and forward ideas.
Finally, since October 2004, Madoka has turned his attention from his vinyl ventures to the digital domain, launching his digital label called Metamotional, affectionately named in honor of his critically-acclaimed masterpiece on Deep Focus. Created apart from his first label Private Reality, the brand is currently exclusively distributed via Beatport. The digital imprint has previously featured innovative hits such as his dark, dirty and twisted monster "MTTM (Madoka's Tribute to Mazzo Mix)," Roel's massive remix of "Drift,” Satoshi Fumi's “Moment Of Truth,” and Leroy Carroll's "My Thinking Machine" packages. In 2007, Madoka released his first full-length album entitled "A Cure for Loneliness". The album featured an all new set of 8 original tracks which immediately set a new standard for the label.
Currently, Madoka is working on new material and a much more refined sound. Keep your ears open for some of his forthcoming tracks such as "The Sound My Soul Makes" and "Rekkolektion". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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