Photonz

Portuguese producer and DJ Marco Rodrigues crafts diverse strains of techno, electro, and house via the Photonz alias while serving as a central figure in Lisbon’s dance community. Alongside partner Inês Borges Coutinho, known as Violet, he established the online station Rádio Quântica together with the queer-friendly event series mina, and he operates the independent imprint One Eyed Jacks. Early minimal-techno EPs, beginning with Ronin in 2006, gave way to later outings such as the 2008 single “No Fear,” which paid homage to classic Detroit techno and acid house. Growing output coincided with stranger, more spacious explorations, including off-kilter rhythms on the 2010 Plague of the New Age EP. Subsequent projects drew from newbeat on Etheric Body Music and breakbeat hardcore on Angel Heart, leading to his 2019 full-length debut, the eclectic Nuit. Beyond Photonz, Rodrigues has issued or performed under Negentropy, Markur, and the playful vintage-house guise DJ Senior Vasquez.

Having worked the decks since the early 2000s, Rodrigues issued his first Photonz EP, Ronin, through Living Records in 2006. Scarce pressings on Dissident and Astro Lab Recordings soon followed and drew favorable notice from dance-music outlets. He inaugurated One Eyed Jacks in 2010 via the Aquarian Ball EP, after which the 2011 single “WEO” became the second release on Lisbon’s influential Príncipe Discos. Further material surfaced on Don’t Be Afraid with Love Spectre in 2012, on Unknown to the Unknown with 1551 in 2013, and on Crème Organization with Gnosis of Wolfers in 2015, the same period in which Rodrigues and Coutinho relocated to London and started Rádio Quântica as a Lisbon-focused counterpart to stations such as NTS Radio. Their return to Lisbon by 2017 coincided with the launch of mina, a rave collective devoted to LGBTQ initiatives. Photonz maintained a steady release schedule that included the deep, atmospheric Memories of Burma on Cosmic Club in 2017 and the tougher, acid-leaning Etheric Body Music on Dark Entries in 2018, while Angel Heart appeared on Violet’s Naive label in 2019 and leaned into breakbeat textures. That same year Dark Entries issued Photonz’s first album, Nuit, which spanned intricate electro and slower, Balearic-tinged cuts.