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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Interview with
MARQUETTE KING

(19th October, 2023)

Interview with Shaquira Hobbs and Dave Bruce

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Dave – What’s up? Marquette, how are you?
Marquette – I’m good, how are you?

Dave – Listen, can you share some of your hair? If any time in my life I had hair I could have done that with, I would have been a king.
Marquette – What are you talking about? I mean, I feel like I got enough. You got enough? I can give you about two or three pieces.

Dave – Perfect, perfect, perfect, sounds cool. Pity we can’t send it through Zoom, I’d wear it. How are you, mate?
Marquette – Man, I’m chilling, man. Where you at? You look like you’re in a country.

Dave – Melbourne, we just hopped off our kangaroo, tied it at the front, and we’re here to talk. Okay, that’s what’s up. I bet you think that was a true statement. I bet you think I do ride kangaroos.
Marquette – Nah? Nah?

Dave – Have you been out here?
Marquette – No, I wanna visit though, because I’ve always wanted to just see a kangaroo just run around.

Dave – No, they don’t. Disappointingly, when you go down the main streets of Sydney, there’s no kangaroos, unfortunately.
Marquette – Why, how come?

Dave – Well, they killed them all, ate them. No, they didn’t. I’m only joking, I’m only joking, I’m only joking. Nah, they’re in the wild, though.
Marquette – Oh yeah, that’s right. See, I gotta come up there. I remember I was hanging out with a group when I was in Dallas. They’re in the wine industry, so they were telling me a lot about, I think they’re in Northern Australia?

Dave – Well, they’re in, they’re around the place. You know, if we drive, because most of our cities are on the outside of, you know, we’ve got about, you know, most of our population is on the coast. So most of the inland is sort of arid and what have you. But if I drove from Melbourne to anywhere, you know, through the middle, or not through the middle even, you know, just up in the state on one of the freeways, there’s every chance that, you know, you’ll hit a kangaroo at some stage, potentially. So they have different places where they’re a bit wilder and you’ve gotta beware and all that sort of stuff. But it’s no different. When I was in Yosemite back in the 80s, we were driving out and we hit an elk.
Marquette – God dang.

Dave – So you have animals that you can drive into as well. We ran off the car. We had to wait for another car to come down from San Francisco.
Marquette – That is wild. Y’all should have turned that into like a steak or some burgers instead of just letting them take the hill.

Dave – Well, they probably did. We probably fed a few families for a while. I’m not sure. Let’s go. This is Shaquira.
Marquette – Hi. Shaquira, what’s going on?

Shaquira – Not bad. Nice to meet you.
Dave – My name’s Dave. Me too. We’re gonna ask you some searching questions. Okay.
Shaquira – All right, let’s get started. Your journey into the NFL is quite remarkable. Can you share how your experience with the football field influenced your passion for your music and songwriting?
Marquette – Football was cool. Football was cool. I had a lot of fun doing it and I’m super thankful for it because it’s given me the opportunity to put myself in position for my music to be a place to where a lot of people can see it. It’s given me a platform to where more people can just see me. So just doing that for a while and transferring the mindset that I have for working hard and that I bring it to the music world too.

Shaquira – Was it music first or football first?
Marquette – Music, I was doing music before I was playing football when I was in high school. Like I started making beats and producing and stuff when I was in high school. And I think I got into football like the year after, two years after that. And then football started getting more and more serious because I was just good at it.

Shaquira – So this was always a natural evolution for you? This was always gonna happen when you finished football. So rather than some artists moving into music because they’re using their popularity, yours was always gonna end up here. So that’s cool. That’s cool.
Marquette – Yeah, I’m glad I did it too. It was just one year where I was just like, you know what, let me get back into it again because we were traveling so much and I just get bored on planes. And my life as a punter gained widespread attention.

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Shaquira – How did the celebratory post-punt dances play a role in shaping your image, both in sports and music?
Marquette – I think when I started doing it more, because I was doing it even when I was in college, even when I was in high school, I was celebrating, having fun. But I think it showed people that I just really didn’t, I take life with a grain of salt. Life isn’t supposed to be hard and I feel like I promote that by having fun and celebrating and smiling and dancing and doing all the stuff I can do that I normally do on a regular basis. And I think it just helped people realize like, hey, maybe we need to chill out a little bit more because he’s just living life and having fun because that’s what it’s really all about. That’s true.

Shaquira – That’s what it’s all about. Yup. And I read when you were with the Denver Broncos that you struggled a little bit with anxiety and depression. Did you use music as an outlet for this?
Marquette – Definitely. I definitely used music for that. With the Broncos, I should have sat out for a year. It was one of those things where you can look back in hindsight and you have the answers for it. But like, I should have definitely sat out for a year and given myself a chance to just clear my head because I was just so messed up from being let go from the Raiders at the time.
I was just struggling with people just disliking you and not even getting a chance to meet who you are as a person or meet you in person period. That was something I couldn’t wrap my head around for the longest. So yeah, music definitely helped in that period.

Dave – Yeah, but that’s, isn’t that, you know, basically, I think depression’s a transitional sort of place. It’s an educational place rather than an attacking place. Basically what you’re talking about is, you know, everything that comes as you move through life comes from the experiences that you have. So if you think success comes from failure, you know, you only get better at something from doing it and learning how to do it better. And someone telling you the coach saying, do this, do that, that depression period, probably you look back on and you probably do look back on and see how pivotal it is even now with your beats and with your career and all that sort of stuff. Cause you got to learn that. So, you know, when you’re talking about that, how did you, what did you do? And I know this isn’t sort of music related or maybe music related. What did you do? How did you transition through that? How did you get over that mind, you know, numbing sort of period?
Marquette – I mean, well, first it started off with a couple of bottles of wine. Yeah. And then after that, then I would hit this, I hit this point where it was like, man, it’s gotta be something else to this. Like, cause it feels like I’m not really getting out of it. So like, I think I just spent more me time. Like I took myself on dates. I just do more things that I enjoy and like disconnect from the real world when it came to social media and everything. And I just did what I wanted to do. And then I would slowly start tapping back in with social media and getting away from it. And then to where I was comfortable enough to be able to be back in front of people.

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Dave – That’s cool. You know, one of the gurus, Louise Hay, another American, said, “You got to create a vacuum that you refill”. So you’ve sort of got to empty because you follow most of us get conditioned and follow certain things. And then you empty, you get this depressive period where you say, I’m gonna do me and fuck the world. And then you have to take everything back in, but you take it in from your perspective, not their perspective. And then in my eyes, you become more successful because you become more honest and more natural rather than just following trends or following what other people have done. Has to be great for your music. It has to be great for the creativity of your music.
Marquette – Definitely great. Because I got more ideas. I got more stories to tell. And like, I don’t know, I just, you just reached this point of just feeling comfortable with who you are and like not giving a fuck about what anybody thinks anymore. You just get to that point. It’s like your back is against the wall and you just get to this point where you just don’t care and just do what you do.

Dave – Well, you probably do care. You probably care more, but you don’t care about the fact that people pull you back.
Marquette – Yeah, or a lot of opinions. Like, I mean, unless you’re trying to play the game, the gang game, I call it the gang game, but like you just gotta know when and when not to press the gas.

Dave – And having said all that, sorry, Shaq, I’ll let you back in a second. Having said all that, how do you deal with  the TikToks and the Instagrams and the comments and all that sort of stuff? You know, you must know that it’s such a fake sort of a place and yet you still gotta watch it because it’s your music following. So they’re bloody fans.
Marquette – That’s true. You just, I mean, you gotta realize like anybody that’s got something going on for real, they’re not gonna be talking trash about what you got going on because somebody that has something going on is gonna be so focused on trying to build something or whatever that they’re not gonna be trying to put somebody else down. And it’s usually the people that don’t have nothing going on. So I know what it is. I’m used to it.

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Dave – Guru Marquette. That’s what we’ll call you, GM, the GM. Ha ha ha ha ha. When did your interest in electronic music begin and what inspired you to delve into the world of ADM?
Marquette – I got into it probably when I first moved to California. So that was like 2012. We were just riding in a limousine for a weekend. And then we were just in a limousine just partying. Some dude in the car cut on some Calvin Harris music at first. And I was like, what the hell is this? And then I just kept listening to it. And as we’re riding across the Bay Bridge and looking at the San Francisco Bridge and all that, and looking at the water and everything in the city, I’m like, damn, this music actually makes the day. Like it’s making the day feel more happier and like more, I don’t know, just added more pizzazz to the day. And from that moment on, I started listening more to Calvin Harris’s music and more electronic music. And I just got hooked.

Shaquira – Who do you like to listen to the most? Or what’s your favorite song to dance to?
Marquette – Okay. Man, what is my favorite song to dance to? I gotta think about that one because I can pretty much dance to anything, but like, and I ain’t like a professional dancer.

Dave – Nah, you got some moves. You got some moves.
Marquette – I mean, I gotta stretch a little bit, but I gotta think about that one. I don’t know. Think about it.

Dave – Come back to it. Okay. I mean, it is about to be Saturday in like two days.
Marquette – So just FaceTime me in the middle of the night over here and then let’s see where I’m at. That’s it. That’s it.

Shaquira – That’s it. Perfect. And how do you manage, or well, how did you manage to juggle two very demanding careers while being a football, like in the football and then getting into the music industry?
Marquette – Well, as a kicker punter, we don’t, they don’t really require much of us. You just gotta be able to be consistent at your job and just kick it. And my goal was to just be the best version of myself playing. So I made sure I did extra just to make sure I put myself in position to where even if I felt like I had a bad game, it’s still above average. And once I finished doing my workouts, I had the whole rest of the day, because you can only kick so many times. So kicking would probably last.

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Shaquira – I would think the football sides are pretty professional and they think about everything. Think about food, think about the lot. Did you get any kickback about the music or the career or anything like that? Were they ever sort of saying, you can, you can’t?
Marquette – Sometimes I would have fans. So when the team would lose and I would still have fun and make music and just do whatever, they would get mad, but at the same time, they couldn’t get mad because I was performing. I did what I had to do. But I didn’t get much, I didn’t get much kickback from that. Like people liked it. Even coaches liked it. They like when I’m doing something creative because you can only practice football for so long. And then you got the whole rest of the day to do whatever.
So, and I think that’s what a lot of athletes don’t do. They don’t give themselves a chance to build something outside of their sport. And by the time they play their sport, they’re invested into it so mentally and physically for so long that when they get older and they’re out of the loop, then they’re just lost because they don’t know what to do.

Dave – They don’t build anything. Only a few people can go to SportsCenter. Yeah.
Marquette – Well, not many. So you got to do something. Exactly. I chose music and whatever else.

Shaquira – And touching back on, about how you wanted to do something outside of the NFL, what lessons do you think you learned from that and you’ve applied to your music career and vice versa?
Marquette – I would say just staying focused. I think it starts with the mindset. You got to kind of eat it, breathe it and sleep it. And then eventually you get to the point where you manifest it. And the more you keep thinking about it in a positive way, it’ll start happening. That’s how it happens for me for sure. And I would just focus on trying to be that, whatever I want to be.

Shaquira – And if you had to pick one music track to represent your time in the NFL, what would you choose?
Marquette – I had to think about that one. It’s a song I got called DGAF. DGAF. DGAF. It’s a little high. Oh, DGAF. Me and this other rapper I work with, it’s Sincerely Collins. He’s on the second verse, but it’s a fun song. It’s kind of got an old school beat to it, but that would be the song.

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Shaquira – And is there a specific artist or producer in the music industry that you admire and hope to collaborate with one day?
Marquette – Calvin Harris. Calvin Harris.

Dave – Who wouldn’t want to? Calvin Harris. I know. I know. One day. One day. He’ll probably see the interview. If you share this interview, we’re going to give this interview to YouTube. You share it and I’m going to tell you, Calvin Harris is going to say it some way. It’s going to permeate to him. So that’s the motivation for sharing the YouTube. I got you. We’re going to get to Cal. We’re going to start a campaign. Find Calvin Harris. Find him.
Shaquira – And as you continue to push the boundaries of the music industry, can you share your vision for the future of your music career and how you plan to innovate and experiment with new sound?
Marquette – I think for right now, I think what I definitely need to focus on is pushing the music that I have out already. Like a lot of it’s still fairly new, especially out here in the US. If the people in the US see you as one thing and you’ve done it for a while, they’re kind of resistant against wanting to see you do something different than what they’re used to seeing you do. So the more shows and stuff I’ve been doing, I’ve been getting a lot more love because they hear the music. They see me as one thing and then they actually hear the music, see the vibe that I bring on stage, and then they actually start listening to it and liking it.
I just got to find a way to get it out more. As far as the sound, I feel like I’m pretty good with different sounds. I bounce between pop, hip hop, EDM. And I feel like I know how to place my voice on certain tracks like that. So I don’t know. I’ma just keep going. I’ma just keep going with what I’m doing because I feel like it’s working pretty good.

Shaquira – Definitely, definitely. And do you think you’ll ever sign up again with the NFL, take on another contract, or do you think it’s just music from here on out?
Marquette – I’m still waiting. I mean, I’m actually still playing. I played in the XFL earlier this year and we actually ended up winning the whole championship. So that was cool. And I’m in good shape right now. I can actually play in a game right now with the season starting like a couple of months ago. I think they’re in week six, seven. I don’t even know. I don’t even watch at all anyway. But I’m in good shape. And my agents actually reached out saying that a couple of teams are checking to see if I’m still in good shape. So, I mean, I’m ready for whatever.

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Dave – Well, listen, I’m gonna finish with a couple of, you know, the stupid questions as normal. But before I do, why did the Raiders cut you? Why did the Raiders cut you?
Marquette – It was a coach that didn’t like me. It was a coach named Jon Gruden that just didn’t like me. I don’t know what it was, but he, I don’t know. I never really got a real explanation. And that’s the part that kind of drives me crazy every once in a while, because, I mean, I just want to know what the problem was, but I don’t know. If you’ve ever been in a relationship with no closure, that’s about what it feels like.

Dave – But that’s the best relationship really, because basically all closure, everything happens inside you. So as soon as you’re trying to get some answers from outside, you’re not in the game because every answer has to come from you. So as soon as you find something that’s not explained, you’ve got to explain it. And as soon as you start explaining all your own answers, you have no need, because then you can go in any direction and it doesn’t matter what happens, you’ve got all the explanations. That’s my view anyway. All right.
Marquette – Okay. A couple of guys, Guru Dave. Guru Dave, maybe we can get on the road.

Dave – We could do a speaking tour. Uh-oh. Hey, we could find Calvin. I’d invite Calvin, he could sit in the front row. Listen, a couple of stupid questions, or not so much stupid. Well, just before we do, what’s the best thing you find about performing to a live audience?
Marquette – Making people smile. Seeing people have a good time. I like seeing people smile and having a good time. So that’s something I’ve always enjoyed.

Dave – Okay, here’s those stupid questions. Favorite artist? Favorite artist. You’re going to come up with something stupid and we’re going to say, what?
Marquette – Oh, just a silly answer to the question.

Dave – No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, your actual answer. But I’m saying people come up with, but we say this to people and they come up with like, you know, favorite movie and they say, you know, some heavy screamer and he says “The Sound Of Music” or something like that. And you say, oh my God, you know.
Marquette – My favorite artist would probably be….

Dave – You better say Calvin Harris because you want to connect with him.
Marquette – I mean, Calvin Harris. I mean, that’s my favorite artist. So I thought y’all wanted me to say another artist that wasn’t my favorite artist. No, no, no.

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Dave – Favorite album.
Marquette – Favorite album. Man, y’all asking some hard questions, man. I don’t listen to it.

Dave – That’s what we do here. Ask tough questions.
Marquette – It’s an album. I don’t even remember the name of the album, but it’s by an artist named Samantha James.

Dave – Favorite movie?
Marquette – Napoleon Dynamite.

Dave – Really? Napoleon Dynamite.
Marquette – Yeah, I love that movie.

Dave – Favorite place to visit?
Marquette – Vancouver, Canada? No, San Diego, San Diego, California. That’s my favorite place.

Dave – Really? Whereabouts are you situated?
Marquette – I’m in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dave – And where do you come from? Where do you come from originally?
Marquette – Georgia, Macon, Georgia close to Atlanta. I’m a little country boy, I handle dirt.

Dave – A little country boy. How’d you, you know, obviously difficult childhood or anything like that, or you just kept on punching your way out of everything?
Marquette – No, I had a, my life was pretty good. I had a really good childhood. Life was good for me. Good work, good work.

Dave – Favorite venue to play?
Marquette – Favorite venue to play? Oh, so far I actually like the, I like performing at Mandalay Bay so far. That’s where I’ve been performing at a lot. So I love it over there. Las Vegas, Las Vegas.

Dave – Favorite food?
Marquette – Favorite food? Favorite food now, if you play football, although you’re a kicker, so you don’t need much stamina, do you? I eat a lot. I like a nice steak. Give me a nice steak with some, a nice little slice of butter on it or somewhere.

Dave – Do you have to train as hard as the other players being a kicker, or do they, or you don’t have to go through the same drills?
Marquette – No, not really. I do, I had to go through the same drills just to do it, because I’d be bored. Ah, but they didn’t make you, like you chose to. I do it because I don’t want, yeah.

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Dave – Well, we’ve had a couple of kickers come over there. We’ve had a couple of AFL footballers come over there and kick the ball, and a couple of them did reasonably well, did okay, one of them played major ball, so, you know, but it’s, I would think it’s a high pressure, like I watch the footy, right? I watch your game over here. Boy, kicking, that’s a high pressure sort of environment, mate, when you’ve got to win the game, when you’ve got to kick the point to win the game, and you’ve got to, or you’ve got to, you know, kick from 40 or 50 or something or other in the games on your foot, that’s a lot of pressure to carry, dude.
Marquette – That’s a lot of pressure for them. I just got to hold the ball down.

Dave – Oh, you’re the holder. No, you’re a kicker.
Marquette – Yeah, I’m a holder. I’m a punter.

Dave – Favorite drink?
Marquette – Favorite drink? Caymus wine. Caymus wine. Whoa. I like a nice Caymus.

Dave – Favorite person in history?
Marquette – Favorite person in history? I don’t know. I don’t know what to believe anymore when it comes to history like that, unless I was actually allowed to see it.

Dave – Thanks for your time Marquette. Good luck with the music career.
Marquete – Thanks for your time too Dave and Shaquira

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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Photo – Alex D. Rogers

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About MARQUETTE KING:

Arizona-based entertainment savant, Marquette King has been focusing on dialing in his new-age take on sound for the past several years. The All-Pro NFL Punter, Marquette has been officiating the marriages of different contemporary genres and mediums, making sure to not just engineer the music, but to make the audience experience the audible illumination coming through the speakers. 

A different player in the entertainment game, Marquette’s long time spent on the football field introduced him to need of expression and release through songwriting, acting, and sound. Utilizing these passions specifically curating the relaxing and enchanting emotions with the mix of EDM, House, and Pop-Hop continue to push the boundaries of what new genre breaking music can be. In addition to his musical talents, King handmakes one-of-a-kind unisex jewelry which can be purchased on his website. 

Currently residing in Phoenix, AZ, King most recently experienced a career highlight when his XFL team, the Arlington Renegades, won a 2023 Championship. He’s also currently dating pro female boxer, Mikaela Mayer – making them the ultimate sports power couple. In his off-time Marquettecontinues to stay fit with hobbies including lifting weights, playing basketball, running and Pilates. He also enjoys gaming and traveling, spending time with his pet Chihuahua Joker and dedicates his time in the charitable space to feeding the homeless. 

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AMNPLIFY – DB