Our Father's Day Sale continues, and so does our DJ DAD series. Next up is a friend of some friends. Marlowe Baca is a DJ DAD based in Chicago. He and the Sonorama folks are very serious about latin records, going on trips across South America on buying trips. A tip of the hat to the entire Baca clan and the Sonorama Records crew as well! 

How long have you been a dad?

How many kids do you have? How old are your kids (or child)?

 I have 2 Boys, Elias is 4.5 years old and Gabriel just turned 3

What’s a daily father/parenting day look for you? 

Up at 6am, dress the boys, brush teeth, make breakfast, then either dropping them off at a local Day-care or up North at my in-laws. Pickup and play Hedorah vs Godzilla in the van on the way home. They both love to imagine Hedorah chasing us home and Godzilla coming to save us. Dinner with my wife and bed time soon after since these 2 go to sleep early.

How long have you been collecting records?

I'd say 13 short years now.

How has being a father affected your collecting?

Its been hard. So much new music is pressed on vinyl now not to mention that vintage gem your spying on Ebay or the like. I'm definitely still buying records regularly but our boys come first and their needs have to be met before a splurge or impulse buy. I see myself selling on Discogs to buy more vinyl these days.

Do you play music for your kids?

Yeah we have turntables setup around the house and music is always playing. My wife likes a lot of Classic and Deep House, Dance tracks, or 90's grunge bands and I'm into a lot of vintage international Rock music as well as all types of genres so there's no style we follow. Any thing goes really.

What style music do they like?

They are both young so they like to hear their favorite TV shows over the speakers, Power rangers, Ghostbusters, They really liked the garage/rock tunes used in the Minions movie so they like to hear those songs.  Lately Gabe my youngest has really fallen in love with Michael Jackson's Thriller and he'll pull out the record for me to play that song. He does a zombie walk during the song which is pretty awesome! He's more of the music lover right now. I was preparing a DJ mix recently and he got hooked on a particular song ("Cantare" by Aguaviva) which he requests everyday now.

What’s the challenges about being a DJ who is a parent? ( travel, late nights, etc..)

I DJ because I enjoy playing and experiencing new and old music and not so much as financial or a career choice. Having a good balance all around but putting the family first of course is key for me. No matter where i'm at I make the most of each experience. 

Any advice for new parents?

Just like with digging (for records) you have to keep an open mind and let yourself take a chance now and then. We are all new to this at the start. 

What does an ideal Father's Day look like to you?

Spending time with my family everyday. Getting that one on one time with my boys. They both have so many ideas and thoughts and hearing them makes it a special day everyday.

Check out Marlowe Baca and the Sonorama Records crew here