El ratón rabioso: a Belgian DJ who changed his life for Cuban music

Mark Van Grieken is a jeweler. He lives in Antwerp, the city of diamonds; he is also an art collector and beauty is "his fuel". I learned all this later, during a conversation that gave me more than one surprise, with El ratón rabioso, a Belgian DJ to whom I arrived moved by curiosity after he participated in the most recent edition of the Salsa Festival. His invitation to the event could not be casual; Mark has more than ten years of history to tell his passion for the genre and the quality of the musicians of the Island. When we met he was wearing a Havana D'Primera pullover as a letter of introduction, and his warmth made me understand much more how much he is linked to our popular culture. 

-How did you come to Cuban music?

-My relationship with music is something very deep, which was born when I was 15, and 16 years old. Next to my bed I had a record player, and I was already listening to a lot of music; from the time I was 17 and 18, I listened to Miles Davis, Neil Young, punk, and loud stuff... One day, I went out to an event in Antwerp called Music for the Neighborhoods. It consists of a group hired by the city to play in different neighborhoods for five consecutive days. I went with my wife and we met [the group] Sierra Maestra.

Mark gets emotional remembering that first approach: "Some people say that a man doesn't cry, but... it may happen that during the interview I may shed a few tears from time to time," he warns me.

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-You have to know that I live in a country where every city has its festival. Where there is one of the most important festivals in the world, where the best play. So we are used to having quality, possibilities. When I saw Sierra Maestra I don't know what happened to me. It was so strong, to see people dancing... Then I met the Buenavista Social Club, which was played everywhere in Belgium, where it was first successful. I went to one of the places where they played live and the halls... was sold out. All tickets sold out in 10 minutes.

"After this Sierra Maestra concert, I approached the musicians. I spoke almost no Spanish. But we talked to Jesús, the singer, a guy from Santa Clara, and Virgilio, the director, and it was great. That was a moment when we decided to change our lives. After 18 years of working hard, creating our jewelry collection, with ten people working for us, with two stores, and exporting..., we decided to stop all that. We understood that quality of life is the most important thing: health, and getting up in the morning with joy. I can't stand stress in any form, it's my great enemy".

-But your profession didn't have much to do with this new facet of your life, I imagine this type of music is not even common in your city. Why did you decide to become a DJ specializing in salsa, and Cuban music in particular?

-One or two months later, my wife suggested that I take some dance classes, recommended by a friend. They were given by a Cuban named Iván Martínez, and it so happened that he was a very nice guy, very nice, with a lot of patience. That "touched me". When Ivan said "You have to turn right", I went to the left. I couldn't concentrate, because I have a concentration problem, I'm always thinking about things, my head never stops. Because I had so many problems, I looked on YouTube (the YouTube of 2010) and I found a song that I loved. I didn't know specifically Cuban music, only the name "salsa", which was what they called it in Europe at that time. The song was Ven, devórame otra vez, by Lalo Rodriguez. I repeated it a thousand times and I started to imitate his movements a little bit. Because that guy moves, not a lot, but he moves, there is a flavor. Until it was time to practice what we had learned, and we went to a party where they were playing salsa.

"After a year we decided to start hosting parties, albeit in a super naive way, with my iPod and a remote control. But the volume is not always the same, nor is the quality of the recording. I started [organizing] my party, it took me a whole week to make the selection. We did it in a fairly small venue, I love small parties; in the end, this music is for a community that is not very big."

"After a year we decided to start hosting parties, albeit in a super naive way, with my iPod and a remote control. But the volume is not always the same, nor is the quality of the recording.. I started [organizing] my party, it took me a whole week to make the selection. We did it in a fairly small venue, I love small parties; in the end this music is for a community that is not very big."

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-You probably have to explain this a lot, because your DJ name is quite distinctive, but it's almost a mandatory question, why El ratón rabioso?

-It comes from when I started to look for [music] on my computer: here appears the mouse (mouse). But it is not the only reason. Yor I searched for that information in a "rabid" way. I am a strong man, with a well "thought out" opinion, that sometimes is not easy. I had to have a clear name as a DJ. A little before [defining it], I was at an event where a guy called DJ Rubio was playing, and he was very jealous [of my work] from the beginning. It's incredible what I've experienced in this world of salsa and Cuban music. In 15 years I had many times in mind to stop and never start again, because I am a very sensitive person. A mouse is such a small animal and [yet] some so many people are afraid of it... Where does that [fear] come from? It's fantasy. In my case it's the same; if you don't know me it's because you don't want to approach me, you don't want to know me.

Mark speaks Spanish very closely to our variant, strange and comfortable at the same time. He learned self-taught, with a couple of dictionaries, but his main sources were the songs and the time he had spent sharing with several Cuban artists on tours in Europe and during his stay on the Island, years before, when he was invited to participate in the Fiesta del Tambor. During the conversation, he mentioned to me several times fragments of songs known only to the true followers of popular dance music. To talk about "his philosophy" he quotes El Niño (Emilio Frías): "Change, we have to keep that in mind, if we want to move forward", he told me in one of the few moments in which I did not see a serene or smiling expression on his face.

-How has the work of promoting Cuban music in Europe been, what experiences did this new stage as a DJ bring you? 

-We went to Paris to experience some things we couldn't see in Belgium. We went to concerts by Klímax, Pupy y los que Son Son, Maykel Blanco, Havana D'Primera. That's how the plan to organize things in my country grew. I had a bit of experience, at 23, 24, I organized punk concerts. Then I started to think about creating something of quality in our cities. I was going to call it Las noches de la farándula. "I am not a showman, but I like show business", in the words of Maravillas de Florida. I chose that word because it has a double meaning, bad and good, depending on how you read it. So we started with Las noches de la farándula, and I thought that the music I was going to play was like my diamonds, and I described it like this: El ratón rabioso con sus diamantes, although nobody knew we were jewelers because in the salsa community I don't say so. 

The showbiz nights were the bridge for a connection that would become stronger and stronger with several of the most important representatives of Cuban popular music. From working as a DJ in small spaces, El ratón rabioso, together with a team, began to organize concerts and tours. The beginning of the project was solid and ambitious, but circumstances have made that moment, more than anything else, a moving and endearing memory.

-My first concert was going to be an Adalberto Alvarez concert. Because I was interested in a lot of music, but the music from the east [of Cuba] has something authentic, deep, honest. So I went to talk to Adalberto when he was in New York for cancer treatment. He treated me with enormous respect. We started to prepare the tour, with all the costs: the best hall, the best soundman, the best of everything, without fear. And... the tour was canceled, because of a manager who lived in Italy and another manager who had been working with Havana D'Primera.

However, the will of Mark and his team to carry out an event with Cuban music at the center was stronger than the setbacks and the wear and tear of the management and organizational work involved in endeavors of this magnitude. They contacted Donaldo Flores, who had been part of Adalberto's group and lived in France. He had to form an improvised orchestra, looking for available musicians.

-I told him "Hey Donaldo, you can only come if the orchestra has quality; if not, you have to tell me that you can't, or that they need more time". But we did it, it was an unforgettable concert, two and a half hours with Donaldo, with Angel Yos, a singer who lives in France, with many people with whom I still have contact. I remember a French musician of enormous quality, an impressive trumpet player. Everybody was happy, the audience was enjoying. For me, it was: ok, it started super hard, but let's go on, without fear. And then came Havana D'Primera, Maykel Blanco twice, Los conquistadores de la Salsa; Mayito Rivera, Mayimbe with Bárbaro Fines, and many things that I organized.

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The success he had with the management of all these presentations did not seem to be enough for El ratón rabioso. I always want to go higher, handling the ball", he tells me this time quoting El Médico de la Salsa, with a jocular tone that makes us laugh every time he refers to songs that are part of our popular register. 

Then a very special relationship arose as a result of a production by Oderkis Revé and his Changüí with whom he quickly connected, and he decided to come to Havana to look for him. Finding him was not easy, he had changed venues, and he did not show up until they managed to locate him through a chain of relatives. The result was a tour of Europe with the group in 2014. 

-I lost a lot of money," he now tells it as if it were a joke. Yes, because people always think you're winning and winning. But that was the last thing I did as an organizer, as an entrepreneur. We decided after that adventure because I was almost going to lose my marriage, and my job [as an independent businessman], and independence is the most important thing in life. 

He decided that from that moment on he would be a jeweler and DJ. And that was it. 

For a restless music lover like Mark, it is difficult to limit himself to a single idea. In addition to his performances in venues in some Belgian cities, he collaborated for several months with an Italian colleague, Manuel Melini, to form a radio station called Salson Rayo. He played his selection once a week, for two hours. One day he would dedicate it to the music of eastern Cuba, another to the discography of Havana D'Primera, another to the influence of jazz. But preparing it consumed practically the whole week and became unsustainable: "Most of my colleagues played the music and that was it, I was looking for a concept. If, as a DJ, you take responsibility, it's a very interesting basis."

-This year you had the chance to perform again for the Cuban public. Tell us about the experience at the Salsa Festival, how was the reunion with the musicians, and the atmosphere on the island.

-After being invited by [Giraldo] Piloto to the Fiesta del Tambor in 2019, I decided not to leave our house anymore. But saying no to Maykel [Blanco] is difficult, and here we are at the festival. As a DJ you can't do much because there are groupings, but I "dedicate" myself when we arrive at five o'clock for sound check, and then, between 6:30 and 7:30, the other DJs go to eat and that hour is for me. There's almost nobody there, but there are the technicians, the musicians, Maykel's people, I'm like the one responsible for warming up and preparing the ground. I've always liked that time very much, always putting on a different mix. For me every night is different. 

-And did you participate every night of the festival? What did you think of the organization, how did you experience it from the inside? 

-Yes, every day, and one day at an after-party in Miramar. This festival has its importance and Maykel needs more help. One afternoon we sat down to talk, and he wanted to know my opinion, because I'm a guy who analyzes everything. They need more resources, more possibilities... because music and culture, like sports, are [ways] to show the world that you have a country with an identity worth respecting.

The position of El ratón rabioso was critical, he spoke of several problems in terms of logistics, especially in the "gold and silver" zones; of some failures in the programming, of the lack of quality and professionalism of certain groups, of the deficiencies with the sound, of the importance of offering the public different things each time. 

-In Europe, you can't go over 100 decibels, it hurts you. Here in Cuba, people go to an event like this with children, [which] is even worse. There was less public, not only international, although I can only compare it with the time I was there in 2019. Then it costs you the flight, the hotel, the tickets, it's a lot of money; without a bathroom where people can wash their hands, without sound quality, without a careful selection of groups, that doesn't work. Programming is sometimes difficult, of course. Some orchestras communicate well with the public, that have a repertoire that still sounds. Qué tú quieres que te den Adalberto's will always work. The location was good: close to the sea.

For Mark, the best part of the event was undoubtedly Havana D'Primera's closing performance. "Alexander Abreu is an animal, now there is no band like [that], nobody comes close," he said more than once. He knows that the festival has a future, but it needs support and rigor. From his experience, he understands the complexity of organizing this type of project, which often brings more enmity than benefits. Among his aspirations is to contribute to the development of Cuban music, as long as it has quality. He has proposed to support the career of Yasser Ramos and his Tumbao Mayombe, although he recognizes that it may be complicated.

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-What can't be missing from a playlist of El ratón rabioso?

—Rosa la peligrosa. It can't be missed because it connects with my story. My dad was an alcoholic, a super-rich doctor, but super-violent. I thought my mom was going to die [because of] violence in the house. That's why I left at 17, 18. I tried to go back to give it another chance, but there are times when you have to decide what you want for your life and get out of things that are not worth living. Also, A ti se te olvidó quién soy yo, which is a subject that Alexander always touches. I try to balance between the new and the classic, I play things from yesterday and today. And the most important thing about my party is what I always say: I play what my audience deserves, not what they ask for. You have to explain it with respect, but if all night long you're going to play what they ask for, it's better to hand over the console.

I was surprised that a man coming from such a different culture was able to identify, not with the music, which is something more universal, but with our way of saying, with the phrases, the humor. When Mark quoted a song he did it at the right moment, with the mischievousness that Cubans usually use in the most ironic and biting comments.

-One last thing before finishing. After so many years of sharing with Cuban musicians, you must have accumulated many experiences. Could you tell me an anecdote that has marked you?

-I'm going to tell you something "dangerous"... with musicians, I try to keep enough distance to live the illusion that they are good people. What interests me is the work. But let me tell you: Adalberto, he was a gentleman; and I remember that one day I made a comment on Facebook about something I liked and I said "Hey, this is fucking awesome". Adalberto very seriously told me "You don't say that brother, I'm sorry, but that's not cool", and I told him "But I'm a street person, I come from the street! I took it back, of course. He sent me Los buenos y los malos before it came out, we communicated when he left for New York, and I was wondering "Who am I that he should communicate with me". It was super special for me.

"But, the truth is, I go up to people I respect, I hug them, we talk for a minute and that's it. It's the music. For example, Manolito Simonet was at the after-party when I was in Miramar. At one point I went to where he was and said, "Give me ten seconds, please". I put my head on his shoulder, then said "Thank you, maestro" and left.

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The cultural transcendence of Cuban popular music reaches the most unsuspected spaces and can, as in the case of El ratón rabioso, transform realities, many miles away from our island, where everything happens. How this is possible remains a mystery. A good rhythm combined with a clean sound and a tumbao that sticks in your mind for several days is capable of doing much more than making you dance for a few hours, and sometimes we forget that. Mark reminded me of that. What began as an ordinary interview with a man who plays salsa to a European audience, something that seems almost cliché, turned into a familiar dialogue about the importance of maintaining the danceable musical tradition; about shared concerns; about the problems that everyone involved in this endeavor faces - him as one of them. He spoke to me not only about history but also about the future, about supporting the new generations of musicians and the talents that emerge in other provinces of the country, which usually have more difficulties; about creating new alliances and fusions with other genres. We realized that there is a common goal: the vitality of Cuban music and that is what we should focus on.

Maybe in some small and cozy place in Antwerp or Brussels a Havana D'Primera or Pupy track is playing right now, and someone is perhaps learning to score or taking his first turns, just learned. And for some reason it reassures me to know that Mark will be behind the console, to give the dancers a little piece of us. I can only assure you of one thing, having met us: you are in good hands, this DJ knows what he's doing.