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Marnik is an Italian electronic duo consisting of producers Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo. The project was formed in Milan in 2013. Over the course of their career, Marnik’s sound has evolved from progressive house and big room EDM toward dance-pop, psytrance, hard dance, techno and trance. Since the mid-2020s, the duo has focused on a harder club aesthetic that they describe as existing somewhere between techno, trance and rave.
Marnik’s discography includes collaborations with KSHMR, Steve Aoki, Don Diablo, Vini Vici, VINAI, Naeleck and other electronic artists. Among the duo’s best-known releases are Bazaar, Children of a Miracle, SHIVA, Bella Ciao, Gam Gam, Up & Down and Boyz In Paris.
Formation of Marnik
Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo met in 2013 at a recording studio. Martello was managing the studio at the time, while Longo rented space there and worked on his own music project. Before forming the duo, both had already been active independently: Alessandro released music as Alex Martello, while Emanuele used the name LeleTroniq and also worked with trance music.
After several joint studio sessions, the musicians decided to abandon their previous solo projects and start a new one. The name Marnik was created from parts of their artist names: MARtello and LeleTroNIK. The members themselves explained this story in interviews early in their international career.
Both musicians studied classical piano for several years, although most of their electronic production skills were self-taught through continuous studio work. Marnik have also cited European dance and Italo-dance music from the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of their shared musical foundation.
Early releases
One of Marnik’s early official releases was Momentum, released on 15 September 2014 through Revealed Recordings, the label founded by Hardwell.
In May 2015, Hocus Pocus was released. The songwriting credits confirm that the track was written by Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo, with Marnik credited directly as producer.
By this point, the duo were working primarily within festival EDM, progressive house and big room. This early period was characterised by large melodic themes, festival drops and an interest in cinematic and ethnic motifs — an approach that became particularly evident in their later collaborations with KSHMR.
Bazaar and collaboration with KSHMR
One of the most important stages of Marnik’s career was their collaboration with KSHMR.
On 11 December 2015, KSHMR and Marnik released Bazaar. The track became the official anthem of Sunburn Goa 2015 and combined festival EDM with Indian vocal and melodic elements.
Marnik themselves explained that the collaboration developed from a mutual interest in each other’s music and a similar approach to melody and production.
The partnership continued. At the end of 2016, they released Mandala featuring vocals by Mitika — the official anthem of Sunburn 2016.
On 29 December 2017, KSHMR and Marnik released SHIVA featuring The Golden Army. The track became the anthem of Sunburn 2017 and continued their combination of festival electronic music with musical imagery associated with South Asia.
As a result, the collaboration between Marnik and KSHMR extended over several years and became one of the central lines of the duo’s early international discography.
Steve Aoki and Supernova
Another important collaborator for Marnik was Steve Aoki.
On 30 September 2016, Steve Aoki, Marnik and Lil Jon released Supernova (Interstellar).
This collaboration appeared before Aoki and Marnik’s best-known joint recording and showed that by the middle of the 2010s the Italian duo were already regularly working with major artists from the international EDM scene.
Children of a Miracle
On 17 March 2017, Don Diablo and Marnik released Children of a Miracle. The single was released through Spinnin' Records / HEXAGON under licence from Island Records.
In the official credits, Alessandro Martello and Emanuele Longo are listed among the songwriters, while Marnik are credited among the producers. The vocals were performed by Andrew Bullimore, also known as BullySongs.
Children of a Miracle differs noticeably from Marnik’s harder festival records of the same period, placing greater emphasis on vocal melody and the structure of an electronic pop song.
Bella Ciao
On 10 June 2018, Steve Aoki and Marnik released their own electronic version of Bella Ciao.
The track is based on the well-known Italian folk song, which became closely associated in the 20th century with the anti-fascist resistance. In Aoki and Marnik’s version, the original melody was transferred into the format of contemporary festival electronic music.
Bella Ciao became one of the most recognisable recordings in Marnik’s catalogue and continued their collaboration with Steve Aoki.
Gam Gam
On 26 October 2018, Marnik and SMACK released Gam Gam through Dharma Music, KSHMR’s label.
The track uses the melodic basis of the Jewish song Gam Gam, which is based on a biblical text. Marnik and SMACK transformed it into an energetic electronic production with a pronounced festival groove.
Gam Gam became one of the duo’s most recognisable tracks and later received additional versions, including a slowed release in 2023.
Up & Down and a new phase
On 12 April 2019, the solo single Up & Down was released through Sony Music Entertainment Germany.
During the same period, Marnik began moving more noticeably away from exclusively festival-oriented big room toward more compact dance music and song-based structures. Later releases included Alone with Anjulie and Jeffrey Jey, Butterfly, Made of Stars with PollyAnna and Umbrella with Ember Island. Made of Stars was released on 21 February 2020 through Columbia / Sony Music.
This part of their discography shows that Marnik did not remain tied to a single genre template and gradually expanded their catalogue beyond progressive and big room house.
Stop the World
On 18 March 2022, Steve Aoki, Marnik and Leony released Stop the World.
The track was later included on Aoki’s album HiROQUEST: Genesis. It continued Marnik’s long-running collaboration with Steve Aoki, which had begun in the middle of the 2010s.
Boyz In Paris
On 28 July 2023, Marnik, French producer Naeleck and Italian duo VINAI released Boyz In Paris.
The track became one of the most prominent releases of Marnik’s new period. In their DJ Mag 2024 profile, Boyz In Paris was named among the works that defined the duo’s current phase.
In October of the same year, Marnik collaborated with Naeleck again — this time together with psytrance project Vini Vici on Home Alone. The songwriting credits also include the name of Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych because the track uses material from his famous Shchedryk.
Transition to techno, trance and rave
At the beginning of their career, Marnik were most often associated with progressive house and big room EDM, but over time this description became too narrow.
In their DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2024 profile, the musicians themselves described their sound as hard dance, techno, rave and trance and explained that they were consciously moving toward a more rave-oriented direction with stronger techno and trance influences.
A year later, they described their current style as something “between techno, trance and rave”, while also developing their own definition of epic techno.
The melodic component, however, has remained constant. In interviews, Marnik have emphasised that regardless of tempo or specific genre, they try to preserve the project’s characteristic harmonies, compositional development and overall emotional energy.
ARENA Records
In 2025, Marnik launched their own label, ARENA Records. Before that, the duo had announced plans to create an independent platform that would allow them to experiment more freely with their new sound and release music by other producers.
The concept of ARENA is built around techno, trance and rave, while its visual identity draws on ancient civilisations, arenas and epic aesthetics. Marnik’s official website now presents the musicians specifically as the founders of ARENA Records.
On 14 November 2025, the solo single The Ritual was released on the label.
ARENA became the next stage for Marnik after years of working with Revealed, Spinnin', Dharma, HEXAGON, Sony, Ultra and other companies: for the first time, the duo had their own fully developed platform for advancing their current musical direction.
DJ Mag Top 100 DJs
In 2024, Marnik entered the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs for the first time, ranking No. 90. In the ranking profile, the duo were presented as a Milan-based project with a current sound at the intersection of hard dance, techno, rave and trance.
In 2025, Marnik climbed to No. 80, improving their position by ten places.
2025–2026 releases
Marnik’s new phase has been accompanied by a large number of faster and harder releases.
In 2025, their catalogue expanded with YEAH, Instant Moments, Lasers, HARD TECHNO with Samuel Moriero and The Ritual.
In 2026, these were followed by A Better Place with Conrad Taylor and Ed Graves, The Lonely Shepherd with Soria, Maximus, We Came We Saw We Conquered, Eterna Melodia, On The Other Side and Synthetic Heart.
This material continues Marnik’s movement away from the classic festival EDM sound of the mid-2010s toward a faster combination of techno, trance, hard dance and rave.
Musical style
Marnik’s history is better understood not as the development of one genre, but as several consecutive musical periods.
Their early work existed primarily within progressive house, electro house and big room EDM. Momentum, Bazaar, Mandala and many of their first festival releases belong to this stage.
In the second half of the 2010s and early 2020s, their music incorporated more pop, psytrance and commercial dance elements, particularly noticeable in Children of a Miracle, Gam Gam, Up & Down and Made of Stars.
From 2023–2024 onward, Marnik have increasingly worked with techno, trance, hard dance and rave, while retaining a strong melodic component. This transition became the foundation of both the duo’s contemporary sound and the concept behind ARENA Records.
Key releases
- Momentum — 2014
- KSHMR & Marnik — Bazaar — 2015
- Steve Aoki, Marnik & Lil Jon — Supernova (Interstellar) — 2016
- KSHMR & Marnik feat. Mitika — Mandala — 2016
- Don Diablo & Marnik — Children of a Miracle — 2017
- KSHMR & Marnik feat. The Golden Army — SHIVA — 2017
- Steve Aoki & Marnik — Bella Ciao — 2018
- Marnik & SMACK — Gam Gam — 2018
- Up & Down — 2019
- Made of Stars feat. PollyAnna — 2020
- Steve Aoki, Marnik & Leony — Stop the World — 2022
- Marnik, Naeleck & VINAI — Boyz In Paris — 2023
- Naeleck & Vini Vici with Marnik — Home Alone — 2023
- The Ritual — 2025
Marnik in electronic music
Marnik began their international career during the peak of big room and festival EDM, but they did not remain tied to the sound of the mid-2010s. Their collaboration with KSHMR shaped the early melodic and cinematic phase of the project, while work with Don Diablo and Steve Aoki expanded their catalogue toward electronic pop. Later material eventually led the duo toward techno, trance and rave.
The launch of ARENA Records consolidated this evolution as an independent direction for the project. Despite noticeable changes in tempo and genre foundations, Marnik continue to preserve the principle they themselves have discussed in interviews: melody, energy and dramatic development remain the connecting elements between their early and contemporary releases.
