Recently, thatDROP has been exploring the answer to why EDM is helping so many people.
We did a study on Music Therapy, Positive Psychology, and the effects that EDM is having on the world.
To us, music is the answer to many ailments, and there is one EDM fan and producer who knows this very well.
In 2003, Marc Mercando discovered that not one but both of his parents had cancer.
The family survived their first bout with the disease and migrated in 2005 to Los Angeles due to Marc’s intense love of EDM and raving.
Marc began raving when he was 13 years old. Now, at age 28, he has begun to produce the same music that ultimately saved his life.
After his parents were yet again diagnosed with cancer, this time stage-four and fatal, Marc spent countless hours and spent nights in hospitals taking care of them.
Both at the age of 64, Marc’s parents passed away within months of one another – his father in January, 2014, his mother in May, 2014.
Marc had lost all faith and joy.
He felt that there was no reason to live and prayed for his parents to come rescue him from his pain.
Marc’s only escape was his music, and one day inspiration came to him.
He sat down, picked up his pen, and wrote the following poem:
Memories so vivid
My world has been shifted
Turn back time now
Never forgetting
But so much pretending
I’m OK now
Some days the pain is stronger
I can’t take this any longer
I feel so dark inside
‘Cuz you were my lightNobody knows the pain I’m going through
Tryna fill my days with pieces of you
How do I mend these broken pieces
I stay aliveHolding on to your love
Yearning for just one more touch
Of your hands, holding mine
Hold me tight, don’t say goodbyeIn my heart you’ll stay
Until we meet again someday
I know I’ll be alright
I stay alive
Marc realized that “God intended [him] to make a difference.”
Soon, he gathered his two friends The Ramon & Noelle Bonus to help him put together his debut production “I Stay Alive.”
To Marc, not only his parents fought the battle of cancer, but so did he.
The emotional trauma and grief left by loss rocked his world, and he decided to help change the world because of it.
His song is meant to inspire everyone who hears to know that life is always worth living.
When Marc (known by his DJ name Marc Mercs) first performed “I Stay Alive,” the crowds were moved.
People he didn’t even know who knew the story of the song came and hugged him.
They instantly welcomed him into the community with wide open arms.
Everyone has experienced some form of darkness in life.
We must all stand strong for those we’ve lost and the tragedies we’ve experienced.
