Anthony "Big Ant" Marin in action. Photo courtesy of Amoeba Music.
By Billy Jam
This past week the Bay Area lost one of its most dedicated music fans and musicians. Anthony Marin, a.k.a., "Big Ant," who most knew as a hip-hop DJ on the local scene for many years or from working at Amoeba Music on Haight Street, died sometime last weekend of heart failure (a full medical report has not yet been released to determine exact cause or time of death). He was 37 years old.
Born in SoCal Marin had lived in the Bay Area for most of his adult life toiling at various record stores since the '90s including at Tower Records in the South Bay, Cue's Records in Daly City, and Amoeba on Haight, where he had worked for many years and was much loved by his co-workers. In fact one of them, Jason Chavez, a.k.a., 4AM, whom he counted as his best friend and with whom he was a member of the band Black Fiction, was instrumental in discovering his body last Sunday, June 1.
Reportedly the last anyone had seen Marin was when he was at a concert last Thursday, May 29. The next day he was off work, but when he didn't show up for work on Saturday and then on Sunday without calling in sick, his buddies at Amoeba got anxious. Chavez and others went to his apartment where Marin lived alone and had the cops and landlord gain access to the unit where they found his body. Another co-worker Luis Soria said that Marin told him he had been to the doctor on Tuesday, May 27, after complaining of some weight-related ailments (including swelling feet).
All who knew him in life, including myself, can attest that Big Ant was both a hella cool guy and an
amazing musicologist whose knowledge reached far beyond hip-hop, the genre he was known for. As Robert Haines, another one of his close friends from Amoeba, said, "He knew as much about Nurse With Wound as Mac Dre."
This evening, June 6, from 5-9 p.m., a large group of friends, family, and others who were touched by Big Ant, a large man with a bear-like hug and smile always on his face, will gather in his honor at Milk - directly across from Amoeba Music, at the end of Haight Street.
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Comments (2)
Ant was a good friend of mine. he loved music and love playing it and being a part of . i will miss you my friend.............Derek .
Posted by Derek torres | June 9, 2008 04:17 PM
everything could be said about Tony, & yet it still wouldn't be enough. He was trully an inpiration in what we all love about life. I am sure glad that he was one of the humans on this planet that had a life changing affect on me. Those who grew up & were most close to Tony knew him just as much as the person he met 5 min before. He was truly person with out barriers or hang ups. A true genuine individual with so much more than we may ever have to give. RIP may dwell with the True Lord for time indefinite & I hope to see you there.
Posted by ip | June 9, 2008 09:39 PM