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Miami Living (ML): You’ve had a remarkable journey from NFL punter to groundbreaking music artist. How do you manage to balance both careers, and what inspired you to pursue music alongside your football career? Marquette King: I’ve always been interested in music and football kind of took over, so I stepped back from music for a little while. As a punter and kicker, you don’t really do much. It’s not like you have to study and go to a bunch of meetings so I had so much free time. I started tapping back into music and I found I had the talent to do it and enjoyed it and got a lot of compliments. I wanted to challenge myself to see how far I could take it. ML: Congratulations on your recent XFL Championship win with the Arlington Renegades! How has the experience of winning the 2023 Championship impacted your outlook on your football career, and how does it influence your approach to music? Marquette: It was super cool. I got a chance to meet some really good people on that team. It was also something to do instead of just staying in the house and working on music all the time. I really enjoyed it and collected a lot more fans too from doing the music and playing in the XFL. As far as my outlook, I’ve always had the same mindset of if you want it, go get it. There are two types of people- the ones that do it and the ones that don’t. ML: You are known to push the boundaries of genre-breaking music. What or who has most inspired your musical journey and led to your synthesis of very unique curated sounds? Marquette: I’ve always been a fan of Calvin Harris. He’s an artist that I really respect when it comes to music because he’s ridiculously talented. Anything that has anything to do with Calvin Harris, I like it. ML: Can you share a specific moment or aspect from one of your performances where you felt a powerful and memorable connection with the audience, as you strive to create an experience described as “audible illumination” for your listeners? Marquette: When the XFL allowed me to perform after the last home game of the season, there was about two-thousand people on the field, and it was cool because the people that work there said “the fans want to see you perform your songs” and asked me if I could run back to the locker room and change my clothes and come back and perform. It was cool because that