The new star of dance music at No. 1 with ‘Animals’.
DMCWORLD as always a step ahead of the competition. Here is a look back at the exclusive interview with the 17 year old bioy wonder who is now sitting pretty at the top of the charts all over the world with ‘Animals’…
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey Martin, welcome to DMCWORLD and congratulations on becoming the youngest ever Beatport No. 1 with ‘Animals’ – feels good huh?
“Hi Dan, yes it does!”
We all saw you lounging about in the Dominican Republic, you still making time to make some music out there?
“Haha yes, off course I still make music over here! When I haven’t produced music for more then 3 days I get crazy, I’m kinda addicted so I bring my laptop and headphones everywhere. Just finished my collab with Jay Hardway here, the follow up from Error 404!”
So let’s rewind a little before we talk about the current music. Can you tell us at what age you became interested in dance music and who were the producers/DJs that first grabbed your attention?
“I was very young, in August 2004 Tiesto played during the Olympics, and the tracks he played did something to me, especially ‘Traffic’. From that point I decided I wanted to do that as well, so I started saving money for a simple DJ set. Two or three years later I bought my first DJ equipment, downloaded FL studio on my pc and started messing around.”
Was a career in music always the main objective, what did your family think of your choice?
“No not really, it was my dream to play big venues as a DJ, but I started and still am making music because I love that way of expressing your feelings, and try to bring that feeling to others. My family is really supportive. They only have a hard time with me not paying a lot of attention at school. But that’s all fixed now haha!”
Do any of your family come to your gigs?
“l’ll try to bring my parents and my sister to gigs, especially this summer with the “sunny” outdoor festivals. Last year my mom joined me in Ibiza and my dad to some festivals.”
First break into the music industry?
“I made a bootleg of a track by Enrique Iglesias called ‘Tonight’. This was picked up by a couple of Dutch DJs…”
A brand new tune – ‘Animals’ getting huge support all over the world, talk us through the track…
“The melody from the track is already 2/3 years old, I used it in an older track which I never finished. In January of this year I started looking in old project files to check if there might be something that I could use, and then the melody from ‘Animals’ popped up. I started working with that melody and after 4 weeks ‘Animals’ was created. I don’t work fast at all in the studio…but I’d rather release 6 good tracks a year then 12 normal tracks.”
Last year saw you create a remix for Christina Aguilera, are there any more remixes in the pipeline…?
“Yeah! Definitely! There’s a new remix coming up for the track ‘Project T’ from Dimitri Vegas, Sander van Doorn & Like Mike and some other remixes. But I really suck in making deadlines so I can’t tell you who those are for in case I don’t finish them in time haha.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
– 1 Julian Jordan – Aztec (Original Mix)
– 2 Jacob van Hage & Halfway House – Panic (Original Mix)
– 3 Benny Benassi feat. John Legend – Dance The Pain Away (Tom Swoon Remix)
– 4 ID – Tsunami
– 5 Empire Of The Sun – Alive (Zedd Remix)
– 6 Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike & Sander van Doorn – Project T (Martin Garrix Remix)
– 7 TJR – Whats Up Suckaz (Original Mix)
– 8 Alvaro & Mercer Ft Lil Jon – Welcome to the jungle (Original Mix)
– 9 Blasterjaxx – Mystica (Original Mix)
– 10 Carnage & Tony Junior – Michael Jordan
You have been rocking the white isle already this season, how’s it been?
“I did the opening party for Privilege this season with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike…and it was unreal. Completely sold out and I can’t even describe in words how the crowd was responding to every track!”
How did the whole Sidney Samson collab come about?
“Last summer we played twice together in Privilege in Ibiza and whilst there I played him some of my new tunes…one week later we were in the studio in NL haha where we created our collab ‘Torrent’. Watch out for the follow up soon…”
Do you have any nerves playing to thousands of people, surely your first festival must have been a headfuck?
“Mwa not really, I’m more nervous when I play for a small crowd then a big one. The real mindfuck is that I just made ‘Animals’ and need to come up with a new solo follow up in the coming months haha…”
What are the next release plans, we hear some cool collabs are on the way…
“A shitload of new tracks haha! I got some solo stuff coming up, a new remix and collabs with Dillon Francis, Shermanology, Bassjackers, Sidney Samson, Jay Hardway and a duo but I can’t tell who they are yet haha!”
Not many people know this, but Martin Garrix is really good at…
“Sleeping…”
What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
“The bigger you get, the more haters you get. Don’t pay attention to them and do it for the people who love your music.”
And finally, where are some of the big festivals/clubs you are looking forward to this summer…
“I’m looking forward to every upcoming show this summer, and we’re also working on an India, USA and Carribean tour at the end of this year! I can’t wait to play all my music around the world!”
Twitter: @MartinGarrix
www.facebook.com/Martingarrixofficial
www.youtube.com/user/MartinGarrix
www.soundcloud.com/martingarrix
