Martyn – Interview

With his ‘Great Lengths’ album, Martyn made one of the albums of last year, perfectly blending his influences ranging from Detroit techno, Chicago house over his past in drum’n'bass to currently recrafting the sound of dubstep. This man is big.

Hailing from Eindhoven and currently residing in Washington DC, we got the chance to meet up with Martyn in Opwijk and Antwerp, Belgium. Because of the tightness of the schedule, we decided to postpone the interview though, and Martyn invited us to his hometown, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

So of we went, hopping on and off trains, losing tickets, rebuying tickets, etc. etc. But it was all worth it, to hear Martyn talk about his upcoming in music, his influences, the history of his city and it’s Detroit connection, his videogaming brother, his seclusion from the scene and finally… the second-album-syndrome.

Legendary London-based club Fabric releasing the 50th installment in their continuing series of killer mixes. Make sure to get your copy of that.

With Fabric 50, Martyn intertwines the essential elements of what makes his own style so pristine and easily recognisable, fusing dancefloor ready percussion with that element of raw soul – whether it’s vocal led or simply inferred with emotive chords and synthesizers that harbour those distinct frequencies that positively shimmer. Anyone who has witnessed Martyn meticulously construct one of his DJ sets over the tail end of 2009 can testify to the pitch perfect, unfathomably smooth beat and vibe matching. Whilst the mix is loaded with welcome surprises like Hudson Mohawke’s ‘Joy Fantastic’ and Levon Vincent’s ‘Air Raid’ – tracks that might not work on every dancefloor – it’s an honest and healthy glimpse into the Dutchman’s current DJ perspective.

Shout-outs: Martyn, Jazz Neversleeps, Erosie, De Effenaar, Nijdrop, Subscape, Stad Spark, Fabric, and you.

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