Justin Martin on living the dream.
Justin Martin's story is a tale of things working out exactly as they should. Turned on to the joy of raving at 15 by his older brother Christian, he happened upon Barclay Crenshaw (Claude VonStroke) who had just produced 'Intellect' – a documentary about how to become a DJ. He followed the instructions. He is now a massive part of VonStroke's San Francisco-based label dirtybird and a globally adored house DJ and producer.
We talk ghettotech, studio magic and rave epiphanies with the one and only Justin Martin.
Hey Justin, so you played Burning Man again last year - how was it?
Oh my God it was incredible – words can’t really describe it. It was my seventh year and I think it was my favourite. I used to go every year – and every year I've missed it I completely regretted it. Playing at sunrise at the Nexus camp was unbelievable. The way they had it set up, everything was perfectly in line with the sunrise and I was playing just as the sun was coming up. It was incredible.
I understand you’re working on an artist album. Do you have any kind of overarching aim or concept for the album?
Well I'm kind of sticking to what I've always gone for – juxtaposition within the songs. The name of the album is 'Ghettos and Gardens' and the idea is to make music that's really tough but tender at the same time, melodic but with very heavy bass elements – what dirtybird has always been known for. I'm making all kinds of music for the album with lots of different BPMs. It's the kind of music I’d like to hear when I go out.
‘Lezgo’ - your latest track with Ardalan – sounds like it has juke or footwork influences; are you consciously nodding to that sound?
That track started off as a beat-tool for our DJ sets. We wanted to chop up some vocals in a footwork style, and put them over some generic ghetto beats – like ghettotech. And we realised the beats were speaking for themselves. Especially the kick at the end – it’s really fat. The last thing we added were the chords. And it was a total accident finding those chords – it's just a channel on Ableton. We just happened to drop the sample and it works perfectly. The channel was supposed to be muted when we played it and we were like, “You know what? That's it. We’re done. That’s cool’. The whole idea was just to make something that was fun to play.
Justin Martin & Ardalan - LEZGO by Ardalan
Does that happen often? That your productions go in an accidental direction – something you didn’t plan initially?
Definitely, that’s probably where the best tracks end up coming out – total accidents. We were working on a song before that. The idea before that was to make a summer-time tune, and we finished this song after working so hard on it – and both of us tested it out and it was complete garbage. So we went back to the studio thinking, “let's just make something completely different, completely ghetto”. We had no plan to make 'Lezgo', it was just to clear our brains from this last song, and it just came out. But that’s when the studio magic happens – when you least expect it.
You have a history of classical training right? How much does your classical or jazz training impact on your composition?
When I was young I absolutely hated taking music lessons – it was a chore, something my parents forced upon us. But now I look back and I'm so thankful my parents made me stick with it. I developed a musical ear from a young age. When I was younger I was much more of an actual musician – and now I consider myself more of a producer. When it comes down to it I think it's just the training of your ear – what works and what sounds right – and being able to hear the sound in your head is something that is priceless. And that comes from so many years of taking music lessons.
Was there a moment for you when you first fell in love with electronic music? A rave epiphany?
The first time I went out I was fifteen. My brother took me to a club in New York City. I don’t even remember the music from that night but I do remembering thinking “this is really really cool”. I remember my ears ringing when I got home.
The first music I really remember falling in love with was Goldies' 'Timeless' album. Then on my sixteenth birthday I was in London and I bought a Mixmag that had an LTJ Bukem cover-mount and these two CDs singlehandedly made me fall in love with dance music. I was completely into drum and bass. I still listen to a lot of my old drum and bass now. I’ve got this crazy record collection from when I used to collect vinyl. All the original Metalheadz albums and all the old Good Looking Records – I still go back and listen to a lot of stuff for inspiration.
From the outside, it looks like a touring DJ's life is one big party, but I guess with back-to-back dates in different countries you can't go too crazy. What do you do to balance the intensity of being in clubs all the time?
I just kind of try to take a step back when it's really crazy. Even when I'm getting on a plane straight from a gig I try to sit back and realise how lucky I am to be doing it. I am living my dream. I really can't complain about any of it. The only thing that gets me a little bit stressed out is when I can't get in the studio for weeks. But I'm blessed to say that I can even travel this much, play so many amazing places and meet so many amazing people. For me it’s a nice problem to have.
What are your plans for the future ideally? What direction are you going to take your sound in?
I'm pretty much just playing it by ear to be honest. Every single time I get in the studio to make a track I just try and make it different to the last one. I never really have a set plan – I might think “OK I wanna make a track like this” or I'll hear something that inspires me but for the most part I never know what crazy sounds are gonna end up coming out – or what works or is not gonna work.
Who are your musical heroes – dead or alive?
Uhhhhh musical heroes wow.... that is so hard.
Yeh sorry about that.
Urrrm.... Led Zepellin... gosh so many. Current musical heroes, people I've been listening to a lot lately, are Eats Everything, this young French producer French Fries, Pearson Sounds aka Ramadanman, and obviously Claude VonStroke has had a huge influence on me, musically and career-wise.
We publish a feature called Dancefloor Bombs every Friday – can you give us a failsafe banger?
Yeah, 'Tric Trac' by Worthy and Eats Everything – it's just come out on dirtybird. It's been killing it – no matter where I play it there’s hands in the air.
Worthy & Eats Everything - Tric Trac (Dirtybird) by worthy
Justin Martin is playing at the Dirtybird BBQ Warehouse Party on Saturday 7th April.
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