We catch up with Justin Martin after last Friday's triumphant gig at T Bar.
Claude Vonstroke's Dirtybird label is riding on a high at the moment: having recently celebrated their fifth birthday, they're currently more popular than ever. All those years of hard work are finally paying off and they're receiving the international recognition that they deserve, with iDJ magazine naming them 'label of the month' this month. However, the success has not gone to their heads and they still maintain the same refreshing goal that they've held since day one; to make techno music with a strong sense of fun.
Justin Martin is one of the main figureheads of the California-based outfit and 'The Southern Draw' EP by himself and Sammy D was the first release for the label. His fellow San Fransiscans – Claude Vonstroke, J. Phlip, Worthy, and his brother Christian Martin – have consistently kept the foundations in check, allowing for more recent releases to include output from like-minded international producers such as Style Of Eye, Riva Starr, Julio Bashmore, Catz n Dogz and Edu K. Justin sums up the distinctive Dirtybird sound as providing "booty-shakin’, genre-defying, panty-droppin’, smile-provoking, speaker-rattling, tech-funk jammy-jams".
One of the best things about JM is his entirely unpretentious approach to music, and in fact, to life itself. His intention in the studio is to "make music that doesn’t take itself too seriously, music that you can play in your set no matter what style of DJ you may be”. Meanwhile out of the studio, he enjoys nothing more than kicking back "with friends, good music, and maybe an ice cold beer or two”. This definitely sounds like a man who's heavily associated with Dirtybird, a label that formed as the result of several small events involving a BBQ and a cheap soundsystem playing great tunes.
Nowadays he places a big emphasis on originality and strives to "make stuff that is different from everything else out there, stuff that doesn’t really fit into the usual subgenres of house music”. It's amazing to find out that he was DJing for five years before ever playing any house music. Originally listening to the likes of LTJ Bukem and Goldie, he admits that "there's a huge laundry list of influences, but it was drum and bass that got me into electronic music”. Just take a listen to some of his productions and it all starts to make sense. His tunes definately incorporate the spirit of drum and bass in their guts, grittiness and the overall sounds used. The focal point to one of his most popular tracks, 'My Angelic Demons' is a euphoric, airy pad line that glides majestically over a pounding bassline and tribal drum rhythms, a pad sound that wouldn't be out of place in an old school d'n'b track. Unsurprisingly, JM has his own "huge collection of drum and bass records which pretty much provide an endless sample base for me…"
Last Friday saw JM bring the noise to the backstreets of Aldgate, playing a stonking three hour set to an exstatic main room at T Bar. Although most well known for his production skills, his DJing is certainly not to be overlooked as his passion for both runs equally deep. When asked if he prefers DJing to production or vice-versa, he replies, "I love DJing with all of my heart, but one of the things that keeps it new and exciting for me is creating completely original sets with original productions and special edits of tracks I love”. To JM then, it seems that the two skills very much go hand in hand. With this in mind, it comes as no shock that his favourite song to slip into his sets at the moment is one of his own, recommending 'Duckface' by The Martin Brothers as his dancefloor destroyer. However, when probed further to give us a hint as to what other killer tunes he holds up his sleeve, only to be unleashed at the climax of a set, he smoothly responds, "I have a few secret weapons that never seem to leave my crate, but they are secret weapons, so if I told you what they were then I’d have to kill you." Spoil sport.
JM has a heavy tour schedule booked for the next 6 months but for those who missed him on Friday, fear not, he'll be back in August to melt your face. And he loves playing London: "London people know how to party! It is actually a little scary to me sometimes just how crazy London people are, but it always makes for a freaky party and a seriously good time!" Cheers Justin.
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