Martyn had visited Canada before 2012, but it was while on a nine-city Red Bull Music Academy tour with Toronto's Egyptrixx that the Dutch DJ and producer developed a new passion for this country. So much so that earlier this year, his label, 3024, released the four-track Dovercourt EP featuring melodic techno sounds from an all-Toronto roster, including Nautiluss, Kevin McPhee, Gingy and Bruce Trail.
"Normally you might see Toronto and Montreal, maybe Vancouver, but you hardly get to see Winnipeg or Saskatoon or Calgary," explains Martyn, over the phone from his hometown of Eindhoven, where he's debuting his new live show at the STRP Festival. "That was a nice way to get to know the country a bit. The music I heard was inspiring and people were sending me stuff so I thought to do a city compilation."
Last year, 3024 released the Ready EP from Montreal's Jacques Greene. That city will also premiere Martyn's new live show at MUTEK in June.
"I played MUTEK in 2009 and really enjoyed the festival so I was keen to do it there," Martyn says, adding, "I pestered them and they agreed so that’s good!" Read on for more about the live show, making music outside of Europe and his upcoming projects.
Hi Martyn, you're back in your hometown right now. That's where you started throwing parties in the mid-'90s but it's no longer your home base. How has the city's music scene changed?
The city in general has gentrified a little bit. It’s seen the rise of a lot of nice art initiatives, little restaurants and shops. It’ s a lot more boutique-y than when I lived here. Obviously the music scene has grown with that as well. A lot of people I grew up with that used to DJ or run dodgy little nights have moved on and are in much better positions now. It’s nice to see my old friends running things!
Is there a particular sound that dominates the club scene?
Eindhoven has always been a little left-field compared to other bigger cities in Holland. Less about trendy styles or fads and usually quite techno-oriented. It’s a bit more linear than what you see in bigger cities like Amsterdam or Rotterdam where, if there’s a new sound coming from England, before you know it it’s there. Eindhoven is more single-minded.
You brought drum and bass nights into that mix. Was that difficult?
It wasn’t a hard sell. We were inspired by what was going on in England, so we tried to bring the best of the best here. It would’ve been a harder sell if we went for second-rate artists and tried to make that work. Obviously some people are really into techno and house and, especially the techno people, discovered something in D&B that they could relate to.
It wasn't until about 2005 or so that you released your own music. By then you'd been involved as a promoter and DJ for at least a decade.
I started in music as a promoter. I wasn’t interested in becoming an artist or famous or travelling; it was more about throwing events and having good nights. I started DJing because we needed someone to play music at the events! It was only after that did I have the idea to make my own music. It was natural and unplanned.
Did you know what you were doing when you started?
Not really! I never had any education and I don’t read music. The thing was that while DJing I found there was a gap in the music. In D&B at that time there was a harder strain and also a more melodic one, but nothing to connect the dots. That’s why I started making my own stuff: to play in between those. It’s funny because that’s basically what I still do now, even with the label.
Yes, let's talk about Toronto.
I come from a city that’s outside the epicenter of electronic music so I can kind of relate. When I started making music I was one of the only ones. It was nice to have a bit of a scene that's centred around a record store or club or people who do music together. I think you can see that happening in Toronto a little bit. Also there are people from different genres mixing and doing things together, like Egyptrixx and his Hiawatha project, which makes it even more exciting.
There's a high sense of frustration too, though.
The other day I saw an article about young talent from Montreal. It was a list of five guys and I don’t think I’ve heard of any of them. Little things like that make a scene a bit more than what it is. Look what it’s done for Bristol. If press starts packing artists together as a healthy scene it makes it easier, especially for younger guys, to come forward and make it something bigger. Maybe even if it’s not actually there — like, there’s no clubhouse where they meet every week, which is hardly the case these days — it's seen that way in the outside world.
Most people want to leave for Europe though. You did the opposite and moved to D.C.
You can be as connected as you want. Whether you live in Eindhoven or D.C., you’re equally close to London and Berlin. Two weeks ago I played in D.C. for the first time in years. I never get booked for some reason! But it was nice. A lot of people came out and I discovered there’s a little bit of a thing going on with a couple producers, some promoters. The club was nice and there’s a good steady crowd that comes every week. Maybe I’ll start focusing on the city in the near future and see if I can get something done with some people from there. Maybe I’ll have another EP, a D.C. edition!
I was super excited to hear the song with Inga Copeland, from Hype Williams, from her upcoming solo project. Working with vocalists isn't something you've done much of.
I’ve always liked remixing vocal tracks. Usually when I do those I try to keep the tracks vocal and not just take a snippet. "A&E" is one of the first things I've done with Inga and there's more that will come out later, and I’m also doing things with other vocalists for my next album.
How did it come about?
It really is all about how you connect with someone and how it works together. With Inga it was that she wrote songs and sent some stuff to me and I was like, "Well I can make a different beat on that," and that’s how it started. There was no label or contract or ideas, it happened naturally and came out of being inspired by each other. That’s when you get the best results. I’m not sure if I will be that guy who produces (exclusively or primarily) for vocalists, because I like my own stuff too much to be completely of service to someone else.
People are excited about your new live show. What do you think about this new emphasis on visuals in live electronic music?
There’s DJing, which is supposed to happen in smaller clubs that are dark and people are not looking at the DJ — just enjoying themselves and dancing. That’s where I started and something I’ll always enjoy doing.
But once you start making music, all of a sudden you're seen as an artist and you get to play festivals and they give you one-hour slots in big tents. All of a sudden the magic of DJing loses its charm. I didn’t want to say no to every festival but I did want to present people with my music and show more of me. That’s why I started playing live. Now I’m more advanced and I actually enjoy playing live as well as DJing, so the next step is collaborating with people to do something visual and make it more of an experience.
There are a lot of live sets but not many of them are too interesting. They're often set up around a technical idea, like an LED screen, but it should be about what’s on that screen. Those only end up being interesting for 10 minutes because you see the technical marvel, but then it’s just a circus trick with a lot of flashing lights. That’s not how you talk about a live set. I hope that’s going to change and people will worry more about the content, like they do with music.
Tell me about your show, The Air Between.
It’s much more about a narrative. There’s a storyline. Instead of lasers, it’s more like a movie experience with real world imagery instead of computer animated things so it's more like 15 videos of 15 songs instead of just the same thing on loop. About 60 per cent of it is new material, some of it from the new album, which comes out in October I believe. You’ll see at MUTEK if it worked!
The Air Between will be your third album for Brainfeeder. Why have you stuck with the label?
They let me do what I want! Flying Lotus has always been very supportive of the music and it's a good home, especially now with the emphasis on A/V. There’s a lot of experience in that crew with doing visuals and touring them so it's nice to have access to that.
If you're around Toronto, catch Martyn headlining the 3024 label night this Friday night at FOUNDRY— a month-long electronic music showcase featuring top international and local talent. Opening for Martyn are Kevin McPhee, Nautiluss and MyManHenri.
Related:
Andy Stott makes techno in the balance