Catching Up With...Justin Martin and His Dirtybird X fabric Mix

Seven years on from delivering his first Dirtybird release, Justin Martin has dropped his debut long player for the label and it comes riddled with his love of bass and it showcases his song writing talent beyond the club floor. Ahead of the label’s Room One takeover this Saturday, Martin has delivered an exclusive Dirtybird x fabric Mix and chatted to us about how the album came together and why Goldie has been such a big influence on his love of electronic music. DOWNLOAD: Justin Martin Dirtybird X fabric Mix Looking back on your debut release’s reception being monumental, looking back do you think it was a good thing to get so much recognition so early on? Oh yes! Definitely! I was really lucky from the beginning and I feel blessed to have gotten such great breaks so early in my career. I have just tried to make the most of every opportunity from the beginning… and seeing just how hard it is to stand out these days makes me feel even more thankful of all the opportunities I have been given. Why Buzzin Fly as well, and not a label closer to home? Was it down to a lack of scene in your home town? No, it was just mostly a lucky break. I had just produced my first house tracks and was trying to get them out into the world. My brother handed one of my demos to Ben Watt at WMC in 2002 and few months later I got an email from him saying he was starting a new label and wanted to release the Sad Piano. Barclay (Claude VonStroke) was about to make it the first record on his new label (Rook Records) but seeing the opportunity I had been given he let me release it on Buzzin Fly instead even though he had already signed it for his SF label. You’re style’s progressed a lot from that first record and your earlier releases on Buzzin Fly, from more of straight up house groove based style to more bassline stuff – what inspired that move? I think it was just a natural progression. I have always just tried to experiment with new sounds and never tried to make the same song twice. It has always been a goal of mine to make music that blurs the lines between genres, and is fun at the same time. And well… I LOVE BASS! How did you first come to work with Claude Von Stroke and his Dirtybird label? I met him through my brother. He was working with Christian at the same time that he was making a "how to be a DJ" documentry called 'Intellect'. He interviewed over thirty successful DJs, ranging from Miguel Migs to Paul Van Dyk, on how they made it. I had just started producing at that time and really wanted to be a DJ. My brother was like, "Talk to Barclay. He knows exactly what you need to do to be successful." So I did, and the rest is history. He has really been a mentor to me and I do owe a lot of my success to him. The dirtybird label started a few years after the success of our renegade dirtybird bbq’s. He started it as an outlet to release our own brand of bass heavy, goofy house music. Tell us about the new album, how long have you been working on it? It was a lifetime in the making… but it took about a year to produce. What do you like most about it? I am actually really happy with the whole thing! My goal was to make an album that you can listen to from start to finish, containing music that works in the headphones or at the club. I have probably listened to it at least 50 times now and I’m not sick of it yet so that is saying a lot. What prompted your remake of Goldie for the album? I have always been majorly influenced by drum and bass… particularly the Metalheadz sound from the very beginning of my love for electronic music. Goldie’s album “Timeless” was one of my introductions to dance music when I was 15 year old, and ‘Kemistry’ has always been my favorite track off of that album. I thought it would be really cool to do a house remake of one of the first drum and bass songs I fell in love with and Goldie gave the “go ahead”. It’s definitely an honor to be able to remake a track by one of my musical heroes and use it on my debut album.