EDM wonder boy Martin Garrix is by far the cutest of the lot!
No stranger to Malaysia, Martin Garrix made his way back to our shores over the weekend for his first ever feature show here in Kuala Lumpur. The event, which took place at KL Live on 17th May (Sunday), was brought to dance music lovers by Zouk Club KL and it was rather evident that the 19-year-old superstar DJ/producer needed no introduction whatsoever as fans were ready to party on a Sunday night!
Supported by local heroes BATE, HypeEmBeats, Xu, and Goldfish + Blink, Martin (who turned 19 just a few days ago) took over KL Live and gave deprived music fans one heck of a night. Of course, we managed to catch up with Martin before party started 😉
Hey Martin. Happy belated birthday! How’s it going? Are you excited to be back here?
Thank you! It’s great, I’m excited to be back here. It’s going to be a lot of fun. The last show here got cancelled, I was supposed to play at Future Music Festival Asia but it got cancelled and I was so sad.
You were on stage though! We saw you.
Yeah, I was with R3hab but that was the day before. I was supposed to play a full set the next day and it got cancelled when I was on the way there. I was so sad but it’s okay, because I’m here now!
It’s okay! You’re here now. You’ve accomplished a number of things at only the age of 19. How has being on the top 5 of the DJ mag 100 poll boosted your career/change things for you ?
Yeah, I’m happy I’m here. Oh it’s put a lot of pressure on me (laughs). Because the expectations from people get too high, like “Oh, what is he going to release next?” or “How is his Tomorrowland set going to be?” and “How is his Ultra set is going to be?”. But it gives me motivation to work even harder, to try to outdo myself. I want every show to be the best show possible and DJ Mag didn’t really influence that but the fact that so many people took the time to vote, that’s just crazy for me so yeah it’s a bigger motivation for me to spend more time in the studio, work even harder and become better.
You’ve released collaborations with celebs like Usher, Afrojack, and Tiësto. We also hear that you’ve been working with Hardwell and Ed Sheeran. Any more collaborations we can look forward to?
Yeah I’ve been working with Ed Sheeran. I’ve also been in the studio with Avicii, David Guetta and Alesso. I’ve been working with so many people in the studio to work on new ideas for my album or for their albums. It’s been a lot of fun, I love making music, it’s my thing. I don’t know what is going to be released when or what is going to get released but tonight, you’ll get to hear some unreleased tracks.
Speaking of unreleased tracks, you played a lot of unnamed tracks at Ultra Music Festival, is there an album coming out soon? Anything you can tell us about?
I’m working on an album but I have no clue when I’m going to release it. It’s a very time consuming process but I’ve been working on so much music right now that I’m kinda in the position where I can pick what track I want to release first but there’s so much music coming out that I’m probably going to put it on the album.
Then again, when I release an album I want it to be like next level, f*cking sick album, because it’s going to be my first album and it takes time but it will definitely be worth the wait.
You’ve seen to have formed very close bonds with big acts like Tiësto and Afrojack. Have they influenced your music in any way?
Yeah, definitely. Tiësto has influenced me from the start because he inspired me to start producing music. I started listening to trance because of him and it’s cool to see how someone else works because it gives me fresh inspirations. I learn stuff from them, they learn stuff from me. I’ve learnt a lot from Afrojack and Tiësto, like Tiësto is the first guy I sent “Animals” to and got his advice on it. It’s great, we’re good friends. We talk about music but not just about music, about everything. Like if I’m feeling sad because a show got cancelled, they’ll keep me motivated and cheer me up. They’re such great friends and mentors, people like Tiësto, Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Alesso, they’re all great – we’re like a big family that helps each other.
That’s nice. How do you balance your work life with personal life? I mean you are someone who’s constantly in the limelight and who’s so busy travelling.
For me, it’s important to keep them separated because when I’m at home, I’m still Martijn Garritsen. Like I celebrated my birthday with my family and friends, I didn’t even party hard, we were at home eating cake, singing songs, it was fun. For me, it’s really important to keep a good balance between work life and personal life because if it’s not balanced, it’ll get messy. To me, it’s really important to do be able to do what I’m doing without getting distracted. Like if there was something going on with my personal life, I don’t want it to affect my work, my stage presence. I think that’s what wrong with a lot of artistes – that their normal life became their famous life. For me, I love it when I’m at home, going to the supermarket buying groceries so I can make breakfast. I think that if I was Martin Garrix 100% of the time, I’d freak out too. Like I wouldn’t know what’s right and what’s wrong, wouldn’t know what I can or can’t do, it’s a crazy lifestyle. So, I like to be surrounded by people I want to be surrounded by. Take my parents for example. If I do something stupid, they’ll just be like , What the f*ck are you doing?” and that’s great because it keeps me grounded.
That’s great, to keep a balanced lifestyle and stay focused. Last one, what else is in the pipeline for you this 2015?
Bunch of sick shows, we’re working on this solo production tour – one with a 6 stage production and lots of new music. This summer I’ve got an Ibiza residency, a Vegas residency and besides that I’m going to be spending a lot of time in the studio, working on new music, and playing a lot of festival shows. Also, I’m trying to look for the next Martin Garrix sound 😉
And that’s a wrap. Thanks Martin!
Thank you!
We had such a blast chatting with Martin. Big ups to our friends from Zouk Club KL for the opportunity!
We leave you today with “The Only Way Is Up” by Martin Garrix and Tiësto:
For more videos and pictures from the event, hit up our Instagram account 😉
If you’re looking to stalk Martin Garrix, he’s on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
