Arguably dance music’s busiest siblings, The Martinez Brothers will be bringing some Circo Loco flavour to Carnevale, Sunday, April 27 at The Causeway. TROY MUTTON talks hip hop, the Bronx and fashion, all part of a massive 18-months for the duo.
When you cast a glance over The Martinez Brothers’ already impressive CV, it’s hard to believe brothers Christian and Steve both still clock in under the age of 25, having released their debut single whilst in their mid-teens.
From their first release in 2006 with influential deep/tech-house label Objektivity, to becoming residents at Ibiza’s infamous Circo Loco in 2011 and last year working with iconic fashion label Givenchy, it’s been a steady and deserved rise from two of the hardest working people you’re likely to come across in the global dance music community.
Their involvement can be traced way back to their own dad – “Yes our dad introduced us to house, he was an NYC club kid back in the day, going to Paradise Garage and all that, so he was very cool about sharing his love of music with us, it definitely was an influence.
“He also introduced us to [house legend] Timmy Regisford and [garage duo] MAW’s sets. Big influences early on in our career.”
With such a strong pedigree, it’s no wonder The Martinez Brothers are now Ibiza mainstays, first getting involved at Circo Loco At DC10 in 2010, a globally-loved party responsible for bringing some of the world’s best known DJs to the scene.
The following year they became residents at the club night, an invaluable tool in furthering their career and skills in the DJ booth, especially given the night’s propensity for not telling artists what time they’ll be playing until they arrive. “Yeah Circo Loco has been an unbelievable experience. We live half of the year on the Island. Everything is chill there. We didn’t even party that much when we were out there.
“So the whole ambiguity around the set time fits in with the spirit of the island. Easy going. It’s one of our top places to play in the world (if not the top). We always dreamed about playing there and this will be our third season there. We’re truly blessed.”
It’s all led up to a remarkably busy 18-months or so for the twosome, who when they’re not relaxing in Spain’s hedonistic paradise, are hanging out with globally adored musicians, producers and fashion houses.
“In terms of highlights we would have to say that our collaboration with Givenchy has definitely been one of the highlights of our career so far. We produced the music for the first two spring collection catwalk shows in Paris and it was an experience working with Riccardo Tisci.
“It really pushed us in the studio, too, not only because we’re working on those tight fashion deadlines but we had to do something other than 4/4. It was a new way of working for us and we loved it.”
Earlier this year also saw the launch of the brothers’ new project with producer Seth Troxler, Tuskegee – a label focusing on producers who come from an ethnic background.
“We launched our Tuskegee brand with a party at BPM Festival in January with Seth Troxler. So excited to be working with Seth. We have huge respect for him and his musical knowledge and we share a lot of the same cultural references. We have amazing chemistry when we play with him. We’ve also done it a few times at Space in Miami. Eight-plus hour sets. We could go forever vibing off of one another.
And then there are little things like hanging out with legendary guitarists. “Meeting Nile Rodgers and working with him in the studio [was incredibe]. He pulled a Chic multi-track out for the session and we added new parts to that. He’s such a humble dude even though he’s a legend.”
Not content with all of the above, Christian and Steve are also working hard on their own imprint, Cuttin Headz, which will give them a chance to bring some focus back to their native NYC. “The first release is going to come out early summer and it will be our EP. We’re definitely open to trying different styles.
“The second release is by the artist Destination Void who are namely DJ Spider, Brendon Moeller and Phil Moffa. All three of these dudes are making stuff happen on the NYC production map. That release will be techno with us doing a house remix. We’re also planning to put out music by our boy Jesse Calosso who’s making some ill shit, as well as Filsonik”
It’s also a chance for the brothers to get back to their hip hop roots, something that’s always run thick in their blood. “So far as hip hop roots are concerned, yes we’ve been working on a bunch of music and we’re in fact working with Bodgea Bamz here in NYC who’s become quite popular.
“We’ve been open to trying out new things this year. For example we did our first hip hop mixtape called Warhol*Basquiat, which came out a few months ago. We’d always wanted to do it and it took a while but we finally put it out there.”
The Martinez Brothers play Carnevale, Sunday, April 27 at The Causeway.
Get your tickets here.
