May 11, 2008

Beatportal Interview

(Martyn interviewed by Daniel Cole for Beatportal 9 may 08)

What took you from the production world of drum & bass into dubstep?
Lol. Can we not start with a different question?

So why 3024? What does it mean?
The label is run by myself and graphic artist Erosie. We’re both living in different cities now but we both used to live and work in Rotterdam, Holland. 3024 is a Rotterdam zip code, so we took that number as our starting point for the label.

Similar to that of 2562 then!
Yeah, we just like our numbers here.

How has the Dutch music scene, aside from zip codes, influenced your style of music?
Well, I grew up in Eindhoven, and lived in Rotterdam for five years, both cities are techno and drum & bass strongholds in Holland, so I am quite sure this has influenced me. Especially Eindhoven, which back in the day had ties with many Chicago and Detroit artists through labels as Djax and Eevolute, and various clubs and DJs in the city. So, in the early 90s / mid 90s I saw many of those people play and brought their records.

Wow. Your music tends to blend one style of music into another, and draws inspiration from all angles, but which style do you think reciprocates best with club audiences?
Well, I think what makes music interesting is when an artist incorporates his/her influences and translates it into a unique sounding style. Although it might sound a tad arrogant, I’d like to think of my music as “Martyn music”.
I try not to think of it as dubstep or techno, or house or drum & bass. This way I feel more freedom to make the music I want to make. Does that make sense?

That’s quite an accurate description of your sound.
That’s why I wanted to skip the first question.

Do you think there will be people who will try to emulate the “Martyn sound” in their own work?
Perhaps. If by emulate you mean make it better, then that would be great.

On a different note, how did your relationship with Marcus Intalex come about?
I used to promote drum & bass events in Eindhoven, and he played for us a few times. We got along possibly because of a similar background and when I started producing a bit more seriously he was one of the first that picked up my music. Besides him being a musical inspiration to me he’s always pushed my sound and advised me. So he’s been important on many levels.

He seems to have pushed a lot of people’s music styles in new and more creative directions. But finally, what beckons for the future of 3024?
There will be a new 12” out soon, ‘Natural Selection’ / ‘Vancouver’, then another one after the summer. In the meantime I’m laying down ideas for a bigger project, but what that is going to be and how its going to sound and look is still a bit of a mystery!

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