After crashing onto the EDM scene with his smash hit ‘Animals’, Martin Garrix is not only ‘the new kid on the block’, he has the tools and charisma to be one of the biggest DJ’s in the world for many years to come, ahead of his set at Creamfields, we caught up with him to talk icons, remixes and dream collaborations.
First off, you played the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Glasgow not so long ago, with huge support from Radio 1 icons Pete Tong and Annie Mac; how was Glasgow and what is it like to have support off people like Pete Tong?
It was amazing and so much fun to play there! it’s great to have pioneers like Pete Tong supporting me, i’m very grateful for his support for sure.
You talk up Tiesto a lot, is he an influence on you or your music? Do you look up to legends of EDM?
Yeah he was my first inspiration and turned out to be a really cool person and good friend. He supported me all the way up and I still look up to him.
What was it like to stay at school but also be a global recognised star?
Haha! it was pretty hard at times, but I attended a special school for musicians and artists so in the end it was quite do-able.
Animals was the smash hit that took your name global, with the thousands of remix’s that followed, do you take interest in the remix’s? Do you have a favourite ‘Animals’ remix?
The Oliver Heldens remix was great! that is one of my favourites for sure.
‘Animals’ is completely instrumental, did you ever consider putting vocals on it?
Nope. The melody already was enormous catchy by itself.
You played Coachella for the first time this year, what was it like to play the most iconic music festival in the world?
It was like a dream coming true. Coachella was on top of my wishlist, so unreal!. I had a blast playing there, I gave my all, it was the best experience ever.
Your playing Creamfields this summer, how does playing in the UK compare to the rest of Europe and America?
The UK is quite different from the rest of Europe, they are really educated and die hard party people, although Americans are leading when it comes to party animals, they go wild instantly!
What can we expect from your set at Creamfields?
You can expect some straight up fire and some fresh new tunes, I can’t wait to play there!
Talking up collaborations, do you have any particular artists you would like to collab with?
I would love to do a crossover collab with Ellie Goulding, or work with a producer like Pharell.
Albums aren’t really a favourite of all DJs, is that something you want to do in the future?
Hard question to answer, I don’t know yet!
Do you have any tracks with vocals in the pipeline?
Well my collab with Sander v. Doorn and DVBBS had some really cool vocals on it, loved that.
Finally, being a young DJ yourself, is there any other young DJ’s breaking through that everyone should know about?
Jay Hardway and Oliver Heldens, both crazy talented!
Check out Martin Garrix’ collab with Sander Van Doorn and DVBBS below:
You can catch Martin Garrix at Creamfields on Saturday August 23rd, tickets here: