Fresh from releasing his latest collab ‘Meet You There’ alongside Alex Hosking and Jimmy James, aswell as huge tracks this year alongside names including Sam Feldt, Karen Harding and many more, the ‘Solo Dance’ producer has also been blazing through the live circuit this Summer. From stage-smashing sets at Tomorrowland, Ushuaia Ibiza and many more, Martin also brought a slice of the party into homes, hearts and minds with his latest project, The Ordinary Mix series, which sees him broadcast from an all-new Danish location on his YouTube every Friday, sourcing the latest in house, progressive, uptempo and chill. We sat down to talk with the main man himself all about his latest projects and where the producer and DJ heads to as 2023 draws to a close…
Thanks for talking to us today, Martin! Please can you tell us about your new release ‘Meet You There’?
Thanks for having me! ‘Meet You There’ is my new single with Alex Hosking and Jimmy James and I’m super happy its out into the world! Alex is a brilliant vocalist and writer and Jimmy is such a whizz behind the scenes in the studio, so to then come in to the fold and create such a hopeful and emotive – but also very much still a party track – was a lot of fun! We wanted to take the BPMs into that 140+ space that really gets audiences excited and in a fresh style, for our first collaboration together.
How was it to collaborate with Alex Hosking and Jimmy James? What stood out to you when working with those guys as a collective?
It was brilliant. I’ve been a fan of Alex from her work with PS1, Majestic and more – I love working with vocalists and the fresh elevation and insight that can be brought to a production and Alex is one of the best that I’ve had the pleasure to work with within my career so far. Being very much in the space of electronic and dance music, she knows exactly how to use her voice as her instrument, to convey both the light and the “dark”, emotive parts of ‘Meet You There’ amazingly. Jimmy is a great guy aswell! He’s worked across a lot of different genres with his production and studio work and you can really sense that diversity in what he brought to the final product. Working with artists that are making waves in different sides of the industry, but all together have a shared vision, that resulted in the track, we are loving that the fans are enjoying it too!
‘Meet You There’ seems to really allow for the songwriting to take centre stage, before then shooting into this hopeful and feel-good house track. How did you approach the structure of the release?
Yeah for sure! We worked alongside some great writers behind the scenes and really made a space for everyone to speak their minds on where they wanted ‘Meet You There To Go’. Do we want to go so heavy on the bold production, that the essence of the topline gets lost? Or do we pair things back too much and then we don’t grab the audiences attention? It was really a balancing act but the core message was on that we all agreed on, it was all about trial and error and finding that sweet spot.
Do you often get involved in the songwriting aspect, or is the production solely what you prefer to delve into? Here, what inspired these bouncy beats and faster tempos and how did the choiral aspect also come to be on the vocal?
I do get involved in the songwriting a lot of times, but with ‘Meet You There’ we worked with some other super talented songwriters within our scene. I wanted every element to be as strong, powerful and straight-up just as great as we could possibly make it, so I decided to put my emphasis mainly into the production, alongside Jimmy. We knew we wanted to pack a huge punch as the Summer draws to a close, but not just go with a typical 4/4 house beat or take it over to trap or bass. We wanted it to ultimately feel fun! The choiral idea was to then bring the focus back to this multi-layered production, working alongside Alex’s vocal to then centre the listener to the point of the lyrics. It adds another dimension and completely adds a cherry on top of the cake, I think.
You’ve also had a busy Summer on the road, recently playing at Ushuaia Ibiza, Tomorrowland and many other amazing places! Tell us about your shows, have you been road testing new music, enjoying the crowds, what have been your highlights?
Yeah, its been amazing fun! I always love to head back to Tomorrowland, it’s a crazy event and a stand-out in the calendar whenever I’m invited – the fans were so great, too! I’ve been playing out some new tracks in their early forms, one of which will be out in October, and really just enjoying being on the road and seeing my fans once again.
You have also been streaming live sets from some cool locations around your home of Denmark, with the series known as ‘The Ordinary Mix’. Tell us about that, what drove you to start the series?
For sure! I started ‘The Ordinary Mix’ series because I wanted to give something back but in a polished and exciting way. The idea is to showcase a different mix every week that will be streamed live over on my YouTube channel each Friday, from a new location. I recently did one aboard the fastest Danish sea boat with all new equipment, playing out classic and new tech house tracks for something new. The visuals are something that I do want to be important, but I also want each mix to be all-new so that fans are welcome to it however they like. Some fans have been having a bite or a drink to eat at home and tuning in on their TVs with friends, others have just wanted to stream the audio for when they are at the gym or on their commute. Its there to give a bit of freedom to the listener but also keep the wheels turning with fresh music.
And how has it been received so far? Have you enjoyed doing the sessions completely independently and on your own terms, creatively and professionally? Or would you like to bring some other collaborators or themes into the shows in future?
Yeah, 100% – the creative freedom was why I really wanted to do this. This week for example, I’m broadcasting a downtempo, chill mix, something that is of course different from my live DJ sets but the variety is important across all aspects. By working from the top down, using all-new equipment, intimate and solo settings that we’ve never broadcast before, and something that is not restrictive and fresh was ultimately always the aim.
Finally, what else can we expect from Martin as the year draws to a close?
I have a brand new single ‘Hollywood’ coming out with Italian DJ Prezioso in October that really amps up the energy! He’s a great producer and I really was excited to get together to really take things back to the dancefloor and bring harsher, fast rhythms and a completely different vibe to the club – a dancefloor destroyer for sure!
