Ten minutes into an hour-long conversation with Martin Garrix, it’s blindingly obvious that there’s something more simmering underneath the surface of what people now call ‘The World’s Number One DJ’.

If you dispel the chaos and sparks that surround him on a regular basis, you’re faced with a 21 year old who is wise beyond his years – maybe even too smart for his own good. Martin is the brain behind the songs that we’ve had stuck in our heads for the past years. He knows what we want to listen to before we do. Labeled as the top EDM DJ and a self-confessed computer nerd, Martin’s got it all figured out. What makes him tick though? We try to find out. Here’s Martin Garrix – FAULTs and all.

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On the pressure that followed after ‘Animals’:

“I made ‘Animals’ as a club song. I couldn’t wait to play it live to like… 300 people at that time?! Next thing I knew everybody started playing it. And then the pressure followed. The label people were like – so when’s the follow up coming? I had no fucking clue. I had nothing.”

On maintaining his integrity as an EDM artist:

“A lot of EDM artists go like – ah you’re a sell out. [After the radio success of ‘Animals’] It took me a really long time to get my credibility back in the club scene. I had to do a crazy amount of club songs. And radio people kept asking about new radio singles. I had to shoot them down every time until this year – when I started doing radio songs again.”

On his personality:

“Oh me? I’m just a nerd, a pure 100% computer nerd. And I’m always very happy. If you ask anybody – they’d just say that I’m a crazy person who always runs around with a big smile.”

How he handles the pressure of being in the public eye:

“At the end of the day, I have a responsibility to put songs out there for my fans – so you won’t really catch me drunk before a show. I do drink and go out with my friends, but I have some common sense not to Snapchat the whole thing, do you know what I mean?”

On his decision to launch STMPD RCRDS:

“I started my own label last year called STMPD RCDRS – just so I could do whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted it. Now nobody can tell me what I can and can’t release. Plus I really wanted to support new talent in the industry – but it’s nice that I’m able to do whatever I feel like.”

On “the naughtiest thing he’s ever done”:

“We were in Paraguay … We came back after doing a show and I really wanted to go for a swim. The swimming pool was shut and I had nowhere to go – apart from the small pool in the hotel lobby. It was more like a mini-fountain, totally part of the hotel décor, by the way.

“And I just went swimming in there. Which was more like lying on the floor playing with water ’cause it was about 10 cm deep!”

 

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