Ahead of his Australian tour next year as part of the Future Music Festival, we caught up with Martin Garrix to talk about the success of “Animals”, the impending tour, being a seventeen year old on the road, his favourite tunes of 2013, looking ahead to 2014 and much more…
Congratulations on reaching #1 on Beatport with “Animals”. And #1 in Belgium… and #1 on the ARIA club charts… close to FIFTY MILLION YouTube views… the list goes on! What does that sort of success mean to you?
It means a lot to me of course, my first #1 track, that’s amazing! Sometimes it even feels unreal. This kind of success is motivating me to produce more music!
When you release a song and it does well in the way “Animals” has, what immediately changes for you?
My gig schedule and the amount of Facebook fans and twitter followers ;-). It’s great to get a lot of support from everybody, fans, other DJs, the media. I feel very blessed!
I imagine the song is received reaaasssssonably well during your sets!?
Haha! We will see what happens during my set at Future Music Festival!
A great music video, too. How did that all come about conceptually?
The director Mark Loonen and my label Spinnin’ records came up with the idea. It was a fun day!!
Has your age complicated things at all in terms of what you’re able to do – venues and festivals you’re able to play etc? Or has that all been pretty smooth sailing?
I haven’t had many problems yet.
Looking at the time since Animals was released, what have been some of your highlights in terms of the experiences you’ve had since then, acclaim you’ve received etc…
Well of course the day that ‘Animals’ hit the number 1 spot on Beatport! I also played at the opening night of Don’t Let Daddy Know at a sold out Privilege in Ibiza, alongside Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, that was so unreal. Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) was also a really good week for me, did a lot of cool gigs- I even got to play back2back with Tiesto at his gig at the Ziggodome for a bit!
Are you looking forward to coming down to Australia?
Of course, big time! Bring it on Australia!
What can we expect from your sets at Future Music Festival?
Fire ;-)! I love playing at festivals I can really loose myself in my sets and the interaction with the crowd, situations like that are giving me so much energy! Really can’t wait to play at Future Music Festival!
Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing at the festival?
I always enjoy Hardwell’s sets, so it would be cool to see him play!
I imagine you have a lot in store for 2014 other than your Australian trip, of course… what do you have in store for us, musically or otherwise, in the year ahead?
A lot of new tracks haha! I got some solo stuff coming up, but also a lot of amazing collabs! I just released the teaser of “Wizard” – my new track with Jay Hardway… and I will go to the US for a tour as well…
Top 3 songs of 2013, so far?
1. Cedric Gervais & Lana Del Rey – Summertime Sadness
2. Julian Jordan – Aztec (Original Mix)
3. Benny Benassi feat. John Legend – Dance The Pain Away (Tom Swoon
Remix)
And finally, who inspires you musically?
I would love to do a track with Lana Del Rey or Ellie Goulding. But working with Hardwell or Tiesto is also a dream for me! They all inspire me.
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Martin will be in Australia this summer to perform at Future Music Festival in March: see http://www.futuremusicfestival.com.au/ for tickets and info.
