The Martinez Brothers Have Nightlife In Their Blood

How do you pull off six shows in seven days? If you’re The Martinez Brothers, all you need is some warm weather. “When the sun's out, [there’s] a lot of dancing — people get crazy and rightfully so. Everybody's just having a good time,” Steve Martinez, 36, tells NYLON. “The vibes are definitely right right now,” adds Christian Martinez, 33.

The DJ duo and IRL brothers just completed this feat with an impressive string of gigs across Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland, and, of course, Ibiza, hot off the release of their latest single “Take You Home.” So far, audience reception to the new track has been more than positive — at a recent show, the brothers heard a fan humming the tune after using it close out their set — a good feeling, Christian says.

Below, the in-demand DJs talk about spinning a Dua Lipa party, a career-high dinner with RZA, and the time they (almost) performed for Rihanna and A$AP Rocky.

What was your relationship to nightlife growing up?

Steve Martinez: We got introduced to nightlife pretty young, actually because my brother. The first time we ever entered the club was because he asked Dennis Ferrer to play at The Shelter.

Christian Martinez: I asked him to hear our music because, at this time, the computer just started popping off as far as like, sending music and emailing and MySpace [goes]. So when MySpace came out and we all started making profiles, I noticed that some of our favorite artists were making profiles, too, like Kenny Doves, Massive Outwards, New Big, and Dennis Ferrer. You were able to direct-message them. So I direct-messaged all our favorite DJs and our producers, and [Dennis] was actually one of the ones that wanted to hear our music. So he heard our stuff and he was like, “You guys should come out to the club on this specific date.” And it was the club Shelter, one of our favorite clubs that we aspired to ever even walk in, let alone play. So it was a great experience.

SM: But you could say nightlife [was big for us] even before then, because our dad was a huge club head from back in the day. It's in our blood.

What was your first official gig as The Martinez Brothers?

SM: We didn’t DJ — we were booked just to play percussion and keyboards on the side of the DJ. So they asked us, “What do we call you guys?” And we were just like, our last name is Martinez. We're brothers. I guess we were just The Martinez Brothers. It was just like a working title, but we ended up sticking with it.

As a duo, do you find that your musical instincts often match up?

SM: We're brothers, but we also have our own opinions. Most of the time we agree and sometimes we disagree. But it's about compromise, [though] we try to always hold each other's opinion to a high regard.

CM: There have definitely been times where I've made an idea and he'd be like, “Honestly, I feel like this sounds like this.”

SM: Sometimes even if I don't agree and he says, “Hmm, not it,” I'll actually scrap it. Just because you said it's not that dope.

CM: Me too. After I’ve heard my brother say “No,” I never [open the project] again, because we both have to have that excited feeling.

How would you describe your sets?

SM: We try to adapt to the situation and the ambience around us. So if we're playing a big festival, you might not hear the same set we're going to play a small 200 clubroom. The most important thing is that we always just try to keep some type of groove. We come from an era where it wasn't really about the breakdown and the buildup and the drop and all that. It was really about just keeping a constant beat and keeping the dancers dancing. We hated when that track would just stop and do nothing. So that's our style. It's just dancing.

What's been the most memorable part of your career so far?

CM: One time we played a gig at Soho House in Miami, and we were playing with RZA from Wu-Tang. That's one of our top five [favorite producers]. The day of the gig, he wanted to have dinner with us, just us and him. We actually got to have some one-on-one time with him to pick his brain a little bit, and it was so dope. He was super humble, super cool.

You've DJed a NYFW afterparty hosted by Dua Lipa before. What was that like?

SM: That was cool, man. The funny thing about that is that we were playing and the room was packed, and it's going off, and at one point everybody just left the room and ran out. We're like, what the hell did we do? And it was because Rihanna and A$AP Rocky had just showed up.

Did they get to catch any of your set?

SM: Nah, they were crazy in love in the other room, listening to hip-hop, but it was such a fun night.

You guys played Coachella this year. How did it go?

SM: I was scared because at Coachella, everybody's favorite artist is playing at the same time, so sometimes you’re like, “Is anybody gonna come see us? Sometimes we don't know we have actual fans. So it was cool that once we got on, everybody just piled in.

What's next for you?

SM: Right before this conversation, we were both on our laptops, working on some new tunes. Definitely stay tuned for some more music.

CM: In the meantime, we’re still in the thick of touring and traveling.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.