Raised in the Bronx in New York, the Martinez Brothers tale is a classic rags to riches one. Chris and Steven were introduced to music at a young age through their Puerto Rican pastor father. He first involved them in a church band before getting them out on the dance music scene. Their Dad was a frequenter of Paradise Garage and there was constantly house music playing in the family home at an early age.
Steve, the elder of the brethren, recalls doing parties with his Dad as a teenager. “We would rent a dance studio with wooden floors, take our sound system, throw a jam and then go to school the next day. We called them tea parties as they went from 6pm to 12am. Sunday Tea Parties.”
As is the norm with most teenagers the boys were keen on social media. Chris was a fan of MySpace at the time and connected with house music legend Dennis Ferrer through the network which lead to the boys playing in their most famous gig to date, New York´s famous Shelter nightclub. They were baby-faced boys at the time but their DJ set went down a storm.
By 2008 they had regular gigs all over the US whilst still having to keep up with their school work.
Chris said in a recent interview with DJ Mag it was tough going. “Honestly, I couldn´t take school seriously at that point. I´m not saying it´s not necessary to do school but I already had my career going. I knew what I wanted to do. Coming home from the gigs on the weekends and on Monday going to school, I was wiped all the time.”
Steve found things a bit easier as his college course only required a few classes a week. He did business admin but admits it was just a generic major when kids don´t know what to pick!
So when Chris finished his schooling in 2010 the boys were ready to take the world by storm.
EUROPEAN VACATION
Clubs don´t get more famous than DC10 in Ibiza and that´s where the boys signed up to their European residency in 2011.
Now every year, from May to October Ibiza is their home, allowing the duo do various gigs and festivals around Europe including Rock in Rio in Lisbon, Lovebox in London and Creamfields in Liverpool. In fact the Bronx-Brethren became so popular on the European house music circuit that leading music magazine Mixmag named them DJ´s of the Year last year in their annual round up. “No other DJ or duo encapsulate house music like the crown princes of DC10,” the mag wrote.
The boys still hold their DC10 residency and use the hedonistic island as a base to travel to further European gigs such as Aqwa Mist in Marbella this month.
ROCKING AQWA MIST
Yes, it´s happening…the world famous Martinez Brothers will be coming to Marbella to play a one-off gig in Aqwa Mist on Thursday August 27th. If you haven´t already booked your tickets be sure to do so soon, as this is bound to be a sell-out.
GIVING BACK TO THEIR FANS
The Martinez Brothers have recently partnered with fellow New York City cohorts Jesse Calosso and Blas Cordero for the Masters at Dutch project, a free 10 track EP dedicated to their fans. “We made these tracks while we were off,” the brothers said. “We wanted to thank all our fans who have supported us and bought tickets to our shows last year and we hope you know we appreciate you guys! So we’re giving you a collection of tracks for free download so you can check out what we’ve been up to.”
The EP is a collection of club-ready tech house cuts, interspersed with intros, outros and interludes, adding a hip-hop touch to the release.
