Martin Garrix: ten years and counting

Instead, the studio is his playground: a space for curiosity, chaos, mental cleansing. “Right now, and also for the last few years, I’ve really just been having fun and just doing whatever I felt like making. I’m just making music, experimenting. And worst-case scenario, it’s something that I will never release. But then I still had a great day in the studio. I enjoyed it. It’s therapy.”

And amidst it all, Garrix still feels like his best work is ahead of him. “I feel like even with the polls, the residency — it’s mind-blowing, but I still feel I’m at the start of what I can prove and also what’s about to come.” He trails off with a quiet confidence. “I’ve been working on a crazy bunch of music which I’m really excited about. Next year — and also the end of this year — is going to be a very special year for me.”

After years of experimenting and stockpiling ideas, Garrix is finally feeling ready to release a new album — a project he’s been quietly developing since 2016. “Some of the tracks started back then. We kept revisiting them. Now it feels right.”

There’s no hesitation when we ask if the hunger is still there. “There’s so much hunger,” he responds, and what’s just as important is the joy he still finds in the process — not just the releases, but the act of creating itself. “Most of the time, if you’re having fun, people can hear it back in the track. Sometimes I will do something that’s unexpected, because you’re like, ‘Go for it, let’s try it, might as well’. And then afterwards, you’re like, ‘That was sick’.” He laughs. “Some stuff I hear, sound design–wise that I did, years ago, I’m like, ‘how the hell did I even do that?’ At the time I was just messing around and thought, ‘Oh, this is cool’, and I did it because I liked it. Some of those songs didn’t perform well at all. But listening back to them now, I’m like, ‘that was so creative’. And I remember the joy it gave me.”