His second album ‘Second Sun’ is still regarded as a landmark release in drum and bass, and there’s absolutely no doubting that Calibre’s [Dominick Martin] influence on the genre has been profound…
His second album ‘Second Sun’ is still regarded as a landmark release in drum and bass, and there’s absolutely no doubting that Calibre’s [Dominick Martin] influence on the genre has been profound… But all this reserved Belfast native wants is a little peace and quiet.
“Well in Ireland, I’ve felt my work has been largely ignored actually,” laughs Martin. “I think they stopped paying attention to my work over the years. When I released my first single in the mid-‘90s, it came out through Quadrophonic, which was U2’s label at the time. When the press found out about it, they jumped all over it at the start. Then I went off and signed with [DJ] Fabio on Creative Source [label] and after that they sort of stopped caring. For me, I felt like I’d escaped the clutches of the P.R. system – maybe they just never forgave me! It could be one of the reasons why they don’t care. This is pretty suitable to me, though, because I prefer the solitude and the peace and to have calm around me in order to do my work. I don’t have to do what other DJs are killing themselves to do just to be out there and be seen.”
Responsible for some of the most deep and mesmerising tracks to ever come from the drum and bass genre, Martin says he treats his job from the point of view of an artist, rather than a mere entertainer.
“I don’t want to sound pretentious or anything, but it’s important to note the difference,” he claims. “I’d much rather come from the artist’s angle. It’s just a psychological thing for me more than anything. I get a lot of peace and happiness from making music, it has that kind of effect on me. I can’t think of a much worse scenario than musicians being extremely competitive. I think that makes for a very unhealthy and horrible environment. For some people competition works and motivates them, but for me, it’s a nightmare. Whenever my music gets exposed or goes out into the world, I’m very aware of that, and I get very protective of that. People often go on about how quiet or shy I am, but that’s not the case at all – I’m from Belfast! I’m just protective of my music and maybe that’s how it gets reflected to other people.”
Having completed his New Zealand jaunt in March, Martin is heading back to Australia once again with a bag of brand new goodies. It’s no surprise, though, as this is one producer that quite literally never stops working.
“’Even If’ [2010] was my last album, that was all drum and bass,” he states. “Now I’ve got another album that I’m working on, it’s got no title yet, though. I’ve also got another Dominick Martin album which is down-tempo stuff I’ve been doing. I’ve also got ‘Shelflife 3’ which is a double album as well. I’m constantly doing releases on other people’s label as well, so I’m all over the place. The untitled album is pretty much finished, I’ve just got to fine-tune a few things. I’ve come up with about 60 tunes for that so I’ve got to hone it down to get the right blend. When I get home from Australia I’ll have to master it. I’ve also been doing vocals myself for quite some time now. Recently I’ve tried to make my vocals a bit more prominent and try not to shy away from it, but I still can’t record vocals in front of other people, it still gets me.”
Recalling what is arguably his biggest album to date, ‘Second Sun’ [2005], Martin suggests what made the album so renowned was his experimental streak and willingness to try things others would never dare.
“I can’t put my finger on it with that album but I think it had a lot of moments of beauty on it,” says Martin of the record. “Maybe I was doing things with drum and bass that people didn’t want to attend to at that period of time. Maybe people didn’t think it was worth putting much effort into drum and bass, whereas I did. I’m just so sick of people and the music industry putting up barriers all the time – like, this sound is just not deemed ‘suitable’ for this venue or something. I’m sick of people being negative and trying to draw the line between this and that genre. I don’t think the way I approach music is that unique though. Maybe I’m just prepared to conceptualise things a bit further and maybe I’m willing to take some more risks than other people. I lost my dignity a long time ago so maybe I’m just more at ease with taking my chances.”
