Train Wreck Mix

The Martinez Brothers

Objektivity Records, New York City

If you've ever seen the Martinez Brothers spin, you know that what separates Chris and Steve Martinez from the rest of the pack isn't just their skills, but their seemingly limitless energy, their spirit - and their for house music terms - still very young age. These guys are the proverbial new blood: Steve is 20, Chris is 17. For a little perspective on the unlikelihood of their position, consider this: Shelter, the club where the Martinez Brothers learned just about everything they know about house music, opened its doors the same year that Chris was born. Which makes it all the more incredible that Shelter was the Martinez Brothers' first major club gig in 2006. Music always played a significant role in the Martinez home: the boys grew up playing a variety of instruments - keyboards, bass, and mainly drums and percussion. They'd play in church, at home, in various bands around the Bronx. It was their father, a veteran of disco era clubs like the Paradise Garage, that turned them on to disco and house, via radio programs like Timmy Regisford's Kiss FM show and CDs that he'd bring home in an attempt to expand the boys' musical worldview. They played their first gig with Victor Rosado, a veteran NYC DJ who shared the decks with both Larry Levan and David Mancuso back in the day; their next appearance was at an Ibadan party at Shelter, alongside Dennis Ferrer and Jerome Sydenham. The world and production work was next. These days you can catch them passing the headphones to each other back and forth in every corner of this planet and relasing on labels like Dennis Ferrer's Objektivity. The brothers gonna work it out.