Justin Martin and Eats Everything: A DJ Brotherhood
In 2011, Eats Everything released his breakout track, "Entrance Song." The Bristol-born-and-based producer was a decade into his career and getting ready to call it quits if things didn't finally take off more sustainably. Luckily for him—and us—they did, with "Entrance Song" getting signed to Catz' N Dogz's Pets Records and play from many DJs he admired, including Pete Tong and Justin Martin.
Since Eats Everything's international presence began, Martin was a fan and a supporter, and a lasting friendship soon followed. After admiring each other from across the pond, they B2Bed a few times and felt their creative chemistry. Their first IRL interaction may have been at their B2B set during a 2012 Dirtybird party in Bristol. Also in 2012, Eats delivered a stellar, angular remix of Martin's "Ruff Stuff" from his debut album.
In 2013 and 2014, we saw a string of collabs between the jovial pair, beginning with the Feather Fight EP on London's Hypercolour Records in February 2013.
Then came their collaborative debut on Dirtybird Records, "The Gettup," in June 2013. Ahead of its official release, the heater was, as Eats told Billboard Dance in 2013, got "absolutely rinsed" in England. "The cross-section of people playing it is quite astounding. You've got, like, Crookers, and then you've got, like, Jamie Jones," he added.
"After a few times playing together, we realized that this chemistry was too good to waste, and now we are just working on bigger and better projects together," Martin told Billboard. "For me, it's really fresh and exciting, and I feel like the possibilities are endless.
The key is having fun and trying to really be creative. It's cool to be inspired by other music, but when creating, you have to do it your own way. We just set out to make stuff that will be fun to play and different to the people listening on the dancefloor. We don't want to make a track that sounds like everyone else's song, we want to make music that people instantly know is ours when they hear it."
And that they did! "The Gettup" was followed by their Hello Mr. Jello EP on Dirtybird in 2014, all of which fit sonically with what was popping off on Dirtybird at the time, yet felt entirely different. Their tracks brim with layers of strange sonic flourishes like airplane and car engine sounds, banging taiko-esque drums, or the rapidly ticking baseline on "Kong," the B-side of Hello Mr. Jello.
They've played a handful of B2Bs and continued to play each other's tracks over the years, but it's been quite a while since they've shared the decks. Thankfully, that will change on May 12, when they pair up for a special Doubleheader show in The Room at the stellar Superior Ingredients in Brooklyn. They'll each serve up solo sets and close things out with a B2B.
