Justin Martin bio

It's common enough for electronic music artists to debut new music in a live setting before releasing it, but seldom do they cue up a song that will never officially come out in any other form. Justin Martin is not your typical artist, however, as that it precisely what he did during his performance at CRSSD Festival 2016 in San Diego.



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About 30 minutes into his closing set at The Palms stage, Martin announced over the mic that he was going to play a song that would never see a release. True to Martin's unique approach to the Dirtybird sound, the piece of music presents a more melodic, subdued iteration of the ghetto tech style with a meandering arrangement built upon a delicate smattering of piano notes.

Street cred notwithstanding, Martin has little to gain from producing a track that he doesn't plan to officially release - but in an era of press play DJs, you have to respect an artist willing to go to such lengths for the sake of offering something special in their live performances. Even Eric Prydz, who spent a decade building a body of music that he only played out live, eventually released all of it in three EPs leading up to his February artist album, Opus.

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Although the sound quality leaves something to be desired, you can watch a video recording of Justin Martin playing his never-to-be-released ID during the first day of CRSSD Festival courtesy of our friends over at EDM Identity. Check back for more of our own coverage from the festival, as the second and final day will feature such acts as ZHU, Dubfire, Sam Feldt, Malaa and Lee Burridge.