We’re calling it. Whoever had the idea to put Rudimental, one of Britain’s biggest dance acts, together with iconic New York house duo The Martinez Brothers on a track is a straight-up musical genius. Released last week, the track “No Fear” (featuring smooth, eerie vocals by Donna Missal) is everything you’d imagine from such a collaboration. Moody, dark and with a brilliantly catchy beat, this is most definitely one for all the house heads out there.

The Martinez Brothers are, after all, legendary on the New York house scene. From the underground music scene in the Bronx, the DJing brothers – real names Steve and Chris Martinez – have made their way into the upper echelons of the fashion industry, collaborating with everyone from New Era to Givenchy (fanboy Ricardo Tisci had them provide the soundtrack for several of his collections). They’re even signed to IMG models.

Rudimental have achieved similar stratospheric levels of success back here in Britain. With a reputation as one of the best live acts in the business, London four-piece Rudimental regularly top festival line-ups as well as the charts. Both acts come from two of the world’s most creative, exciting and diverse metropolises and have managed to achieve mainstream success with relatively underground sounds. We asked the acts to interview one another about the music scene in their respective cities, underground culture, art and attaining success without selling out. Read the full conversation here, then head to the British GQ Vero channel, where we'll be sharing exclusive recommendations and quotes covering places, music, film, TV and books from both Rudimental and The Martinez Brothers.

The Martinez Brothers interview Rudimental

**The Martinez Brothers: **What do you think of the track? How does it sound to you? What do you think the reception in the UK will be like?

**Rudimental: **It’s a banging track, perfect for the clubs. It has an amazing vocal from Donna Missal that cuts through and is really driven by the heavy drums. We’ve been playing it all summer in Ibiza and it really kicked off. It has all the elements to be a British club smash.

**TMB: **How do you guys stay true to the drum’n’bass scene while at the same time nailing commercial success? Do you feel like you have to make artistic compromises in order to make your brand fit with mainstream culture?

R: Rudimental has always been a multi-genre band inspired by our influences and surroundings. We’ve never actually claimed to be a drum'n'bass band, we just get labelled that because we have had some drum'n'bass hits. From early days on pirate radio we were playing Rudimental tracks that worked on many platforms. So a track like "No Fear" is very true to our roots.

**TMB: **How are the London scenes different to New York in your experience? And how do they cross over? London is so creative and diverse. How’s your city impacted what you do?

R: London was a place where British dance music really kicked off, from drum'n'bass, jungle, garage, house. There was something for everyone and some proper underground raves going on which were very diverse and brought many cultures together. It’s interesting because the last few times we’ve been to New York we’ve ended up in very similar raves to London!

**TMB: **Underground music in London has moved directly into the mainstream with the success of grime. Do you think the music scene is set to become more exciting and versatile generally? And do you think that MC-led music is going to get even bigger both in the US and UK?

**R: **Growing up in London has definitely shaped the multi-genre sound of Rudimental. It’s a combination of everything we’ve grown up with. The music scene will become more exciting and versatile due to the way streaming has taking over and continues to grow. It’s less about radio play and it’s more about people searching and finding what they want to hear themselves. It creates a bigger platform for underground cultures like grime and MC-led music because the kids can find and listen whenever they want. They don’t have to wait for their favourite show on a pirate radio station anymore.

Rudimental interview The Martinez Brothers

**Rudimental: **What’s the NY underground music scene like at the moment and how has it changed since you started out?

**Chris Martinez: **Honestly, I feel like the underground movement in New York is definitely in Brooklyn right now. I mean you could find warehouse parties at like nine in the morning and also random Chinese restaurants or other eclectic places [in Brooklyn]. Everything you could think of is happening right now, the scene in Manhattan has changed and everything has become really corporate.

**Steve Martinez: **That’s what’s changed for sure, before everything was in Manhattan, now everything has moved to Brooklyn. The scene out there [Brooklyn] has been popping for a while, but now the whole NYC tech house scene has finally shifted from Manhattan to Brooklyn and the people are going with it.

**R: **How do you balance your increasing popularity with underground roots? You’ve done big name fashion collaborations and now have chart hits yet you’ve managed to stay true to where you came from.

**CM: **I think the number one thing is to stay true and to believe in yourself. Once you truly believe in yourself, you feel like you could conquer anything. You’ve just got to keep working hard, try not to sound like anybody else and do what you believe in. What you want will follow – I mean it has for us. We’ve just been ourselves and we’ve just produced and played the music we felt is right and people have gravitated towards it. We’re not trying to sound like anybody else, we're just doing what we feel is right and honest. Another really important part is studying. When those big fashion brands and big artists come towards you, you have to figure a way to act in their realm with your sound and your style while still being true to yourself.

**SM: **Yeah man, definitely. I agree with my brother on that. Always stay true to yourself and stay focused because if you want something bad enough you’re definitely going to attract it.

**R: ** You guys are really into your visuals (you draw your own artwork right?). What role does visual art play in your output?

**SM: **Art always kind of played a part, especially during our childhood. We were always drawing and doodling or whatever. I don’t really draw, I just doodle.

**CM: **Hold up, let me just say something real quick. I got to answer this question because Steve always downplays his artwork. I get it, he’s humble and I respect that, but this dude is nasty at it, yo. He handles all of our visuals and he handled a lot of the artwork for the hats we did with New Era. They sold out – fast. He handles all of the art for our EPs, releases and merch… It’s easy to just copy somebody you like, dead ass. But Steve has found a way to make it so you see other styles in his style and that’s hard to do.

**SM: **I’m blushing under my tan.

**R: **What do you think of London in comparison to New York?

**SM: **London is, for sure, the New York of Europe. You have that same hustle and bustle kind of feel. Everybody is on the grind out there. Even though it’s a little more spread out, you feel it. I think it might be favorite city in Europe.

**CM: **The only thing that is a little issue and that is different about London is how cars drive on the opposite side of the street. I was just in London for a week and I almost got hit by a bus! I went to cross the street and like foooom! A bus sped past an inch away from me, I’m talking about right in front of my face, I was like, "Oh my god." The scene and everything in London is fire but the opposite streets get me.

*Follow us on Vero for exclusive recommendations from both Rudimental and The Martinez Brothers, covering their favourite places in the world, the books, music and TV they can't get enough of with extensive comments on why they've picked them. *

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