With the release of his first full-length album, Ghettos and Gardens, and the accompanying world tour (his first -- with stops in Ibiza and London), Dirtybird's Justin Martin is having quite the year. Warmly received by critics, Ghettos and Gardens has garnered accolades from high-profile outlets such as the NPR and the BBC, and showcases Martin's distinctive "tough and tender" sound. He recently spoke with All Shook Down about his drum 'n' bass past, making Ghettos and Gardens, and the annual Dirtybird in the Park party. He plays this Friday, Aug. 3, at Mezzanine with Claude VonStroke, Kill Frenzy, Worthy, Leroy Peppers, and Ardalan.

Welcome back to San Francisco for a stop and a break from your Ghettos and Gardens Tour.

Thanks! I just got back today from a really fun weekend in Denver, New York, and Cleveland. I actually got back home two hours ago, and I just want to have some dinner, watch the game, and unwind.

What's usually your first stop when you get back home?

I like to come back to the house and watch baseball games. That's one of my favorite things to do after some crazy gigs. Other than that, I really like to get some really good chicken noodle soup from somewhere. I'm pretty low-key and enjoy just chilling at home.

Congrats on the success on the Ghettos and Gardens album, which has gotten a lot of praise and support from local and worldwide DJs alike. Can you elaborate on the "tough and tender" sound of the album?

The first person that said that about my sound was Ben Watt, and it was when my first track ever came out in 2003. He just started labeling my sound as just that. I've always liked the idea of having a juxtaposition of really beautiful soundscapes combined with really dark and nasty bass sounds. When I first started listening to electronic music, a lot of the earlier drum 'n' bass sets had these dark elements. I always wanted to create and have that in the music I make. So it's kind of become my signature. It's my take on electronic music. I like to have a split personality within my tracks.

The one remake on Ghettos and Gardens is Goldie's classic drum 'n' bass tune "Kemistry." Were you compelled to revisit this classic based on your early experiences as a drum 'n' bass DJ?

That track was from one of the first electronic albums I've heard, which was Goldie's Timeless. It is one of my all-time favorite tracks. That album was really inspiring from the beginning to me. When I was working on Ghettos and Gardens, I was thinking about doing a house version of a track I've always wanted to do. Barclay, aka Claude Von Stroke, is friends with Goldie, so I asked him to see if I could get permission to do my own remake of the song that was inspiring me since the very beginning of my EDM days. He said yes, and I asked if I could get the individual parts for the song. Unfortunately, they were recorded so long ago that the original DAT (digital audio tape) recordings were long-lost or destroyed. I just kind of went old school style and found all the different remixes on vinyl, sampled the original records, and put the remix together using original recordings I had on vinyl. It was definitely a super honor for me to be able to do a remix for one of my musical heroes.

Ghettos and Gardens moves through a myriad of musical styles, with some tracks incorporating heavy booty-bass grooves while others have a more classical and emotional feel. Which track are you most proud of?

They were all satisfying in different ways. I wanted the album to be very diverse, but I wanted something you could listen to from beginning to end. It's hard to say, because every track was special to me. "Hood Rich" is one of the most fun tracks I've made. I went crazy with production and sampled all these crazy strings and orchestras.

But "Don't Go" is always the most sentimental. It was written with my girlfriend in mind and I'd definitely say it returned to my deep house roots with Dirtybird. It was really fun to get back into a track that's very musical and emotional.

Next: Martin on whether the annual Dirtybird in the Park parties will continue.

Do you ever feel pressure to incorporate the current trends of EDM into your music?

I definitely take inspiration from sounds that are not necessarily what the current popular trend is. I listen to a lot of hip-hop and pop on the radio, and I do like to think I make music that people can relate to, but not necessarily follow a trend. Every new track I do I try to take a new approach to it. We always say we like to blur the lines between genres when making music, with many different genres being poured into one track. However, when it comes to trends in music, I don't really follow that when I'm trying to create a track. I'm not like, "I'm going to create a moombahton track that's going to be the next big song!" I don't really care about that as much as I care about making music I want to play and music I want to stand behind when I'm actually performing.

Dirtybird is such a well-known local label and it seems like you guys are always having so much fun with all these various types of parties you throw. What's the best part of being a Dirtybird?

There are so many awesome things. I just feel completely blessed and so lucky to have such an awesome crew. The original crew is me, Claude Von Stroke, my brother, Worthy and J. Phlip. They are all really close friends of mine. The great part is that you're not only able to "work" but mostly party with your friends. It's really cool to be able on a daily basis to share music and be inspired by people that you love.

You've also worked with your brother on a number of tracks, including the hit "Duckface." Is it a different dynamic when you make a track with someone you're related to?

I've always enjoyed working with Chris. He brings a different take to music and he's a lot more hip-hop oriented. Whenever we've done Martin Brothers stuff we've tried to keep it really hip-hop with lots of booty-bass, 808s, and breakbeats. Just working with people in the studio in general brings a whole new element of fun. I've always enjoyed collaborating with my friends. It's definitely something that brings a lot of pleasure to my job rather than sitting alone staring a computer screen for hours.

There seems to be an absence of Dirtybird in the Park this summer...

Unfortunately we got a little bit too big for that location. Right now we're on the hunt for a new spot, and hopefully it's still in Golden Gate Park. The last party we did there was such a success there were full-on roadblocks and basically well over 2,000 people in that meadow. That kind of freaked out the rangers, so our goal for this year was to take the barbecue on the road to places like London and Detroit. The idea is basically to document as much as we can of it and shoot to get sponsors for next year's event so we can afford the necessary permits. It's possible there might be one this year, but we're going to keep it very hush-hush until the day of. But we will be back and we are not giving up. It's my favorite party in the world. It's so much fun, my parents come, and people bring their kids and dogs. We're going keep it alive for as long as we possibly can.

We heard you were a great saxophone player when you were younger. Will we catch you playing sax on a future track of yours?

I highly doubt it (laughs). For some reason, and I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but I find the saxophone in electronic music to be really cheesy sounding. There might be one or two tracks with a solo horn and that's alright, but saxophone by itself for some reason makes me cringe. Jazz music? I love the saxophone in it, but it doesn't mesh well with me for electronic music. Maybe I will try and make it work someday, but right now I don't have any desire to put it on one of my tracks.

You seem to have an affinity for 40oz's, including a contest in the works to drink a 40oz. with you. What's your favorite kind, in case someone wants to bring a gift for you on Friday?

I would definitely have to say Mickey's. I've been drinking less malt liquor lately, so my second favorite is Miller High Life. But back in the day, Mickey's was the only way for me to go.

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