As a kid in Holland, Martin Garrix watched on TV as Tiesto performed at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The sight changed his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my first encounter with electronic music and I was hooked,\u201d Garrix, who headlines Belly Up on Thursday, said winter before his Aspen debut at X Games. \u201cI started playing around with music in my room, playing at small parties and organizing my own parties in my hometown at some point. That\u2019s how everything started.\u201d<\/p>\n
After seeing Tiesto, the 8-year-old downloaded some DJ software and got to work. By the time he was 17, he was in his bedroom crafting \u201cAnimals,\u201d the breakout track that would make him world famous. A pounding, party-starter of a trance composition in the European tradition, \u201cAnimals\u201d went double-platinum and soon topped more than 1 billion YouTube views.<\/p>\n
Garrix, now 22, never expected it to be one of the most-heard songs on Earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made that track in my old bedroom and never thought that in the end so many people would be listening to it,\u201d Garrix said.<\/p>\n
Since that introduction to the world, things have only gone upward for Garrix. He soon found himself working with Dillon Francis and Afrojack and his hero Tiesto. He\u2019s collaborated with vocalists on infectious, inescapable tracks like \u201cIn the Name of Love\u201d with Bebe Rexha and \u201cScared to be Lonely\u201d with Dua Lipa. He\u2019s collaborated with pop musicians like Usher and Ed Sheeran, toured with Justin Bieber, and played with The Roots on “The Tonight Show.\u201d At age 20 he was voted DJ Mag\u2019s top-ranked DJ in the world. He has a DJ residency in Ibiza and his own record label, STMPD. All that and his baby-faced looks and easy smile made him the face of Armani Exchange in 2017, so now he has a modeling career to fall back on if this DJ thing fizzles out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never expected everything to be like this when I started,\u201d he said of the runaway global fame he\u2019s earned. \u201cI just wanted to make music. It was hard to often be away from my family and friends because of touring, especially in the beginning when I wasn\u2019t able to fly them over.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his Aspen debut at X Games, Garrix orchestrated an extravaganza of sound and fury. He had smoke machines and pyrotechnics and laser lights. He had two overlaid video screens, showing selfie-style closeups of him at work on his DJ console. He had fireworks exploding from the top of the stage, coordinated with his biggest bass drops.<\/p>\n
Musically, he doled out remixed versions of his biggest hits throughout the show, playing the soaring \u201cNow That I\u2019ve Found You\u201d and \u201cAnimals\u201d early on andHe closed with successive spins of his poppiest offerings \u201cSo Far Away,\u201d \u201cWaiting for Love,\u201d the instrumental \u201cPizza\u201d and \u201cScared to be Lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some hardcore EDM fans may scoff at his stratospheric stardom or his frequent forays into pop music working with the likes of Bieber. But Garrix focuses on the creative side of things, he said, and doesn\u2019t worry about factions of fans or genre purists.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t say that I focus on a specific territory,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that I want to make music based on my ideas and creativity at that moment when I\u2019m in the studio. I don\u2019t want to limit that process by thinking about genres.\u201d<\/p>\n
An avid snowboarder, Garrix fit right in with Aspen. Belly Up’s intimate nightclub setting is a rare treat for Garrix, who regularly headlines arenas and festival where crowds top 100,000. When he has cozy club setting, he said, he likes to play around with pacing \u2013 slowing things down a bit between the crescendos and following the crowd\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do prepare lists of music that I think will be cool to play,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s always a surprise what I\u2019m going to use when on stage. I adapt this to the vibe I\u2019m getting from the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n IF YOU GO \u2026<\/p>\n Who: Martin Garrix<\/p>\n Where: Belly Up Aspen<\/p>\n When: Thursday, Jan. 31, 10 p.m.<\/p>\n How much: $140-$315<\/p>\n Tickets: Belly Up box office; bellyupaspen.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n