LOCAL Houston | The City Guide October 2016 | Page 58

DJ LITTLE MARTIN’S BEEN BREAKING FRESH BEATS FOR 32 YEARS
By Tim Moloney | Photography by Anthony Rathbun
Shot on location at: Vinal Edge

Where are you from?
Manchester, England.
What brought you to Houston?
I was working at New Order’s Hacienda club in Manchester and became involved with
someone who interned for them in New York. That’s what initially brought me to the U.S.
I arrived in Houston in 2002 after a divorce. My ex had relocated here and I wanted to
remain close to my daughters.
When did you first develop an interest in music?
Around age 10 or 11 was when it went from liking certain songs on the radio to a
serious interest. This was just as Punk was exploding in the UK and that was all that
my friends and I cared about (along with football!).
What are the changes you’ve seen in the DJ business since you started?
Biggest change is the DJ as some kind of star or headliner. While of course I enjoy and
take advantage of the attention, I don’t like that everyone is now faced in one direction
toward the DJ (often not even dancing). We’re actually pretty boring to watch! We’re
not The Rolling Stones. I would prefer people show their appreciation by dancing rather
than gawking.

The other constantly evolving facet is technology. It can be a full-time job just keeping up
with those advances. For me, it was vinyl only for many years, but now I use software.
There is a movement that is championing vinyl again, and there is constant bickering
among my peers over what is the best! But for me, they are all just different tools to
reach the same end. The most important thing is how the person feels on the dance
flo