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Music

We Uncovered the Secret to Justin Martin's Mojo (and Now It's Ours!)

With Ardalan in tow, the Dirtybird OG kicked off a 60-date tour in advance of his sophomore album "Hello Clouds." We tried to find out from where he sources his mojo.

Justin Martin just might be the chillest DJ in America. Ten years and thousands of pizza slices ago, his The Southern Draw EP was Dirtybird's first ever release. This year, Martin was IDMA's winner for Best Deep/House/Garage DJ, and imagining stateside dance music without either Dirtybird or Justin Martin himself would be like imagining pizza without cheese or gluten or toppings.

In preparation for the release of his sophomore album in the fall, titled Hello Clouds, Martin has kicked off a massive 60-date tour that'll see him take on the decks all over the US, Canada, UK and Europe. With him for the majority of it is Dirtybird's secret weapon, the Tehran-imal himself: Ardalan.

We caught up with Justin and Ardalan as they knocked off some early dates in San Diego at FNGRS CRSSD. There, we tried to find out what it is that makes J-Mart so god damned ebullient.

After some deep analysis, here are our findings from vol. 1 of the tour journal: Booze probably has something to do with J-Mart's mojo. And bad jokes. And lots of functions and unrepentant shaking of dat ass. And then there's the pizza, the worldwide network of homies, the decades spent perfecting his craft, the legions of dedicated fans, etc, etc. It's a balanced combination of all those things that keeps Martin's head in the clouds. Or maybe it's just Ardalan's beat-boxing. Keep your eyes peeled for part two.

Justin Martin is on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter
Ardalan is on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter