Dutch teenager Martin Garrix scales new EDM heights

The Dutch DJ star has had a good 2015, banking a reported $17 million in just 12 months, smashing David Guetta, Calvin Harris and co to win Best Electronic Artist at the MTV EMA's, all while still a teenager.

Martin Garrix. Courtesy Envie Events

To say Martin Garrix has had a good 2015 would be an understatement. The 19-year-old Dutch DJ smashed Guetta, Calvin Harris, Avicii and Co to win Best Electronic Artist at the MTV EMAs in October. With a hectic summer gig schedule topped by a Ushuaïa Ibiza residency, Garrix banked a reported US$17 million (Dh62m)in just 12 months and then decided he needed an even bigger slice of the pie, splitting from Spinnin’ Records last month and announcing plans to launch his own label. All while still a ­teenager.

“2015 has been a crazy but fun roller-coaster ride with many great moments,” Garrix says. “I feel really, really blessed.”

It is the right adjective to describe the teenage superstar, who less than three years ago was still making tracks in his bedroom. All that changed with 2013's Animals, a breakout anthem for the EDM generation which topped the Beatport download chart and became the first instrumental to reach the top 40 of America's Billboard this millennium. Notably, Garrix hasn't charted in the US since. It's just too tempting not to ask where he'd be today without that two minutes and 51 seconds of music.

“I would probably be celebrating NYE at my hometown [Amstelveen] with my friends,” he says. Instead, that is, of seeing in midnight with thousands of supporters at Dubai’s Meydan.

Garrix’s UAE gig will be book-ended with sets from friends and collaborators Jay Hardway, Julian Jordan and Justin Mylo. The backstage could turn out rowdier than the party itself, I suggest.

“It’s going to be madness for sure,” yells Garrix. “Going out with a bang is the goal.”

Of course, going out with a bang will not be the objective. Garrix is keen to avoid all the pitfalls of early fame that strike the lives of teenage superstars time and time again. But the Dutchman claims he has the courage to go the distance.

“I just keep being me,” he says. “It helps that I’ve got this amazing team surrounding me. They keep me grounded, together with my family and friends. We’ll see what the future brings me; as long as I’ve got all of them with me, it will be bright.”

Martin Garrix performs at Meydan. Doors open at 6pm, from Dh499 at dubai.platinumlist.net