Honey Soundsystem & Martyn

Honey Soundsystem, a DJ group created in the spirit of the legendary bay area crews, have been making their own scuff marks on today's dancefloors while spreading the gospel of SF's rich dance music history. Discaires, P-Play, Robot Hustle, Jason Kendig and Josh Cheon have come together to fill a void they saw in current gay nightlife. You can find Honey Soundsystem online, in the records stores, on stages at venues/festivals around the world, and EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT at the Holy Cow in the heart of SF's SOMA district.

Honey has been instrumental in the formation of three record labels Dark Entries, Discaire, and HNYTRX - our in-house label for special one off releases.

Since forming in January 2006, Honey Soundsystem has brought new style and edge to the San Francisco dance scene. They have hosted DJ's from around the world, including Todd Terje, Prosumer, Steffi, Hawke aka Gavin Hardkiss, Tim Sweeney, Horse Meat Disco London, Silent Servant, Part Time Punks, Kim Ann Foxman, Bicep, Stefan Goldmann, KiNK, Optimo, Hercules & Love Affair, Discodromo, Cosmo Vitelli, DJ Spun, Daniel Wang, Shits & Giggles, Derek Plaslaiko, Session Victim, Ben Aqua, MVSCLZ, Anthony Mansfield, DJ Garth, Bottin, Eric Duncan, My Cousin Roy, Nick Chacona, Lady Blaktronika, Steve Fabus, Neon Leon, and A Club Called Rhonda, Mister Saturday Night DJs, Aaron Clark, Nikita…


Martyn’s unique strand of bass defies easy categorisation. Yet no matter the genre, tempo or drum pattern, there always remains that immersive, intricately detailed and rhythmically precise sound: to his fans and admirers, it’s known simply as ‘Martyn Music.’ A unique character that’s become emblematic for all that’s forward thinking in dubstep and techno, a defiant out-of-the-box mentality is pushed into his every artistic venture, side-stepping convention and continually stepping forward towards what’s new. Or, more often than not, what’s next. Throughout the many turns and layers of his winding career, the Holland native (and now Washington DC resident) Martijn Deijkers has always stood in a scene of his own. Never a complete outsider but never one to fit in, each of his releases is a progression on from where he left off, and an evolution into where the electronic world is likely to move in the near future. His first releases in 2005 (on Play:Musik and Marcus Intalex’s Revolve:r imprint) indicated a tendency towards the dub end of the spectrum. Drawing on his roots in techno and house, as much as a still fertile dubstep scene, his ‘Broken’ EP on Revolve:r in ’07 blurred the lines entirely. And though his releases that followed on Tempa, Applepips and Hessle Audio (including his scene-altering remix of TRG’s ‘Broken Heart’) made thorough rounds in dubstep circles, there was a distinct nod to future 4/4 explorations, and served as a tip-off that he was on his way to forming a new, uncharted genre altogether. “I was always interested in the technology side of things - synthesizers and science fiction and lazers and transformers and robots...that was really my thing. I have been buying music for as long as I can remember, really; as soon as I got a weekly allowance I spent it on 7” singles and albums. When I was studying I went clubbing a lot, there were a couple of clubs that I used to frequent, and I just got drawn to the music, really. In the early 90s, I heard Chicago house and Detroit techno for the first time in a club; from then onwards that was kind of my thing, but I kept following bands as well, so for me not all music was electronic. I never thought I would play a role in music myself.” Equal parts unpredictable and electric, as a DJ Martyn’s is a style that is equally as uncategorizable as his production style. His encyclopaedic knowledge of music and rarities is aptly matched with an ability to mix the most unlikely of sounds: a raw J Dilla cut gets paired with a rare Jamie Principle house edit one moment, New Wave vocals get thrown down with the percussive fills of Shed the next. His seamless sets have crossed countries and stages, playing iconic venues the globe over, including Berghain/Panoramabar, The Roxy in LA and DMZ at Mass. There’s also his all-inclusive festival circuit, which has included Sonar, Mutek, Airwaves, Decibel, Electric Zoo, Bestival, Lowlands, Pukkelpop, The Big Chill, Elevate in Austria and Unsound in Poland. - East Village Radio