Dominick Martin’s a little bit of an anomaly in terms of contemporary drum & bass. Having been active and continually releasing music under his Calibre alias since 1998, it feels a little odd in a modern world so besotted with oversharing to think that he’s never had a remix made of his material, nor has ever released a commercial mix CD or ever managed an online presence. He’s one of those artists whose reputation simply precedes him; thanks in a large part to his incredible body of work that covers seven artist albums and countless 12”s, EPs and remixes. Almost as notorious for being a quiet person as much as he is a prolific producer, the Northern Irish musician has always been happy to let his music talk for him and with his unique blend of musicianship and tough, focused percussion garnering him releases on the pick of drum & bass labels, as well as his own Signature imprint, you get the impression that he’ll always be content not to say too much.
But poke at the surface and there’s an incredibly engaging story there; one that centres on one guy’s focus in finding his way through music institutions and social prejudice in a place that he himself admits “wasn’t a very nice place to grow up”. Releasing his first record on the Dublin-based, U2-owned, Quadrophonic label, the multi-instrumentalist Martin found his feet in the clubs he found there, hooking up with drum & bass scene lynchpin, Fabio, and working closely on material for his Creative Source label - on which he released his landmark, 21-track Musique Concrete album in 2001. Blessed with an ear for perfect pitch, a trait that was recognised from an early age, he’d quickly developed a signature style that retained a kind of musicality that worked as well away from the vigorous climes of the dancefloor......
