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Martyn Bootyspoon is a Montreal-based producer and DJ who seamlessly weaves house, ghettotech, electro, grime, and R&B influences into his music.
One of North America’s most singular dance artists, he has released on Fool’s Gold, Future Classic, and LuckyMe, and is a force behind the decks, putting on bold sets with an absurdist narrative flair.
In celebration of the release of his new Tanz Mania Tech sample pack, we had the opportunity to sit down with Martyn for an exclusive interview, where he discussed the sound of ghettotech, the enduring influence of Dance Mania, his perspectives on sound design, and more—read on for highlights.
Martyn Bootyspoon on the multi-genre sound of ghettotech
How would you define the sound of ghettotech?
Martyn Bootyspoon: When people talk about ghettotech, they often focus on tempo and raunchy lyrics, but for me, it’s really about how all of these regional Black-American dance music genres collapse into each other: Miami bass, Chicago ghetto house, Detroit electro, and The Egyptian Lover’s 808 contributions to early West Coast hip hop, which would be recognized as proto-electro. They all morphed into something that was hyper-functional, raw, and freaky.
So, my ‘starter pack’ ain’t just bangers; it’s kind of like a map of that transmission network—records that guided people where to move next.
What are some tracks that you’d recommend to new listeners?
Here are a few tracks I’d recommend:
- The Egyptian Lover’s “I Need a Freak”
- DJ Deeon’s “Da Bomb”
- AUX 88’s “Direct Drive”
- DJ Assault’s “Return Of Terror Tec”
- DJ Slugo’s “Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Hoe Too”
Who are some essential or underrated ghettotech artists?
DJ Funk is one of the most cerebral dance music producers of all time—may god rest his soul. It just so happens that his ghettotech catalog is some of his most exciting stuff, but he also has some insanely introspective house and techno music that the average untrained listener or genre purist might overlook.
There’s also DJ Godfather, DJ Nasty, and Bitch Ass Darius—Detroit’s the foundational spot for ghettotech. Even though he’s mentioned in Daft Punk’s “Teachers” and often categorized as ghetto house, Waxmaster Maurice is the underrated precursor to early 2000s ghetto tech for me. I would even equate some of his contributes to UK grime in terms of the headspace he was tapped into. “Get Em Girl” is a perfect example of this.
Martyn Bootyspoon on the enduring influence of Dance Mania
How did Dance Mania influence Tanz Mania Tech?
Dance Mania was the first label that made me realize how functional and confrontational dance music could be at the same time. Those records weren’t trying to be elegant at all—they were raw, funny, dirty, and ultra-effective dance tracks. For me, Tanz Mania Tech is like a hybrid love letter to that attitude.
The ‘Mania’ part is literal; it’s about excess, compression, and release. I wanted to channel that Dance Mania energy, but reframe it through my own world: digital distortion, meme humor, and post-internet chaos. Where those guys used 909s and outboard grit, I’m pushing saturation and doing weird modulation—the same ethos, but a different toolkit.
Dance Mania’s influence can be heard in the way the drums talk to you—the swing, the bounce, and that percussive ass ‘n sass. There’s the vocals, too; that DNA’s still in my work, even if the tempos or textures shift. The goals are the same: get bodies moving, make people laugh a little, and make them feel something real inside all that filth.
Dance Mania wasn’t just a label; it was an attitude—a working class moving towards future music. The array of Chicago producers said, “Here’s what the machines can do when they’re pushed past their comfort zone.” That’s what always stuck with me.
With Tanz Mania Tech, I wanted to keep that same subversive spirit alive—music that sounds like it’s both celebrating and breaking the machine at once. The decision to use ‘Tanz’ (German for ‘dance’) was a bit facetious, as Berlin has become this laughable pantheon for dance music at the moment. I also just wanted everyone of every walk of life to use the sample pack—so why not rope in the techno goblins?
What are some of your favorite must-listens and deep cuts from Dance Mania?
Here are some of my many recommendations:
- Robert Armani’s “Armani Trax (Armando’s Mix)” (1990)
- Paul Johnson’s “Feel My M.F. Bass” (1994)
- D.J. J.R. Dionte’s “Do Me Baby” (1994)
- Traxmen & Eric Martin’s “Hit It From The Back” (1995)
- Parris Mitchell Feat. Waxmaster’s “Ghetto Shout Out!!” (1995)
- DJ Milton’s “Static Track” (1995)
- DJ Slugo’s Taris Is Paris (1995)
- Traxman’s “Da Geto DJ” (1997)
- Gant-Man’s Clean-N-Crucial! (1997)
- DJ Funk’s “Put Yo’ Back N 2 It” (2005)
Martyn Bootyspoon breaks down his sound
What music influenced your work as Martyn Bootyspoon?
Any and all DJ Assault mixtapes you can think of, really. I was super into No Limit Records as a kid, and I find DJ Assault somehow channeled that Southern mixtape / skit-making energy better than anyone.
The Bootyspoon alter ego is sonically kind of derivative of Chuck Roberts’ acapella on Mystery Boys’ “Let There Be House”—that preacher tone that turned house into sermon. Ghettotech For Slow People by Disco D is a great beginner’s guide to ghettotech and was a later discovery for me, but definitely a reference point in terms of someone making ghettotech into a persona while not necessarily being the founding member of it.
And anything on Databass Records, along with a lot of Big Daddy Kane visual references, Fubu visual references, and Armand Van Helden’s “Witch Doktor.”
How did you integrate grime and electro influences within your pack?
Grime and electro kind of function in a similar sonic space for me. On the grime side, I drew from the sonics of Geeneus or Wiley’s “Eskimo 3”-esque tracks and his “Devils Mix” palette: stripped-back, aggressive, and rhythmically exact. I wanted that cold, quirkily percussive energy—distorted square and bass sounds, hard kicks, and playful eight-bar structures, pushed through a modern, slightly wonky lens with iPhone synths like Figure, Ableton Note, and Animoog.
A lot of it hovers around 140 BPM, with hints of UK funky, Caribbean soca, and carnival rhythms, so it bounces and teeters between menacing and playful—almost video game-like. My initial understanding and affinity with grime was like, “Oh, I too use FL Studio, I too default to 140 BPM, and I always adored video game music.”
On the electro side, I was thinking along the lines of Drexciya and Model 500: sparse, alien synths, synthetic vocal processing, dirty drum buss treatment, and distorted 808s with long tails. The idea was to merge that mechanical precision of electro with grime’s tension and swing. It all meets in the mood, the quirkiness of the sounds, and the way each element is processed, so even when it’s nasty and distorted, it retains clarity, motion, and the physicality you feel on the dance floor.
Ultimately, grime and electro became part of the DNA of Tanz Mania Tech because both genres, like Dance Mania, thrive in sparseness. That sparseness—the tension, the quirks, and the interplay of hot and cold—often informs my productions, giving me space to manipulate rhythms, textures, and bass in ways that make bodies gyrate accordingly.
The pack description mentions ‘high-pressure drum programming.’ In your opinion, what makes drums feel ‘high-pressure?’
To me, high-pressure drums are like a fist in the chest that still makes you want to dance. They’re the kind of thing that makes a dance floor feel like it might implode any second.
In Tanz Mania Tech, that comes through in the bass, the snappy snares that bite like a bad mood, and the percussion loops that are wide and gritty. My vocal chops also double as mini drum hits and can add some tension and unpredictability.
The whole idea is to make every beat feel alive, urgent, and just a little bit dangerous—like the party might turn into a riot.
Incorporate Martyn Bootyspoon’s sounds into your own productions:
October 30, 2025
