So TINO checked out DJ Marrrtin’s music online, released through his Stereophonk label, which were mostly fast-paced breakbeat tracks meant for dance competitions. As TINO put it: good for breakin’, not really for rhymin’.
But DJ Marrrtin, also known as DJ Martin Dezer, sent TINO some instrumentals to see if they could make a collaboration happen.
At the time, TINO was recording his seventh solo record, “Midwest Sorrow.” At the end of the studio sessions, he’d tack on tracks Marrrtin had sent him. They eventually had an EP’s worth of material. Starting with “Sample Sing,” and ending up with seven full tracks, the transatlantic duo released the album “La Pie Bavarde” on Stereophonk Records in 2022. They printed 300 copies on vinyl, which TINO thought was too many. As of today, there are no more copies for sale in the wild.
TINO received a grant through Culture Works from the Montgomery County Art and Cultural District to produce the duo’s follow-up album. He traveled to France in 2024, working firsthand with Marrrtin to produce “R.I.T.E.” The album was released in December.
“Just seeing how he works, trying to figure out how he does production, I want to start that journey myself,” TINO said. “But to take in another country’s culture, because I’d never been out of the country until that point, being in France was an eye-opening experience.”
He hesitates to call it a tour, but TINO and Marrrtin played four shows in three different cities in France.
Marrrtin is a multi-talented individual. He’s a DJ, a beat-maker, a hip-hop and funk producer, and a well-known graffiti artist. He was commissioned by the city of Rennes to create a 20-foot mural of the Olympic torch for the 2024 Paris Olympics. His music has been featured in Red Bull championships, and he was an official Red Bull DJ for a time. He also DJs regularly to 30,000 people during Rennes’ football season.
“It’s hard to put a cap on the things he does,” TINO said.
Swapping roles, Martin will soon travel to TINO’s neck of the woods, making stops to play three venues Sept. 5–7.
The duo will be performing Friday, Sept. 5, at Vagabond Studio & Gallery at 130 Front St., Dayton. Along with the music, Marrrtin’s graffiti art will also be showcased at the gallery. The performance will have a mix from both “La Pie Bavarde” and “R.I.T.E.,” as well as some of TINO’s and DJ Marrrtin’s solo ventures.
The next night, Sept. 6, TINO and Marrrtin will be performing at Belmont Billiards’ Boom Bap in Belmont, which the pool hall hosts the first Saturday of every month. The venue is located at 820 Watervliet Ave., Dayton.
Mixing it up Sunday, Sept. 7, is the Sip-Hop event at Joui Wine, 117 E. 3rd St., Dayton. Mic Flo of Dope Wines, Dope Vibes, is flying in from California. Mic is a Level 3 sommelier. He will be joining DJ Marrrtin and TINO for an evening of hip-hop flavor and wine tasting.
Considering TINO brought back some of Marrrtin’s graffiti art from his trip to France, I asked what affected him about it.
“The French people embrace that culture more heavily than we do,” TINO said. “It feels like a rediscovery of a thing that we kind of cast aside, and we just call it vandalism. They’re incorporating this particular medium that we think of as this lowbrow art, and they’re incorporating it into high art with higher visibility than we normally see.”
On top of his Olympics work for the city of Rennes, Marrrtin has painted a mural on the Louis Vuitton store in Paris. TINO noted that in America, aside from perhaps the elusive Banksy, it’s not common to hear about artists on the graffiti side, the street side receiving that sort of recognition. We typically hear about it in a negative light, as opposed to beautification.
“These guys are taking risks, hanging off of buildings in the dark, painting upside down to try to get this look,” TINO said. “A lot of times, it’s just for the graffiti community. They also know their works are never permanent. But that’s part of the game. They know that we’re not here forever. So you might as well do something cool.”
DJ Martin Dezer and TINO only had two phone conversations before meeting at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
“It was almost instantaneous from the moment I met him,” TINO said, “that it felt like we had been friends my whole life.”
Marrrtin loves hip-hop and wanted to be part of it in its birthplace, in the country it originates from. He wants to spread what he does, alongside TINO, and hopefully make some new fans and friends along the way.
Their friendship will soon be on display in Dayton. They might even hit up a studio or two while they’re here.
It’s all because TINO responded to an email, sent from across the world, that made it to the music-making phase.
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: TINO & DJ Martin Dezer
When: 9 p.m. Sept. 5
Where: Vagabond Studio & Gallery, 130 Front St., Dayton
Cost: $20 donation at door
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