‘How I Feel’ by Martin Ikin and Hayley May is out today on Toolroom. Mark Knight’s imprint welcomes back the UK-born DJ and producer for his 6th release on the label.
After the massive success of Martin Ikin and Hayley May ‘Following’, earlier this year, the two artists are back at Toolroom’s lab. Martin himself is a long-time member of the Toolroom family with six releases on the label, a performance at Studio 338 in London, and part of the lineup for Toolroom’s residency at Eden Ibiza.
‘How I Feel’ is a classy house workout at it’s absolute best; Those lush pianos alongside Hayley’s unmistakable vocals ensure that this will be doing some serious damage on those sun drenched terraces all Summer! The EP comes complete with a dub mix, something slightly tougher with an infectious b-line that’ll keep the heads happy on those tougher floors.
We reach out Martin for a couple of questions about the release, his past tunes on Toolroom and his next gigs. Check below for the Q/A.
Martin Ikin Q / A
How I Feel is out this week; could you describe how the idea was born? And what about the vocal? Did it come before and after the instrumental?
It was actually last summer, and I was at my flat playing about with a new mini travel keyboard I had just bought so I could work while I’m flying or in a hotel. I loaded up a standard Logic Piano sound just to have a mess around with it and that was literally the first thing I played (pretty much). So I thought, that sounds pretty cool, I’ll keep that. Saved the midi in Logic and forgot all about it until a few months later. That’s when I started work on it, made a few different versions and played them to Mark and the guys at Toolroom. I had already worked with Hayley May on our track Following so I thought she’d be perfect for this project too, and once again she did an amazing job. Once the vocal was down, we all agreed that it worked perfectly on the track. And that was it, Job done 🙂
You debuted on Toolroom in 2017 on the Amsterdam compilation and now you’ve reached the 6th tune on the label. Do you feel Toolroom helped?
Yes this is my 6th separate release on Toolroom now, which is more than any other label I have ever released on in my whole career. So yes I’d definitely say there is a synergy there. Hand on heart, Toolroom are the coolest guys to be involved with, it really is like an extended family there so I’m super happy and proud to be releasing with them, as you can probably tell by the 6th release haha.
You played the Toolroom opening party at EDEN Ibiza as well the 30th of the same month and, you’re in the lineup for the next Toolroom nights. What we have to expect from your sets?
The Eden Ibiza nights have been amazing, really busy and a great atmosphere till the very end so again I couldn’t be happier to be on board with the shows. I’ve got lots of exclusive new music that I’ll be dropping for the first time on the upcoming dates so can’t wait for them too.
Martin Ikin and Hayley May ‘How I Feel’ is currently out now worldwide; you can download your copy here.
