On 5 July 2021, Martin Garrix appear in an interview with Radio 538. They go back to Martijn’s interview in 2019 about the highlight of his 2019 and Martijn said it was when he was in the studio with an artist. It turns out the artist that Martijn meant was Bono. He said he flew to France in summer 2019 to record the song with Bono and it was so unrealistic. He knows Bono from videos of U2 live from Slane Castle and then to sit and stand next to Bono singing his song in the studio, it makes no sense to him.
Regarding the song, he said he learn so much from Bono and also The Edge. As big rockstars they have experienced everything and had performed in stadiums all around the world several times, but they’re still so hungry and want to learn new things. They are also very open to idea which make their EURO 2020 anthem a very special collaboration for Martijn. It’s also a big learning process to him to see how they approach certain things, how they they work, etc.
Martin Garrix usually involved with the lyrics for his songs, but for We Are The People, Bono rewrote all of his lyrics. His original lyrics was “United we’re indestructible. We don’t rely on a miracle. It’s here and now let it bring us together”, and Bono thought it was a bit too happy. He said they should make lyrics for football tournament and it’s better if the lyrics are deeper.
UEFA entrust Martijn with the music of EURO 2020, including when the players walk into the field and that is the orchestral version of the original song. Martijn reveals that the orchestra and choir for the orchestral version of We Are The People was recorded in Hilversum. It was very special because Martijn took his grandma and parents to the recording day.
The pandemic make Martijn had so much time in the studio which make he had so many unreleased music. Martin Garrix said he has a lot of club/festival songs but he want to save it until his first show to play it there. Martijn also said that in July he will release a new song with a cool American rapper and a female singer. He also busy with AREA21 that will release an album at the end of the year.
Talking about his upcoming shows, Martijn said he want to start his set with a lot of euphoric song and gradually give a lot more energy then close it with something euphoric again. Maybe he will open or close his shows with the remix of We Are The People but he doesn’t know yet.
Who do you think the cool American rapper and female singer that will collaborate with Martin Garrix? Comment below and let me know.
Garrix Interview 