Bronx-bred brothers Steve and Chris Martinez are insistent on bucking the DJ trend on a few different levels. At 19 and 16 years of age respectively, they exhibit an impressive dexterity as DJs and an intimate connection with a genre of music deeply ingrained in their DNA: house. They’re an anomaly of their generation, and not just because they’ve spun crowds into frenzies in Ibiza, Hong Kong, London, and Switzerland before they’ve even hit legal drinking age. They’re known to rock the dancefloor with their mélange of disco, soulful house, and tech-house, and all the styles converge on their 12” single, “My Rendition.” Even more surprising is that these future kings of house music are sketching out their nascent four-to-the-floor career from the sleepy environs of Monroe, NY, a middle-class suburb an hour outside of New York City.

Steve and Chris sat down with us recently to talk must-have gear and their favorite tracks to play out:

The Martinez Brothers’ Steve Martinez Jr. on the duo’s must-have DJ gear.

Pioneer CDJ 1000
One piece that we most definitely cannot live without. It’s pretty much the basis of what we do, as far as the way we play… We love to manipulate records and acapellas and the pioneer CDJ 1000s allow us to do that t the best of our ability.

Pioneer EFX 1000
Another piece of equipment that is pretty vital to our set-up is the Pioneer EFX 1000. Again, we love to manipulate the records and make them our own, and it’s the perfect tool for adding effects such as echoes and flangers, and it’s also perfect for big build-ups.

Urei 1620 Rotary Mixer
Probably the oldest piece of gear that we still use today. Not many mixers that compare to this in our opinion. We pretty much always played with rotary mixers and this is the best of its kind.

Steve and Chris Martinez offer their five favorite tracks to play out.

1. Powerline “Double Journey”
This was one of the first disco records we ever heard and was on constant replay with us. The piano line just always captivated us, not to mention the sick bassline.

2. Kerri Chandler “Never Knew Her”
One of the first house records we ever heard, and a record that also introduced us to Kerri. It really inspired us to dig for “that sound” and of course for Kerri’s stuff as well.

3. Vince Watson “Mystical Rhythms”
We first heard this at a Joe Claussell party and it just blew us away! Amazing!

4. Pat Metheny “Are You Going With Me”
Just listen to the record!

5. Slum Village Featuring Q Tip “Hold Tight”
J. Dilla on drums, D’Angelo on keys, and Slum Village and Q Tip on the mic–what more could you ask for?!