The cool-but-not-too-cool house and techno tracks — attributed to by Doms & Deykers, her and his surnames — sound unencumbered by life. But life has changed for the Sterling resident: He’s been maintaining his creative energy and his international profile with a new addition at home. The Dutch-born musician and his wife have a toddler daughter, and he’s had to learn how to compartmentalize things.

“You can’t do any eight- or nine-hour studio sessions and just sort of completely lose yourself into compressing drums or whatever,” Martyn says, chuckling. “Every two hours there’s something new, then you have to go there, or then she wakes up from a nap — there’s all these little things that you have to think about all of a sudden.”

Perhaps it was natural, then, for Martyn to find a different mode of making music for the time being. Known for his club sets and his creative, sonically adventurous solo albums — including 2014’s The Air Between Words on the Ninja Tune label — the 42-year-old says he was “never really interested in working with other people” until recently. The project with Doms stemmed from his DJ gigs in Europe. (He’s currently doing a monthly residency at Panorama Bar in Berlin.)

“When we sit together in the studio, ideas happen really fast,” he says. “We just lay jams down, and usually we spend a couple of hours on one, then record everything, and move to the next idea. And usually what happens when we get back home, and we’re in our own studios working, we take these jams and build them into complete songs.”

Doms, who is also Dutch-born, traveled to the Virginia ‘burbs in the spring to help finish the album, which was released this week on 3024, a label Martyn runs with artist Erosie. Martyn also found time over the past year for another collaboration: Fierce For The Night, by a Berlin singer called, coincidentally, Virginia. Martyn, Doms and the Dutch producer Dexter handled all the production.

Martyn moved to Ashburn, Virginia, in 2008 for love and was married the same year. In 2012, he became a U.S. citizen. The family has since found another apartment, in Sterling. He’s had some time to put Loudoun County in perspective.

“I must say that — especially with traveling to other parts of the U.S., I noticed that Ashburn and Sterling is not the norm,” he says. “I think we’re all quite privileged to live in this area. Although sometimes it can be a bit of a struggle, this is a really sort of wealthy area of the States. That’s something I only discovered when I started traveling to other places and see how other cities are laid out, also smaller towns and things like that … this is not what the entire U.S. looks like, you know?”

As his adjustment to suburban-dadhood continues, he says it’s “important to stay inspired.” He has time to listen to music on international flights, but he’s got a tactic at home, too.

“Once you actually find your groove again, you can actually make it part of your life again. Like, one thing we do is play a record almost every day — a new album every day so that in the house there’s always music,” he says. His daughter “really enjoys the music as well, even though sometimes it’s a bit weird for her, maybe. That way I can sort of engulf myself in music and give my child a little bit of education in a way.”

Martyn speaks highly of D.C.’s growing dance-music scene, particularly the Future Times and 1432R labels, and the roving-party series known as ROAM. He recently DJed at one in September.

“The crowd was just so healthy. It was so nice to see people really into the music and not really about posing or just taking pictures of themselves, just generally enjoying the music and generally enjoying the atmosphere and the other people,” he says. “It was just really cool to see that. It almost felt like a European party, you know? That’s something that I hadn’t experienced in D.C. before. … It was less sort of institutionalized clubbing, and more sort of, freedom. That’s obviously a very good time for people to play their music.”

Despite the recent stretch of working so much with other artists, Martyn says he’s returning to his roots in the coming weeks, with work on a new album that is likely to sound more “abstract,” given the club-oriented nature of the Doms & Deykers album and the project with Virginia.

“I’ve just been aching,” Martyn says, “to start working on solo material again.”

Kino Musica – Yèkèrmo Sèw
David King – Exmemory
Ace Cosgrove – Reality (Prod. by Dirty Chocolate)
Daniel Bachman – Levee
Jacob Gemmell – The Battle
Higher Hands – U-Turn
The Soul Searchers – If It Ain’t Funky
Projekt Eins – Sentient Sedition
Rumpole – Cool Day
Demetrius Zozul – Island
Jason Ward – sorry i cant come home
John W. Warren – Nana da Lua
Abu Jibran – My Triangle
Stephen Robey – Charlotte’s Song
Hailu Mergia – Shilela
Joey and the Waitress – Mother May I
Seth Kibel – Your Mileage May Vary
Aquarium – Credits
Martyn – Fashion Skater
The Torches – Wish You Well

Stranger In the Alps – Love/Afraid
Martyn – Fashion Skater
Suzanne Brindamour – Fireflies
Timothy Soller – Water and Light
Miyazaki – Torrents
Projekt Eins – Vacillate-Venerate
The Shifters – She’s So Fine
Aaron Agre – Stormglass
Young Rapids – Singing World
Feedel Band – Ethiopian Ocean (Live At WAMU)
Klauss – Mixer
Peals – Koan 1
Borracho – Redemption
Ricky Eat Acid – Big Man’s Last Trip Outside
Vandaveer – The Knoxville Girl
aerialist – proteus
ZOMES – Beckoning Breeze
Flash Frequency – Corner of The Room
Bonjour, Ganesh! – Tito
Diamond District – Back to Basics Instrumental

Saturday, a couple of thousand people flocked to Dock 5—the warehouse venue behind Union Market—for the first Union BBQ, a daylong festival booked by U Street Music Hall.

The lineup united a few different strains of local and international electronic music: The xx’s Jamie xx headlined the outdoor stage, with warm-up sets from former locals Tittsworth and Nadastrom, among others; the inside stage hosted a full and diverse slate, including Animal Collective’s Geologist and Deakin, Virginia resident (and Netherlands native) Martyn, and event co-organizer Will Eastman, alongside acts like Montreal’s Kaytranada and San Francisco’s Viceroy.

Below, scroll through Bandwidth’s photos from some of the night’s performances.

U Street Music Hall co-owner Will Eastman, one of the architects of Union BBQ, DJed the indoor stage.

Washington, D.C. local Steven Faith briefly joined Will Eastman on stage following his set.

Producer, DJ, and U Street Music Hall co-founder Jesse Tittsworth spun a set outdoors.

Tittsworth

Tittsworth and crew

Turnout skewed young, as demonstrated by the high number of X’s on hands

Dutch producer and DJ Martijn Deijkers (Martyn) performed on the indoor stage.

Martyn

Martyn

Martyn

Brian Weitz (left) and Josh Dibb (right) of Animal Collective collaborated on a DJ set.

Brian Weitz and Josh Dibb (right) of Animal Collective

More young fans

Jamie Smith, better know as Jamie xx of London band The xx, played the last set of the night outside.

Jamie xx closed out the evening with a stunning performance and light show.

The crowd during Jamie xx’s set

Much of the night probably wound up on YouTube, Instagram, and Vine

… and good night.

Deleted Scenes, “Lithium Burn”
April 15, Park the Van/Nevado

Deleted Scenes’ 2011 breakthrough album, “Young People’s Church of the Air,” shifted the D.C. indie-rock band in a more experimental direction, but the hyperactive “Stutter”—the first single from the group’s forthcoming followup—indicated that the foursome has definitively taken off the parking brake. That song might be the most loopy on the album. But Deleted Scenes’ less madcap singles, like “You Get To Say Whatever You Want,” showcase the skills of producers Brian McTear and Jonathan Low (also known for their work with Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, and The War on Drugs), who have cast off the impenetrable haze of “Young People’s Church of the Air” and sharpened every element on the record—most notably singer Dan Scheuerman’s formidable voice. (Valerie Paschall)

Typefighter, “The End of Everything”
April 22, Huge Witch Records

Since releasing its first EPs, Typefighter has ditched the banjo and acoustic guitars and turned up to 11. Songs like the anthemic single “Much” show that the quartet can do triumphant guitar riffs just as well as Titus Andronicus—though Typefighter hasn’t yet veered into rock-opera territory. But the band still knows how to channel a moment: On the album’s title track and the sentimental “I Like the Way You Are,” they set aside noise and let singer Ryan McLaughlin’s raw voice hang either forlornly (the former) or gratefully (the latter) in the ether adding depth to what is otherwise a perfectly welcome stomper. (Valerie Paschall)

Protect-U, “Free USA”
May 13, Future Times

If “Time 2 Technique” offers a preview of what’s in store for Protect-U’s first LP, “Free USA” should be one of the year’s must-have electronic albums. D.C. musicians Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko have released tracks here and there, laying a foundation with beats that would get even the most sedentary listener’s head bopping; but now, they seem to have mixed the funky beats that made “Motorbike” so urgent with the twinkling synths that colored their early tracks like “U-Uno” and “Double Rainbow.” There aren’t many albums that can work for people in any mood and any setting, but this could be one of them. (Valerie Paschall)

Gods’Illa, “Believe in Gods’Illa”
June, self-released

It’s still unbelievable when you think about it: That Gods’Illa‘s 2011 project, “CPR: The Blend Tape” was hosted by the great Erykah Badu. That’s not a slight against the Forestville, Md., hip-hop trio. But the famous vocalist’s appearance seemed to validate the group—which spits conscious bars just as ably as lyrics about nothing—and brought more attention to what truly was an excellent tape. Its new album, “Believe In Gods’Illa,” arrives with just as much promise—even without a celebrity endorsement. (Marcus J. Moore)

Priests, “Bodies and Control and Money and Power”
June 3, Don Giovanni/Sister Polygon

On its earlier material, D.C. quartet Priests shredded through angry, political, surf-flecked punk rock—and both releases spoke to the band’s immense potential. Now, having honed its sound and message with incessant touring, the group has become the most promising torchbearer of D.C.’s vibrant punk and riot grrrl traditions. “Right Wing,” Priests’ first single from this summer’s “Bodies and Control and Money and Power” is almost startling in its cleanly produced and spot-on D.C.-via-L7 sound. If the rest of the album is as laden with hooks and sing-along refrains as its first single, the band may have to sink their fingernails into the dirt to keep from being dragged out of the underground. (Ron Knox)

Martyn, “The Air Between Words”
June 16, Ninja Tune

It’s odd to think of Dutch-born house/dubstep/techno producer Martyn as a local artist. The Northern Virginia resident doesn’t play many local dates, and he hasn’t made much of a mark on D.C.’s electronic-music scene since he moved to the area (for love) in 2009. But Martyn is kind of slippery that way anyway; he subtly changes sounds almost as often as he boards an airplane. His second album, the thrilling 2011 LP “Ghost People,” traded in quick-footed, high-energy house music, but his debut LP, 2009’s “Great Lengths,” borrowed a little more from dubstep. For his third album out this summer, Martyn promises yet another shift: something closer to his debut, but still different, he told Resident Advisor. No word on live D.C. dates yet, but I won’t hold my breath. (Ally Schweitzer)

The 1978ers, “People of Today”
July, Mello Music Group

yU is always thoughtful, from his elaborate rhyme cadence to his evocative beats. For his solo work, namely 2010’s “Before Taxes” and 2011’s “the EARN,” yU riffed on daily endeavors and kept an eye toward brighter times. On “People of Today,” yU will join producer SlimKat as The 1978ers—both were born in 1978—for a thoughtful narrative about everyday folks. That’s not surprising, given yU’s low-key demeanor and common-man ethos; there’s a reason he’s called the “humble king.” (Marcus J. Moore)

Warning: This song contains explicit lyrics.

Diamond District, “March on Washington”
September, Mello Music Group

Released in 2009, Diamond District’s “In the Ruff” arrived the same year President Obama took office. But while huge swaths of the city celebrated the country’s first black president, “In the Ruff” kept D.C.’s blight in full view with its grainy beats and raw rhymes. Since then, group members Oddisee, Uptown XO and yU have made significant strides, and “In the Ruff” is considered a landmark album for DMV hip-hop. What will they do for an encore? (Marcus J. Moore)

Warning: This song contains explicit lyrics.

Ex Hex’s debut album
Release date to be announced, Merge

Some of the best parts of Wild Flag’s 2011 LP happened when Mary Timony channeled her inner ’70s crotch-rocker, and Ex Hex is basically that distilled into one band. The trio’s first 7-inch, released last month, is a power-rockin’ blast, especially “Waterfall.” It’s music for leather jackets and Miller Genuine Draft—about fun and not much else—and that’s part of what makes Ex Hex one of the most exciting new D.C. rock bands in years. (Ally Schweitzer)

The Black Sparks’ debut album
Release date to be announced

The term “high school band” usually serves as an excuse for terrible music. But the high schoolers in The Black Sparks have played together for five years, and if last month’s show in Bethesda with Priests, Give and Vile Faith offered any indication, the band’s sound is maturing quite nicely. The Black Sparks established themselves as a solid hardcore act. Now their new material finds them snaking through a more complex (albeit still brutal) instrumental attack rather than merely pummeling the audience with a two-minute adrenaline rush. There’s no name or date for their forthcoming album yet, but they’ve just recorded their material at Inner Ear—a good omen in itself. (Valerie Paschall)