It sounds like Nadal has the complete game. Of course, we’re not talking tennis. Nadal isn’t king of the court Rafa, he’s fast rising electronic talent Marc Martinez. Or AFFKT to be more precise.

AFFKT, with a general leaning towards tech house (but that is to do him a disservice), has been in operation for about six years now. But the first two were all about experimentation behind closed doors. Nadal’s first EP under the pseudonym – “most people pronounce it like ‘a-ff-ect’ but I always say it in the most difficult way possible, ‘a-ff-k-t’….” – arrived some two years after it was originally drafted. The year was 2008 – AFFKT’s debut EP, El Prologo, recorded alongside Danny Fiddo, provided a refreshingly abstract and emotional take on his Spanish homeland’s rather conformist tech 4-4. EP track Points garnered particular praise; others paid attention.

“I came to the AFFKT project with a very open mind” Nadal, of Valencian descent, reflects. “I’d just come back from living in Germany where I was scoring music for films and refining my studio engineering skills. The work and the experience of being away gave me a much wider view of things; I felt able to make music freely based on what I was feeling at the time.”

AFFKT’s debut album Punto 0, released later this month, charismatically reflects this personal, boundary-less philosophy. Encouraged by his mother, he was enrolled at music school by his eighth birthday and soon learning the piano and the complex, orchestral disciplines of classical music. He would eventually quit, two years shy of a professional degree, but with the best interests of his burgeoning musical appetite at heart. Travails (and sabbaticals) in England and Germany during the mid-Nineties opened up Nadal, now in his late teens, to other, more contemporary forms of music-making.

“After living and studying in Valencia I spent some time in Brighton, which exposed me to drum & bass, and then in Germany, working on film scores and music for advertisements. I also studied sound engineering as I was increasingly certain of working with a wider field of sounds in the studio and developing a broader career.” 

That career took a firm steer towards house when Nadal returned to Valencia and started working at highly influential local club Barraca. Nadal was responsible for Barraca’s detailed lighting and sound set-ups; a major Spanish electronic venue counting Carl Craig and Laurent Garnier among regular guests.

“I learnt so much there” he reflects. “It was really, really interesting for me, because I wasn’t just hearing and learning about great electronic music, I was learning about how such music was put together and best presented. I started to understand the sound of the club.”


It was inevitable that Nadal would start recording for Barraca’s eponymous label. His first aforementioned release, El Prologo, with Barraca resident Danny Fiddo quickly led to others. The reputations of artist and label grew steadily, 2009 EPs Big Cake (with Alberto Sola) and Cocofai (with Rafa Siles) making significant waves on international dancefloors. Nadal’s reputation developed further through subsequent productions on 3rd Floor, OFF (AFFKT’s striking Bad Habit EP, co-authored by Samuel Dan), Suara and, most recently, his own label Sincopat (Once Upon A Time, Gran Misterio EP). 

Today, key commentators are beginning to include AFFKT in the same sentences as Spanish revolutionary John Talabot when describing the current turnaround of Spanish dance music. “I think it’s fair to say that for many years now Spain has been labouring with the same tech-house sounds” Nadal says. “It has more money behind, and therefore more reach, so it carries on but whilst it is solid enough it doesn’t say fresh, always, to me. I’m really interested in making fresh music and am happy to be in the current moment because I think finally the Spanish club scene is making a big change for the better. 

“I look at who is now out there, guys like Talabot, Damian Schwartz and Pional, and there is a strong feeling that we are trying to move beyond those big money tech-house sounds. Where before Spain copied Germany, or what the rest of the world was doing, now I think the rest of the club world is starting to take its lead from us. A new generation of music makers has arrived.” 




Which leads us elegantly on to Punto 0 - here is an album framed by 4-4 but which makes challenging forays into a number of sonic territories. The influences of pop, soul, funk, folk, tribal house, techno and world music can all be felt; their carefully considered collision creates a colourful, engaging listening experience. This isn’t your typical Spanish club release. 

“It wasn’t ever really intended as an album” Nadal confides. “It’s a conceptual record. I’d had some bad things going on in my personal life and needed to travel and discover my self… my essence. I took my computer, a video camera and simply soaked up different cultures, people, sounds, musicians… there was no plan.” 

He continues: “There were so many stories and my music was going in so many different directions that it dawned on me that creating an album would be the perfect way to knit everything together and give the proper context. I’m not really worried about who will DJ with these tracks; there are club rhythms here but this is a complex, personal story.” 

One given further impetus by the accompaniment of a forthcoming film documentary charting Nadal’s journey – literal and metaphoric. “It’s not a film only about me and the making of the album. The documentary also covers my time in Cuba [Nadal also visited Berlin and Brazil] and what it’s like for those local musicians to practice their craft. They have to fight hard for their dreams because of their poverty and because of government interference. It put my own career into perspective but, that said, the themes of fighting for your music and for your role in life are universal ones.” 

Nadal has, undoubtedly, accelerated his musical mission through fledgling label Sincopat. Despite its infancy, Sincopat is already punching firmly above its weight; its early releases have found their way into some fairly high-profile ‘record boxes’. 

“There is a dogma to the label. A new release needs to capture at least one sound or element from the preceding one; this way we preserve the magic and feel of the label. I want the music I’m associated with to have a special kind of feeling; it has to be more then drums and keys.” 

Does that vision extend to his remix work too? Nadal’s discography currently includes remixes for labels such as Rekids, Buzzin Fly and Mobilee. “Generally I don’t ask for money when I remix something; for me it’s a honour and I’m really keen to understand how someone I admire has put something together, before I then try and add my own feeling. Remixing isn’t about money for me; it’s another change to develop myself as an artist.” 

Nadal has never been busier. His production work outside of the clubland sphere continues apace but AFFKT, undeniably, is calling the shots. Beyond the release of Punto 0, Nadal is preparing for a brand new live show, a slew of exciting new Sincopat releases (including, this summer, Punto 0 ‘remixed’) and an onslaught of DJ bookings. 

“I try not to think too far ahead” he says. “Just being able to move forward and keep working hard every day is the highlight of my career so far. There are producers who will work for two hours a day and spend the rest of their time on Facebook talking about themselves. That’s not me. I’ll happily work 12 hours non-stop; just working hard and letting my music do the talking.” 

Words: Ben Lovett

AFFKT’s debut album Punto 0 is out on Sincopat (Sp) on February 24.