Martin Garrix Reveals He Tried to Recreate the Exact Night He Made “Animals”

When “Animals” exploded around the world, Martin Garrix suddenly found himself facing a problem most producers dream about: how do you follow a record that big?

During a recent appearance on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast, Garrix revealed that there was never a carefully planned strategy behind the track. He said he made “Animals” after a night of partying and, at the time, was simply having fun and experimenting with music.

But once the track became a massive success, that carefree process became something he started trying to understand — and recreate. Garrix explained that he would return to the same restaurant and the same club from the night surrounding the creation of “Animals,” hoping that repeating the experience might somehow help him make another huge record.

The pressure eventually started getting to him. Garrix admitted he became “super insecure” and began thinking that he needed the exact same lead-up to create another successful track. His team, his parents and Tiësto eventually encouraged him to stop overthinking the process and go back to what had worked in the first place: simply enjoying making music.

That change in mindset led into another major chapter in his career. Garrix said that after letting go of the pressure to recreate “Animals,” he made “Tremor,” his collaboration with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, which went on to become another huge festival record.

More than a decade later, the story offers an interesting look behind one of electronic music’s biggest breakthrough moments. “Animals” may have changed Garrix’s career, but trying to repeat exactly how it happened almost became the thing holding him back.