Martin Roberto is 25, very cool, with tattoos and lots of silver jewellery, and in spite of his name he is Bulgarian. He is one of the most popular DJs in Sofia - DJ Marten - a party maker, a fashion role-model, and a part of the Bulgarian pop elite.

His professional DJ'ing career began when he was 19; but it has come a long way. "I am a sick music maniac. I have been involved with music since I was 14, when I started collecting music - on tapes, CDs, records. And I have always wanted to tell people about music," Martin says. He thought the only way was be becoming journalist, but after finishing high school he wasn't accepted at university to study journalism, and he went to do his army service instead.

But only four days after completing his army service, at 19, Martin started learning the DJ craft at X Club (no longer existing), under the guidance of DJ Argo MC (now 45 and retired). "I was playing music in-between live bands' sets, and thus I got to meet all the musicians in Bulgaria. I played very different music from the rest of the DJs in Sofia: alternative, hip-hop, funk, but the club's owner was cool and open to new things and he liked my work," the DJ tells.

After that Martin worked at a number of Sofia's most famous clubs. The first stop was Bibliotekata, in its strongest times - the then most popular BG bands BTR and D2 were performing there weekly. "But I didn't like it there as the boss made me talk stupid things on the mike and play stupid music," DJ Marten remembers.

"I also got nervous because people always wanted to listen to the same music. When they go to a retro party they always want to hear Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' and 'YMCA' by the Village People." But a true DJ has his own idea of the party, wants to tell a story with the music he plays - not just to play music till 3am, get paid and grab some fast-food," the DJ explains.

Martin only spent three months there. He was then jobless for a while, until a friend DJ invited him at Mr. Punch - another of the then biggest clubs in the capital. He spent a whole year there, again DJ'ing between bands' sets. "But I wanted something more - I wanted the people to come for me, to listen to the music I play, not to the bands," he says.

So he moved on, and in 2000 he started working in club Gramofon, where he designed a different party for every day of the week; in the beginning he used to work six nights a week. "There I started building my own style of DJ'ing, and I started playing chaos music, which until then I rejected. I became very popular as a DJ, and I started getting invitations to work at other clubs, at private parties, etc.," Martin says. One of the clubs where he played was mix-club Spartacus, where Martin started specialising in chaos music, only he chose a different type of chaos from the prevailing, namely various funky remixes of popular hits.

His popularity won him a TV show host position - Martin hosted a music show on the cable sport channel Ring Plus. "I was extremely enthusiastic, because it was a dream come true - I was telling people about music," he says.

The next year he was invited to work for the first Bulgarian music channel MMTV, and for the next three years he hosted its weekly Bulgarian music chart show. Also, two years in a row he hosted the MMTV music awards.

Working for the channel gained him huge personal popularity - and more work. In 2003 he was invited to host radio FM Plus's Bulgarian music chart. "That was something else I had dreamed about since childhood. And it grew - I'm about to finalise a contract with the radio for my own show with a very original idea," Martin reveals.

He quit MMTV at the beginning of this year, because he needed a change. "I didn't want to be involved with music just so that everybody knows my name and face, as it had started happening by then," the DJ confesses.

"In the future, I want to work in a studio far from Bulgaria - to make remixes of popular songs, my own music. This is the next logical step for every DJ - every DJ should at least try it!" Martin says. He doesn't want to play in clubs anymore, as he thinks that he has reached his peak as a DJ.

Presently, he only works as a DJ twice a week - at Gramofon, where he's got his own party, and at club Backstage, where he DJ's in-between bands' sets. "It's very cool - it reminds me of the old times when I was beginning as a DJ," Martin says. "On work nights I go to bed at 6am, but even then I try to get up by 10 a.m. - I hate to waste my day sleeping," the young man says.

"I am satisfied with my work - it is very rich and colourful, and it has helped me grow up a lot through the years. And all along my girlfriend has been very supportive as she sees that I put in a lot of emotion into what I do. When I work as a DJ, she comes along and dances all night," Martin tells.

The best thing about his job is that Martin earns his living through doing something he had been dreaming about since childhood. "I don't make as much money as I'd like, but I make enough - this is Bulgaria after all. Can you imagine a DJ in London who plays at a few of the best clubs there, and simultaneously hosts TV and radio shows, and doesn't make tons of money?" he asks rhetorically, with a smile. Someday he plans to live in London and will probably be making tons of money as well, still living his dream.