Project Description
Interview with
MARTHA BEAN
Interviewer – Dave Bruce
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“Slick, intriguing and highly listenable **** ” R2 Magazine
“There’s no doubting the talent on display” Acoustic Magazine
“luscious twinkling melodies and the smooth allure” GET IN HER EARS
“ A terrific performer who I’d be happy to watch for hours!” Dean Jackson, BBC Introducing
“Finger-picking guitar wizardry and pitch-perfect falsetto ” Leicester Mercury
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For any new fans, how did you discover your love of making and performing music?
I was really lucky to grow up in a musical family, so it was easy for me to explore, I suppose. My parents have a video of me composing my first tune on the piano age 3. When I was sick off school aged 7 or 8, I used to keep myself entertained writing scores on my Mum’s computer (- I don’t think I ever did play those pieces in public… probably for the best!). Those that know me know I find it hard to stop singing / harmonising when music is on in the background… it’s always been a massive part of my life.
Who are you biggest musical influences?
They’ve changed over the years, of course – but I’ve always been a huge Radiohead fan. I’m also hugely influenced by Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, and more recently, Grizzly Bear and Punch Brothers… though I’m not sure how much their sound comes through in my music.
How would you describe your sound? What makes you unique?
Some people have described me as a ‘female reincarnation of Nick Drake’ – I can certainly think of worse things to be compared to!
What makes me unique? I suppose how I record… I recorded the entire EP in my home studio, and wrote, scored and recorded all the string arrangements, too. It’s the first time I’ve done this without a recording engineer – exciting, but terrifying at the same time. I’m really happy with how it’s turned out!
Your new single Along the Lonely is out now. Can you tell us what it means to you?
The song could be read two ways… we all need someone, and that can be a beautiful thing. But some people just want a ring on their finger and someone to moan at / about when they forget their anniversary. Is that ‘love’? Is that okay? Is it alright to settle for someone who is ‘alright’ just so you aren’t lonely? I guess it seemed like something important to question…
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And your EP Here Comes the Snowstorm is coming out on the 15th of November. How are you feeling? What song are you most excited for people to hear?
I’m really excited to finally share the EP with the world! It’s been 18 months in the making. It’s a relief to finally let go of it, too. I’m most excited to share Along The Lonely (which explains why it’s being released as a single). The final song, When I Hold You In My Arms, is the most optimistic on the record – perhaps that will be the most popular..? We’ll see.
It sounds like you play quite a lot of instruments…What drove you to keep picking up new ones?
My first full time job was working at a music shop. They had a load of neglected old unwanted instruments in the back – I was so pleased to pick up a few bits and pieces there… a mandolin, banjo, melodeon, melodica, etc… and they’ve all made it onto my recordings one way or another.
What is the process of writing a song like for you? Do the lyrics normally come first or something else?
On really good days, songs have come to me in full – lyrics and music – in the space of a few hours. But usually, I play around with a few different musical ideas before I put them together, then write the lyrics later.
You’re also a new mother – congratulations! Has this been an inspiration for your music?
Thank you so much! Yes, it’s certainly changed my perspective on songwriting (as well as reduced the amount of time I have to do it, at least for now…). It suddenly seems more vital than before. I want to share my love of music with my boy, Leon, but don’t ever want to impose it on him. I just hope I can be a positive musical influence in his life… and that means more songs must be written :)
If you could perform with anyone, who would it be and why? (Dead or alive)
Oooh… Radiohead, probably! It would be totally surreal but amazing, I’m sure. Then again, don’t they say, never meet your heroes…?
What’s the next achievement you would like to take on in your career?
I’m already working on new songs for the next release – whether it’ll be an EP or album yet I’m not sure, but there is a theme… (shhh, not telling yet though!)
Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – OK Computer, Radiohead
Artist – Right now… The Punch Brothers
Movie – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Place to visit – Chiang Mai, Thailand
Venue to play – The Y Theatre in Leicester (my home town) – a really pretty old Victorian theatre
Food – Spicy Thai glass noodle salad!
Drink – Mezcal margarita (as a treat…)
Person in History – Wow, tricky question. I’d love to have met Ella Fitzgerald.
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?) – I’m not sure I could ever get one… perhaps a detail from a favourite album cover? Nothing too big…
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Check out MARTHA BEAN below
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Leicester’s
MARTHA BEAN
announces her new EP
and shares the exquisite pop-folk
of new single
‘Along The Lonely’
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About ‘Along The Lonely’
“Is it all right to settle for someone who is ‘all right’, just so you aren’t lonely?”
The lilting rhythms of ‘Along The Lonely’ – its warm double bass, whispering drums, shimmering guitar and sweeping strings – carries a song that has something of a dark heart. Via an inventive mix of folk, jazz and pop, inspired by such visionaries as Nilüfer Yanya and Grizzly Bear, Martha Bean’s new single questions the motives behind our longing for relationships. “We all need someone,” says Martha, “and that can be beautiful. But some people just want a ring on their finger and someone to moan at when they forget their anniversary. Is that ‘love’? Is that OK?” As her vocal soars from sarcastic but tender through a powerhouse refrain and its reflective climax, Martha expresses the conflicting emotions of such uncomfortable truths.
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About ‘Here Comes The Snowstorm’ EP
”Life rarely brings blocks of pure joy or pure despair. More often the emotions – hope and hopelessness; gravity and levity – all bleed into one another, and I hope these songs reflect that.” Martha Bean
Though united by a bittersweet theme, each of the five tracks on Martha Bean’s new EP stands alone, inspired by real events. Be it the eponymous tale in ‘Slippers to a Wedding’ (“We aren’t perfect – we have to laugh at each other,” says Martha); the emotional vision of a lonely widow captured on ‘Beneath the Shadows’; or the hopes and fears of a new mum expressed on ‘When I Hold You In My Arms’ (Martha became a first-time mother, to Leon, this February), the highs and lows of contemporary existence are all on show. Conveyed via spacious, ambient alt-folk topped by Martha’s skilled guitar picking and silky vocal, her songs evoke artists such as Fionn Regan, Phoebe Bridgers and Lisa Hannigan
Recorded and engineered at home by Martha herself (the versatile musician also played guitar, piano, mandolin and bass, as well as scoring all the string parts), ‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ has already made an impact in 2019 thanks to two of its tracks – ‘Slipper to a Wedding’ and ‘When I Hold You in My Arms’ – being aired on Tom Robinson’s BBC 6Music show. Co-produced by Martha’s partner Joel Evans (aka Tiny Eyes), who also weighed in on percussion, synths and Wurlitzer piano, the EP features Joe Manger on drums, Rob Rosa (Maniere des Bohémiens) on violin, Mirka Hoppari on viola and Martha’s father John on cello.
Tracklisting for
‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ – Listen Here
1 – Slipper To A Wedding
2 – Beneath The Shadows
3 – Along The Lonely
4 – Circles
5 – When I Hold You In My Arms
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About Martha Bean
Leicester-based alt-folk songwriter Martha Bean began her musical journey early – at the age of just three, she began writing melodies on the piano, but refused lessons from her mum (a piano teacher). She turned her hand to any instrument she could get hold of, which, growing up in a musical household, wasn’t too difficult.
Following on from these creative beginnings, Martha infused her own material with a broad set of influences, from singer-songwriters Fionn Regan, Nilüfer Yanya, Nick Drake and Andy Shauf to her fellow boundary-breakers Radiohead and Grizzly Bear. This sonic template has been further expanded by supporting the likes of Scott Matthews, Marika Hackman and Seth Lakeman, while her songs have been played on 6Music, and featured on trailers for primetime BBC TV shows as well as advertising campaigns. Her debut LP When Shadows Return To The Sea won glowing reviews and favourable comparisons to the likes of Fiona Apple and Norah Jones, among others, upon release in 2015.
Martha has also turned her hand to production and, impressively, she recorded and engineered the whole of her new EP in her home studio. ‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ features five tracks connected by themes of life’s inevitable highs, lows and unexpected quirks. It is a striking body of work, Martha Bean’s best to date, and, at a time when the artist has become a mother for the first time, represents further cause for celebration in an extremely memorable year.
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