Andy Martin Interview
Interviewed by David Hunter
Today we had the pleasure of sitting down with Brisbane-based artist Andy Martin to talk to him about his new album “Reverie”, released tomorrow, and his upcoming tour which kicks off in Brisbane on August 19th .
DAVID: Tell us about yourself and what inspired you to get into music?
ANDY: I was born in Cairns and I started playing music when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Trumpet was the first instrument that I actually played and I still play it to this day. I did trumpet and singing all through school and into high school. I always had a bit of a love for jazz and classical music growing up, and then moving forward into, I’d like to say my teen years, that’s when I started probably going more down the indie rock path, so I really fell in love from about age 12 or 13 with bands like The Wombats, The Kooks, The Arctic Monkeys and anything in that realm of music was what I kind of fell in love with and that’s where I found a love for indie contemporary music.
Moving forward from that I started playing in bands from when I was about 17, just playing like fuddy crappy acoustic songs that we wrote together and then fast forward to today, I’ve been playing under this project for the last couple of years but prior to that I was playing in a band called HANDLES and we were based in Cairns but I decided I wanted to be 100% based in Brisbane and I thought I have all these songs I want to share with people so why not go out on my own and see what happens, I guess.
It’s a pretty cool thing to be able to do music and it’s a pretty cool thing for people to be actually excited to come to your shows and want to listen to your music. I always find that quite rewarding and it humbles me a little bit as well I think.
DAVID: Your bio mentions that you’re a multi-instrumentalist – which instruments do you play and do you have a favourite?
ANDY: Everything on the tracks is me that you hear, apart from drums. So I play all of the instrumental, or like the melodic instruments I guess you’d call them, on the album. So yeah, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, synths, piano, bass, vocals, and yeah, there’s a bit of trumpet and flugelhorn and stuff on a few of the tracks as well. I do love singing, that would be still number one for me. I think I’ve got quite a powerful voice in a way which can go in a few directions but I feel that it suits the music that I’m going for quite well and I do like singing for people.
DAVID: So, your new album, “Reverie” is about to drop! What can you tell us about it? Would you say there was any particular inspiration behind the album?
ANDY: Reverie, the whole idea and the concept of it probably started about three years ago but I didn’t actually think about it until this year when I decided to actually put out an album. So, it was about February when I said “August 12, I’m putting out an album and I’m just going to do it and I’ve already written a few of the songs but I really need to figure out how I’m going to record it, how I’m going to conceptualise it, do the track list, how I’m going to make this work” I guess, so there was a lot of stuff to do over the last few months for it.
Reverie started with the tracks “Mess We Made” and “Heat of it All” a few years ago, but I decided on the concept for Reverie after I wrote the song “Dreamworld” which was just kind of about being in your own head, not being present in the moment and being in your own little “Dreamworld”, and that is in a similar vein what “Reverie” means, it’s being in a bit of a dream state. So, I think a lot of the process of this album I wrote when I wasn’t present in the moment, I was kind of always a bit everywhere, and I kind of tried to capitalise on those feeling and emotions when I was writing the music. The whole track goes through heartbreak, relationships, anxiety, mental health, the unknown, all of those sort of, I’d call them like standard feelings, but it was about how I was feeling in that exact moment, it was a hard thing for me to get a grasp of so I thought I’d write about all of the other things going on from a week ago or two weeks in advance and that was how I kind of cultivated the album I guess.
DAVID: Do you have a process you follow when writing new music?
ANDY: Not really, a lot of it kind of starts in this silly brain of mine, but acoustic guitar is where I start with all of my songs. I don’t go in with like a certain sound or certain concept in mind, I just kind of fumble around on the acoustic guitar and my brain is always going into overdrive with what might work on this, what would sound good on this and then I kind of piece the pieces of the puzzle together and then I craft a song from there. So always the bare bones of the songs are like a little catchy melody and writing on the acoustic guitar and then everything kind of builds from there.
DAVID: Did you produce “Reverie” yourself or did you collaborate with other artists or a producer?
ANDY: All the production on it is done by three different Brisbane-based producers. I worked with Aidan Hogg who we recorded “At Least You’re Trying” and “Reverie” together. Aidan works out of Plutonium Studios in Kelvin Grove. Aidan is a crazy producer and works with some amazing artists all around Australia. I think he did most of the production on Jaguar Jonze’s album, does work with Hope D, did work with Holy Holy, G Flip, a multitude of Australian artists that are really killing it. I think his pop sensibility is really added to the music and really enhanced what I was going for which was amazing. Sometimes when you go into a studio and you’re working with a producer, they might not 100% get what you’re going for, but I think Aidan got it and then some, which was a great experience for me.
Another producer I work with was Mason Rowley, a Brisbane-based guy. Him and I grew up together in Cairns and we’ve been friends for years. He does a lot of electronic music production and that was a completely different thing for me working with a producer who does that sort of music but I think it came together and he produced a couple of the songs I did really well. There’s a song on the album called “Somebody Else” which is quite dancey and I think he really helped that idea for me as well.
The other producer I worked with who is based out of Airlock Studios whose name is James See. He has worked with once again some crazy artists like Cub Sport, Thelma Plum, Wolfmother, just a multitude of crazy artists and James has really got a bit of a pop-back for writing music as well, so going with that “less-is-more” approach. I’d come to him with an idea and he’d be like “yep, sweet let’s do it” and other times he’d come to me and say “doesn’t need it”. But in terms of the writing and the songwriting and the structure of the music, that normally was all me, and the last track on the album called “Don’t Go Without Me” I wrote with my girlfriend, Maisie.
DAVID: With the launch of “Reverie” you’re about to embark on a massive 11-show tour! How are you feeling about it all? Excited/nervous?
ANDY: I think a mixture of all of the emotions is what I’m feeling about it. It’s been quite a chaotic time in my life, not in a bad way, just having a lot of things going on with moving house, obviously the album coming out tomorrow, touring, my normal job, and just life, generally but, I am really really excited. I think once next Thursday hits and I know that I’ve got three big shows in three days I’m going to turn it on and be really excited to play for people. As I was saying before, it’s a really cool thing that we get to do, play for people that actually want to come and listen to your music, so I never take that for granted and I’m going to put on some really great shows for the people that are coming down to watch it, I’m really really excited.
DAVID: Is this the first big tour like this that you’ve done?
ANDY: In terms of a big tour, yeah, I’ve done a fair few smaller runs, like I released my EP just under two years ago and it was during COVID so we played a couple of interstate shows but it was a bit touch-and-go. I toured last year with an artist called Jacob Fitzgerald and we went down to Victoria and played a few shows together and then he came up to Queensland and supported me at a couple of shows. Then I went on a regional tour last year as well but all of them were between about four and seven dates so I think over ten dates is a pretty big thing for me, so getting on the road will be exciting. I’m really really pumped to play my first headline in Melbourne and to play a couple of regional shows like the North Gong (Wollongong) show that we’re cooking up looks like a really fun one so I’m really really excited.
DAVID: Is there a stop on the tour that you’re especially excited about playing?
ANDY: I think the North Gong Hotel on the 11 th of September. I’m not allowed to say the line-up for it yet because it’s coming out on the 23 rd of August but, there’s five really killer bands that are playing that show and it’s looking like a fun bill. For people who listen to Triple J, they’ll know at least one or two of them and I think that’s one stop I’m looking forward to because I’ve seen how the shows have come together in the North Gong and I think that is one I’m really looking forward to. And also, playing a headline show in Melbourne with a cool support band and it’s looking like it’s going to be a busy one as well so I think there’s a couple on the tour that I’m really looking forward to. And then obviously playing a hometowner in Brisbane, playing to friends, family and just other local creatives around the area who support what you do, so I’m really really excited.
DAVID: If there was any musician from history (dead or alive) that you could collaborate with, who would it be and why?
ANDY: I reckon Sam Fender, still, he’s my favourite artist at the moment and I think that’s the sort of vibe that I try to go for in some parts of my music but he’s just a bit of a lad. So I reckon collaborating with him would be a bunch of fun, it’d be a few beers, it’d be exciting, and I think he just writes really killer hooks and that’s something that I aspire to, so I think if I could work with anyone or collaborate with anyone it’d probably be Sammy Fender.
DAVID: If you could go back in time 5-years and give yourself some advice, with your current experience, what would it be?
ANDY: My advice to myself would be don’t try and be someone that you’re not. I still think that I, to this day, am not doing that but I still think that’s that piece of advice that sits at the back of your head when you’re writing music. I think it’s important to play music for other people but I think it’s really important to write music for yourself. So I think never letting that part of it go, like if you’re writing music for yourself, you’ll feel fulfilled whether you get one stream or one million streams on your song, whether you play to one person or one million people. I think writing for yourself is a really important thing.
DAVID: After the tour and your album release, what does the future hold for you?
ANDY: I’ve just got some more time booked in the studio. I’m recording some more music to come out next year which is exciting. It’s looking like I’ll be touring next year, a couple of times as this stage. So yeah, it’s going to be knuckling down and keepin on grindin, keepin on grindin away, playing some fun shows, releasing more music and just hoping more people jump on the band- wagon and are excited to see what we’ve got coming up next.
Andy Martin’s new album “Reverie” is out tomorrow and available on all major streaming services. His “Reverie” tour kicks off in Brisbane on August 19 th . Be sure to check out the other tour dates below and if you don’t have tickets yet be sure to get in quick – they won’t last long!
Get your tickets here: Andy Martin | Linktree
19/8 – Brisbane @ Black Bear Lodge
20/8 – Gold Coast @ Burleigh Bazaar
21/8 – Tamborine @ Bearded Dragon Hotel
26/8 – Sunshine Coast @ Solbar
6/9 – Terrigal @ Mumbo Jumbo’s
7/9 – Bondi Beach @ The Royal Bondi
10/9 – Sydney @ Hiway Bar
11/9 – Wollongong @ The North Gong Hotel
15/9 – Daylesford @ The Daylesford Hotel
16/9 – Melbourne @ Penny’s Bandroom
18/9 – Abbotsford @ Bodriggy Brewing Co.