We’re looking forward to introducing you to Joe Martin. Check out our conversation below.
Joe, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
I like to fly fish, even if I don’t catch anything all day. Casting a line and being in nature is like meditation and helps me reset whenever I need to take some downtime
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a singer songwriter from north west England, I’ve been writing songs and touring the UK for the past decade with trips to Nashville ever few years to write with other artists out there. I draw a lot of influence from 60s and 70s American folk writers such as James Taylor, Don McLean, Simon and Garfunkle and also love Country artists like Johnny Cash, John Denver and Glen Campbell. Country music has become popular recently in the UK, but I like to think that I was doing it before it was ‘cool’. Country music speaks to me like no other genre and I was drawn to the idea that such vivid stories could be told with everyday, simple language. Creating the imagery of a 3 hour movie in a 3 minute song was a challange I always found exciting and still do! I released my debut album ‘Empty Passenger Seat’ in 2023 and have been touring that album for the last couple of years. I’m now embarking on the journey to create my next studio album ‘Alone In Valentine’ which will be recorded in Nashville with Cal Campbell and Cornelius Webb. It’s been a dream of mine since I first started writing to record in Nashville, so it’s going to be a trip to finally be doing it! I’m also putting the record on vinyl which has also been another bucket list item I can now check of my list!
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
My younger self thought I had to write music that other people would like, regardless as to whether I liked it. When I started out, looking at songwriting as purely formulaic and a list of rules to follow, held me back from writing something that connected with audiences. I think you have to really believe what you’re singing about to move other people and make them believe it too. To believe what you’re singing, you have to have some personal connection with it, or rather, it has to come from a real place and be geniune.
Chasing commercial success isn’t really what I’m trying to do anymore, rather, I want to try and write the best song possible to my standards and expectations. If others also like it, that’s a win. But I aim to write songs that will find the right ears when put out into the world and left for long enough. I recently read Rick Rubin’s book ‘The Creative Act, A Way of Being’ he says quote; ‘remember that commercial success is completely out of your control. All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.’
I came to this conclusion on my own, but it’s reassuring to also hear it from someone with Rubin’s track record.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes, many times. I think the hardest time was during covid when all the venues were closed, even when things started to open up again, a lot of small venues didn’t recover and audiences were tentative to attend concerts. It feels like things still haven’t fully recovered. Streaming took our revenue from recorded music and covid took the last revenue source we had left – live shows. It was a dark couple of years and I honestly nearly threw in the towel and started thinking about taking a different career path. The problem is, I don’t know what else I’d do. Music is my life and the thought of not doing it anymore feels the same as losing my identity. Luckily, I am touring again and I feel blessed each time I walk on stage and look out at people looking back at me. Also, I think we’re on the cusp of an artistic renaissance with new tools being built for artist to directly monetise their music without the need for a middle man platform taking a cut. I have been an advocate for the value for value model of artist support which has only been enabled by technology breakthroughs in the past few years. To learn more visit my website https://www.joemartinmusic.com/valueforvalue
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
It seems to be a hot topic at the moment, but the right for people to speak freely is such a fundamental human right, I find it hard to see any other perpective on the ‘debate’. All our political, religious and cultural freedoms come from the ability to express ourselves without censorship. It’s how we progress socially and scientifically with an open debate of ideas. It’s also indispensible for the creative artist, to say what they want to say and challange cultural norms and hold people in power to account if they so wish. There’s a reason why it’s the 1st amendment of the American constitution and for all the faults and problems the US has, I think they got a lot right. In my opinion, going forward, the insurance of the ability for us to express ourselves freely as individuals won’t come from government but technology that respects these inalienable rights. That’s why I’m a big fan of nostr. It’s a new social layer of the internet that allows you to own your own data and fully control your online identity. Don’t like how an app works? That’s fine, you can download a different nostr app and all your data and followers move over wifh you. You’re not locked into a platform like you are with legacy social media and you don’t have a billionaire tech CEO running the show. That’s how the internet should be, owned by the people themselves, not huge unaccountable corporations. It’s an exciting new digital movement, give nostr a try, you can follow me at www.primal.net/joemartin
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If immortality were real, what would you build?
I’m going to be awkward and not answer the question directly, but wanted to say. I think it’s the promise of our time on earth being finite that actually motivates us to do anything at all. If we were going to live forever, there would be no rush to create anything, there would always be tomorrow. I think turning turning 30 this last year has lit a metephorical fire under my backside, by realising how quickly this last decade has flown by. That’s why I’m so excited to create this next album and try and make something beautiful that will hopefully outlast me. I think that is a big motivation behind a lot of artists’ creative struggle.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joemartinmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joemartinmusic/
- Twitter: https://x.com/JoeMartinMusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeMartinMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joemartinmusic6293
- Other: https://primal.net/joemartin
Image Credits
Julia Popova
Jonny Davies
