Andrew Martin

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Andrew Martin (born 16 May 1978 in Cambridge) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and occasional producer.

Music career

Early days

Martin began writing songs in 1989 while still at school, taking influences from Cathy Dennis, Michael Jackson, Soul II Soul and numerous artists from the highly successful PWL label. While beginning with early lo-fi solo recordings of his own compositions in 1989, he went on to record under the pseudonym band of Supernatural until 1999.

2001-2004: Octosound

After a brief hiatus of recording, Martin became the lead vocalist of Octosound, a six-piece trip-hop band founded in 2001. The band consisted of an evolving six members and incorporated the use of instruments not commonly associated with live bands including a stylophone, electric violin, bamboo saxophone and numerous percussion instruments, which joined the bands line up of guitar, bass guitar and drums.

Through the changes of band members, Octosound's style steadily became more rock orientated and saw Martin write some of his darkest material to date. While the band wrote and recorded steadily over three years, they rarely performed live, notching just three public performances.

In August 2004, Martin took a temporary break from the band, citing 'tiredness' and 'creative stagnancy'. The band have never reformed.

2001–present: Solo career

2001: While You Were Sleeping

While part of Octosound, Martin continued writing his own material. By this time, his own music collection was beginning to evolve, and he has often stated that his influences have come from artists like Tricky, Björk, Kraftwerk, Cathy Dennis, Lamb, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Portishead, Morcheeba and The Sweet.

In November 2001, he was asked by Chris Boland of folk/rock band Alighting to write and record a song for a charity compilation. Within two weeks he had written three tracks and recorded his favourite - the heavily electro influenced "While You Were Sleeping". The track was included in the 'Skyline Songs' compilation, raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Relief in Cambridge. The track was also released as a single and saw the beginning of a long-term production partnership with remixer Matthew John Youens who produced numerous remixes of the track.

2005: The Fury and the Fire

The Fury and the Fire (2005), Martin's 2005 solo album

Andrew released his first official solo album, The Fury and the Fire, in June 2005, which included the singles "While You Were Sleeping" and "Amnesty/Wreckage", the latter of which was written by his friend, the poet and journalist Alan Pedder.^[1]

The album also included "I'll Be Gone", a collaboration with former Octosound bandmate Dario Galasso, who can be heard performing backing vocals as well as performing all musical instruments with the exception of Martin's orchestral arrangement.

2010: The Vorticist

Martin is due to release his second official solo album in 2010. It will contain the singles "A Moment With You"^[2] and "Irresistible" on CD and DL. Martin also revealed in January 2010 that the album opens with the track "Welcome To My World".^[3] It has seen Andrew's musical style swing clearly into synth/electro pop and is co-produced by Matthew Youens.

Martin launched an online remix competition in March 2009, giving the chance for remixers from all countries and genre to submit mixes of his track "Irresistible".^[4] The winning entries were by Sven Erler and Sean Goes Pop!.

Martin provides vocals for 'Irresistible' and backing vocals for 'Apart' on the eponymous album by Idioteque which was released in June 2010.^[5]

Discography

Other appearances

References

External links

• Andrew Martin Official Site
• Andrew Martin (musician) on Myspace
• Subfonic site