Northern Irish singer-songwriter Dom Martin plays Brighton on back of new album

SussexWorld

His latest UK tour brings him to the Brighthelm Church and Community Centre, 53 North Road, Brighton, BN1 1Y on Saturday, April 13 at 7pm.

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely

00:06 to speak to Dom Martin. Now, Dom, singer-songwriter from rural Northern Ireland, you are heading

00:11 our way with a date in Brighton in April on the back of an album that you brought out

00:16 last year that you are so pleased with as being a proper representation of what you

00:21 are about as a musician. Tell me about that album. Why has it worked so well for you?

00:27 I guess just the process of it all. The timing was perfect. The songs were the strongest

00:33 songs I think I've ever written. I think the combination of everything that was going on

00:40 at the time, it all just kind of worked so well. And the magic showed up in the studio

00:45 because I had the best team. I had Ben Graham on bass, Johnny McElroy on drums, and we had

00:51 Chris and Brian from the production team. You wrote it in two days and recorded it in

00:58 nine. That's pretty impressive. Yeah, I mean, I think it was just, it was all just there.

01:03 It had all built up over a long, long time, you know, and I think the timing was just

01:08 perfect for it all to just kind of come together in a way that made sense. You know what I

01:14 mean? And it's a feature in the current tour. Yeah, yeah. The songs have been a

01:21 great feature in anything we've done since we released it. Now I'm very proud of that

01:27 album. Very, very proud of that album. What are you singing about on that album?

01:31 What are the key things? Trying to find sanity in insanity, you know, trying to make sense

01:42 of your own interpretation of the world around you and what you see and what you feel and

01:47 how it affects you, you know, and how you can affect other people, you know, with the

01:51 smallest of things. And it's self-awareness, I guess, is a big part of it.

01:56 You were saying that music started out as therapy for you, so it sounds like a more

02:00 positive way that's continuing. Oh, definitely. Definitely. I wouldn't be

02:04 alive if it wasn't for the music, you know, I really wouldn't. It's been a great companion

02:10 to me, like, throughout my entire life. You know, my dad played and when I was born, he

02:14 held me over a guitar and I've been kicking it and scratching it and crying on it my entire

02:18 life, you know, so it's been a whole, it's been a whole lifelong thing. I owe it so much

02:22 and I'm just very, very, very glad to be able to live the life that I do in music, you know.

02:27 It sounds like you're pretty hard working as a musician, saying you're touring relentlessly.

02:33 Yes, you have to be, you have to be, you know, you have to love it. You have to absolutely

02:37 love it, you know what I mean? And even if you don't love it, you have to do it like

02:39 you love doing it, even if you hate it, you know what I mean? It's like this, it's like

02:43 this thing, but I, I, I realize it's a labor of love, you know, there's no, there's no

02:47 visions of grandeur here or bravado or ego or anything like that, you know, I do it because

02:51 I need to do it. It's not necessarily because I want to do it. I need to do it. You know,

02:57 it's a feeling like of, it's necessity for me, you know, and a lot of people don't understand

03:01 that, which is why it gets in the way of relationships, it gets in the way of life, you know, normal

03:06 life, you know, like girlfriends and things like that, you know, nobody's really going

03:11 to understand the amount of time and effort and how crazy you end up because of it. And

03:15 I mean, I live alone, you know, in the middle of nowhere that you can't get to anywhere

03:20 from here, which is brilliant for me, but everybody else is a bit, you know, that's

03:23 a bit weird or strange, but I can make as much noise as I want here. You know, I can

03:27 sing to the top of my capacity and I can, I can really grow and you know, I'm really

03:32 loving it.

03:33 - If it's really coming from you, coming from a need, then at least it's authentic,

03:36 isn't it? It's the real deal.

03:38 - Yeah, living alone and having the freedom and the space to be a musician, like in this

03:43 way is very, very appealing to me, you know, just to be left alone to do it, just leave

03:48 me alone, I'll get it done, you know.

03:51 - And then the upside is to connect with the audiences, clearly.

03:55 - Well, because there's so many people at the gigs and because you're constantly, you

03:59 know, you're talking to, you're constantly being social when you're touring, you know,

04:04 to have that polarity, you know, the complete contrast of coming home and there's nobody

04:07 here and you're alone and nobody's coming to the house or anything like that. It's bliss,

04:13 you know, because you get the best of both worlds there, you know, so you got your whole

04:17 social thing happens all at once over a month.

04:19 - You're painting a very glowing picture of rural isolation here.

04:23 - It's fantastic. I would recommend it for everybody. I really would, you know what I

04:28 mean? This is the best way forward for me. I know that much.

04:31 - Brilliant. Well, that's lovely. Really good to speak to you. Have a great time on

04:35 tour, especially in Brighton. Dom, really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.

04:39 - Fair play. Listen, just keep doing what you're doing, man. I love what you're doing

04:42 for music and for your paper, you know, so fair play to you. Hats off and yeah, just

04:48 you keep on going with that, man. Fair play.

04:50 - That's very kind of you. Thank you very much.

04:51 - Thank you.

04:52 - Thank you.

04:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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